This was the invitation to Orpheuscapade 2001, the annual post-parade bash thrown by the Krewe of Orpheus.  We decided to hook up with Orpheus because they are one of the _very_ few public Krewe's.  That is, anyone can join....many of the Krewes are private "old boys" clubs of the oldest sort...you have to be invited to join, and some are all male even today (the Krewe of Zulu, one of the oldest, is an all male organization, although they must by law be inclusive in their parade riders).  Some Krewes have ceased parading at all because of Anti-discrimination rules passed by the City of New Orleans (the oldest of all Krewes, the Mystick Krewe of Comus, is one of these).

Anyway, the point is, this is one of the very few instances where we could get tickets to the Krewe's party.

So, we did, thanks to the clever planning of Kevin, get tickets.  The party is held in the New Orleans convention center, and really starts when the parade makes its way into the Convention center.  They bring all the bands and all of the floats into the convention center, with the riders throwing the entire time.  It was impossible _not_ to catch beads and coins and cups and stuffed animals....they were everywhere!

After the parade rolls in, the riders get off their floats, and Harry Connick Jr. gets on stage and plays to the crowd while everyone dances and mingles.  Hopefully the pictures give you some idea how much fun this was....it was GREAT!