Mardi Gras from Caesars invite

[Alan Mendelson]

I just got an email from Caesars for three nights and a private balcony VIP Mardi Gras bash. It must be a big balcony.

[LoneStarHorse]

Alan

You must have been an after thought I've had this invite for 6 weeks now. As I stated I'm flying directly from Vegas to New Orleans

[Alan Mendelson]

I'm sure I'm an afterthought. I'm not a high roller.

[LoneStarHorse]

Just having fun with you Alan... On a serious note if you've never experienced Mardi Gras it's quite an event... I recommend you try it one year

I'm sure I'm an afterthought. I'm not a high roller.

[Alan Mendelson]

I'm serious. I'm not a high roller.

I've been to other VIP events that I thought were exclusive for Seven Stars players and there were Diamond players there too. Are there really VIP events anymore? Today everyone is a VIP.

[LoneStarHorse]

Are there VIP events I guess so, as I said the "status" I have is great for my two kids both in their 20's.. They get into the clubs they read about. The Balcony is so much fun for Mardi Gras.
I also enjoy the Lake Tahoe Celebrity Golf Tournament... Other than that can really care less... I gamble because I enjoy it.. Met some great friends we cruise together and travel together... In my opinion can't put a price on that

I'm serious. I'm not a high roller.

I've been to other VIP events that I thought were exclusive for Seven Stars players and there were Diamond players there too. Are there really VIP events anymore? Today everyone is a VIP.

[Dan Druff]

I've never been to Mardi Gras before, but isn't it a young crowd?

Would someone in their 60s really "fit in" among the partiers there?

I am turning 44 soon, and I already feel like I would be too old to be part of it.

Also, other than avoiding the heavy crowds down on Bourbon Street, is there really much point to be on the balcony unless you're a 25-year-old girl taking off her top for beads?

[LoneStarHorse]

Dan

I'm 55 years old, everyone fits in during Mardi Gras... It's the music,people watching music,food... Yes it's crowded but everyone is out for a party... I highly recommend it one time

I've never been to Mardi Gras before, but isn't it a young crowd?

Would someone in their 60s really "fit in" among the partiers there?

I am turning 44 soon, and I already feel like I would be too old to be part of it.

Also, other than avoiding the heavy crowds down on Bourbon Street, is there really much point to be on the balcony unless you're a 25-year-old girl taking off her top for beads?

[quahaug]

I've never been to Mardi Gras before, but isn't it a young crowd?

Would someone in their 60s really "fit in" among the partiers there?

I am turning 44 soon, and I already feel like I would be too old to be part of it.

Also, other than avoiding the heavy crowds down on Bourbon Street, is there really much point to be on the balcony unless you're a 25-year-old girl taking off her top for beads?

I think you've got it backwards the bare breasted woman are walking along the street while being egged on by the balconiers (sic).

[Dan Druff]

In 2002, I visited New Orleans for the first time. It was in June, but Bourbon Street was VERY crowded at night, and it had the whole Mardi Gras atmosphere, complete with the bare-breasted women on balconies and guys throwing beads up to them.

I have been to New Orleans twice since (once in 2013, once in 2015), but I didn't visit Bourbon Street at night on either trip, because I was with my young son.

[Alan Mendelson]

When you mention bare breasted women on balconies I can only think of a sorority party at Syracuse when.... never mind.

[slobdinger]

I got the idea of joining the Merchant Marines from my step-father who was an old seaman. The Seafarers International Union Hall was on Jackson Avenue in New Orleans just a couple of blocks from the Mississippi River and the Gretna Ferry. This area of New Orleans is called the Irish Channel. The United States Merchant Marine fleet was the largest in the world in 1969. The jobs were all unionized. The demand for labor was so great that the SIU accepted kids as young as 16. I just happened to be 16 that year. You just had to have a parent or legal guardian sign off on it. My step-mother and I didn't get along so well then and she was more than happy to sign off on it just to get rid of me. She did it behind my father's back.

I spent 42 days living in the Union Hall, washing dishes, peeling potatoes and carrots, mopping floors, and stuff like that to get my seaman's papers. The Hall was where seaman came to to catch out on the ships. They had a full blown galley with very cheap food prices. I ate for free. And it's the only place in the world I ever seen beer machines. They were like coke machines but it was beer instead. Twenty-five cents a beer.

Hurricane Camille hit while I was there. The Irish Channel was nine feet below sea level and the Port Captain told me that if the eye came over New Orleans we would all be swimming for it. But the eye went over Gulfport-Biloxi. The winds in New Orleans only got to about 90 MPH. They turned the Union Hall into a shelter for seaman's families who lived on the Mississippi Coast.

Sometimes at night some of us kids would sneak off to Bourbon Street. There were actually a couple of bars that would serve us. The drinking age at the time was 18, but we were all 16 and 17 year olds.

Then there was the Mayor's election. The SIU supported Moon Landrieu. They threw a benefit for him in the Union Hall. They turned all us kids into cocktail servers for the event. I served Jim Garrison his drinks. Garrison was the District Attorney who prosecuted Clay Shaw for the murder of John Kennedy. He drank scotch and water.

42 days later they cut me my seaman's papers and I sailed out of New Orleans with a job in the engine room of the freighter, John B. Waterman.