Barefoot Mardi Gras Parade

Last weekend was Mardi Gras in several of the nearby towns.  It was a cool and foggy morning on Saturday, so we hadn’t made any plans yet, when the neighbors mentioned the Mardi Gras Parade and Festival down on Padre Island.

We decided to take a drive down there and check it out.  It was almost time for the parade to start when we got there, so we couldn’t drive down onto the beach (access roads already closed), so we just parked at the festival grounds and walked to the beach.

We walked along the parade route, and were amazed at the number of people parked along the beach.  Most had been there since early in the morning, and plenty were set up for a full day of partying. 

There were lots of costumes . . .

even on the dogs!  Tom thought these two were cute!

We were glad we hadn’t brought the Jeep down to the beach – it was really crowded, and the high surf was already getting close to the cars and trucks parked on the water side of the parade route!

We could see the parade approaching us,

so we found a good spot to stand and watch the action . . . and there was plenty of action!

The King and Queen led the way . . .

followed by vehicles of every imaginable type!

Tom thought this guy looked pretty cool . . . I think he was just jealous of his beads!!

The parade continued . . .

with Dancing Ladies,

and Dancing Skeletons!

Baby Shark, Shark, Shark, Shark . . . . How does that song go?

Some people were so creative . . . .

--  cars and golf carts --

traditional floats,

and even some big rigs!

Some of the floats were throwing candy to the kids (although it usually ended up coated in sand!), but most were throwing beads . . . we ended up with a pretty good collection, too!

There were definitely some characters in the parade . . . and in the crowd!

and more cute dogs!

It was definitely one of the more entertaining parades we’ve been to, and we enjoyed it.  As things wound down and the crowd started to make their way off the beach, we walked back toward the festival grounds.

There were a few vendors and food trucks,

but nothing that really interested us, so we decided to just head back to the RV Park for lunch.

Walking back to the Jeep, we got to see many of the parade vehicles again,

and one of the more colorful characters that we had seen (and I’m not talking about the goat!)

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!