I picked my two favorite parades, found out my new apartment was in "the box" and even met some "members" of the infamous Krewe of Chad.

With the sun rising, people stumbled out of bars and saluted the trash collectors. A drunken couple shrieked and leaped onto sidewalks to escape from the cascade of waste as Nunez muttered about Bourbon Street’s “typical foolishness.”

The celebrations this year were dampened due to weather concerns, but people still came out in New Orleans to party.