Today was a day of football, music, humidity, and spirit. One of the best things about New Orleans is the pride and enthusiasm of its people, and the fact that they never do anything halfway. Naturally, they weren’t just going to have any old pre-game show… they were going to host the first ever NFL kick off parade (New Orleans loves their parades, and basically any opportunity to give out beads!) Schools, shops, and offices closed early as the whole city celebrated their beloved champion Saints. We were thrilled to take part in the celebration.
We rested in the morning because we knew we had a long day ahead of us – Meredyth got up to get her hair cut (which now looks FABULOUS). Richard came home early from work and we picked up Maggie early from school (Maggie and Lili’s school was probably the only one that didn’t get out early in honor of the game). Also, we found it interesting that the one thing students at the girls’ school can wear in place of their uniforms is Saints gear. Pretty awesome. Then we made our way downtown and went to Lucy’s, Richard’s favorite bar/lunch spot to get a bite to eat then walked down to Jackson square to stand in line to get into the concert. Seeing this concert definitely required dedication and patience, but it was worth every second. While we were in line we got interviewed by the local news and told them about our road trip, though we’re not sure if we made the cut to get on TV (later we decided that we should have lied that we had road-tripped to New Orleans JUST for the game, that was a major faux-pas). We also got fleur-de-leis painted on our faces, complete with glitter.
Although it was hot and humid, the vibe and experience was incredible. Around 4pm we were herded into Jackson square, and we quickly claimed a spot as close to the stage as possible. We heard people who were closer to the stage being told by TV producers about how to act when they were filming (for example, if you’re going to clap, clap with your hands above your head because it looks better on TV). That part was really interesting…neither of us had ever been to a televised event like that and we didn’t realize there were instructions given to the audience!
Around 5pm the Dave Matthews Band finally came on. This was particularly exciting because although Dave Matthews is from Charlottesville, Ashley has never seen him in concert (fun fact: he was Meredyth’s first concert). It was also really funny because this lady who was standing next to us was talking to people about how she heard Dave was from NOLA and went to school there and everything. We didn’t correct her but it kind of made us laugh. Dave was great as always. Then there was a parade break and we saw all kinds of floats with people aboard throwing lot of beads at the crowd. Ashley was one of the first people to catch some! After a while though, we definitely decided that flying beads are dangerous. Maggie was telling us that Terri got hit in the mouth once and cut her gum open… gotta watch out!
After some more parade, we got to hear some Taylor Swift. There was, we all agreed, an absurd amount of hair flipping on Taylor’s part, but overall she did a great job. T-Swift will ALWAYS be a guilty pleasure of ours, and we rocked out appropriately to “You Belong With Me” (which Richard astutely pointed out might be the creepiest/most obsessive song ever) and her new song “Mine”.
After the concert, we watched kickoff at Lucy’s, and when the Saints scored their first touchdown, the crowd went INSANE! It was awesome. Richard and Maggie went back home and Meredyth and Ashley stayed at Lucy’s – it was quite the atmosphere to watch the game. After a while we realized how hungry we were (a feeling perhaps intensified by the margaritas…) and found this pizza place that one of the bartenders recommended. We got some pizza and made friends with a couple guys at the bar who raved about how much they adore New Orleans. There are many places in the country where people are obsessed with where they live (born, raised, and with no plans to ever leave) and New Orleans is definitely one of those places. All in all, it was an absolutely incredible game day experience that we’re pretty sure will never be beat. Period.
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