Mardi Gras in Saint Louis

Saint Louis – Travel log no. 4

I woke up today at 4:30 am excited to start into my adventure to the first stage Saint Louis being more or less awake. After I brought my last stuff down to the car I had to clean it from snow and ice. Luckily, I had already returned all my winter tools to Walmart on Wednesday, anticipating that they wouldn’t be required anymore. But I managed to get it ready for the trip with Peter’s help. We picked up Anna and left probably one our later than planned. But the street conditions weren’t too bad, although it was windy and snowing.

Car preparation
Getting my car ready and releasing it from the snow 5 am in the morning.

At noon we arrived in Saint Louis where we checked into our hotel on the East Side of the Mississippi and took an Uber to the city center to take part in the Mardi Gras. That’s a French carnival tradition which is especially big in New Orleans but is also celebrated in the former french settlements along the Mississippi. Because we were pretty late we didn’t get to see the parade anymore but we saw some trucks driving off. Luckily the party was just starting to take off.

Mardi Gras Truck - Modified School Bus
Mardi Gras Carnival Truck

The streets were crowded with people dressed up and day drinking. At every corner was live music and everybody had a great time. So we walked down 7th st, partied with the crowd and drank Budweiser out of buckets.

Saint Louis 7th st during Mardi Gras
Saint Louis Mardi Gras on 7th st.

By now we are back at the hotel again. It got really cold as soon as the sun set and most of the people left, most of them pretty drunk. We had a good time, but I also feel super tired because of the previous short nights. I am super excited about my trip now and I am looking forward to tomorrow. Although I will have to say good bye to Petr and Anna. Like the first explorers I will also start my trip from Saint Louis into the West, even though I will do a little D-tour to the Southern East Coast first. I can’t wait to see Nashville tomorrow!