by Chad Petri
Published: Sat, February 21, 2009 - 8:18 pm CST
Last Updated: Sat, February 21, 2009 - 8:21 pm CST
Gene Hamby is doing a good job of standing out from the crowd. He's giving his family some shade with his festive hat. “I bought it down here last year and I figured if I'm going to come back here and enjoy, I figure I might as well be a part and wear it again,” says Hamby. He's one of hundreds of people crowding mobile's downtown thoroughfares for a barrage of parades. The floral parade bloomed with colorful displays of children and flowers. It's this color that can bring people from across the country to the port city.
“The bands and the people and the fun and everybody's so nice and all the colors and the beads,” says Marie. She comes down here from Detroit. Marie says they have been heading down south for Mardi Gras every year for the past quarter century. She says they're always able to take the carnival cheer and trinkets with them.
“Usually we take a few shopping bags home to our granddaughters and our friends,” says Marie. While the festivities kick in to even higher gear this weekend and in the coming days most people say they are ready for it.
“This is only my second year to be here so it's kind of one of those situations you know where I go along w/ the flow and being it's the last weekend that's why I’m here,” says Gene Hamby.
Order Of Myths Ends 2009 Mardi Gras
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