St John Bayou and waiting for parade, NOLA 2/14/15

On the day of the parade we took the #32 bus over to the Parkway Bakery & Tavern. The bus driver was very nice. He showed us the exact street we needed to get off on and pointed us in the direction we needed to walk. It was about 2 blocks off the #32 bus route. The bus runs hourly. NOLA lost population after Katrina so less people were riding the buses. The buses are nice and clean. You can plug in your starting point and destination on NOLA transit site and it tells you how to go. You can also text when you're waiting at a bus stop to find out when the next bus is due to come. Anyway this Parkway Bakery was pretty crowded. We stood in line about 20 minutes, then ordered our food which came almost immediately. Afterwards we walked towards the parade route. On the way we stopped at the Bayou and I did a little sketch while my cousin walked around. A standing up kayaker went past then laid down to go under the bridge crossing the road that was very dark underneath. We were wondering if the bayou had alligators in it. However someone did let their dog go swimming in it. So maybe not?

Here's a little sketch from when we were waiting for the parade to start. We went up to Winn Dixie about 4-5 blocks or so away to buy water. Folding cloth chairs were on sale; buy one get one free, so we bought 2. Good thing. It helps to have a chair behind you to keep people from pushing so hard against you from behind. They put the kids up on the ladders so the kids can see and perhaps to keep them from getting crushed in the crowd. It was like a tailgate party here with food and coolers. Music. Quite loud just from the noise of all the people talking.