I took Peggy to her very first Mardi Gras Ball last night. The Karnival Krewe de Louisiane apparently lowered their standards and allowed me back into a Mardi Gras ball for the first time in many years. Suckers…

I used to attend balls when I was a teenager living in Louisiana. The Mardi Gras balls are kind of a Louisiana-specific debutante ball, and there is usually a “court” of young girls whose parents paid a lot of money for them to be part of the festivities. The young ladies need escorts, so a teenage dude with a tuxedo can find himself at some pretty good parties. I guess I attended my last ball when I was about fifteen. It’s a little different as an adult, especially when you realize how much the parents are spending for their girls to participate.

As always, Peggy looked amazing and attracted many glances from other attendees. I’m pretty sure most of the looks were of the “What is she doing here with him?” variety, but I’m good with that because, you know, she was there with me. Scoreboard.

The interesting part of this ball is that they had an indoor parade as part of the celebration. Most times the parade is an outdoor event. Since it was 35 degrees outside we were quite pleased that the parade was inside the convention center, though the smell of exhaust fumes hung heavy in the air for a while.

We had a blast with work friends, but Peggy nailed the night with her description — an air-conditioned tailgate party that you have to dress up to attend. Each table provides its own food and drink, so you eat and drink whatever you and your friends bring with you. The best part of the evening is after all the ceremony is over and the band comes out to play. They were awesome so we got some good dancing in before we headed out at a reasonable hour.

I think Peggy might even be OK if this is her last Mardi Gras ball, too. I’m glad she got to attend one, but I am certainly not looking for more balls to attend. In the immortal words of Roger Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this…”