Mardi Gras Express

What is the oldest carnival krewe in New Orleans? It isn’t the Krewe of Mithras. They were only founded in 1897. New Orleans is older than that. I was up at the Mardi Gras Fountain the other day, up on Lakeshore Drive.

(Parenthetical note: The person who did the illustration for that linked article is Emma Fick. She is a very good artist, and this isn’t just because she painted our houses.)

Support all artists. We could use the scratch.

All this talk about Mardi Gras reminded me that Mardi Gras Service is being offered by Amtrak starting next month. Yipee! I don’t know why Amtrak couldn’t have called their newest train route, the Mardi Gras Limited, or the Mardi Gras Express, or something more jazzy like that. Mardi Gras Service doesn’t really pack a lot of wow factor.

Amtrak is going bankrupt.

The Mardi Gras train, if I can be allowed to call it what it is, is a train line that will run twice a day, one in the morning and once in the evening, both ways, between New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama. As everyone from Mobile will tell you, Mardi Gras was invented there, hence the name for the train. It does not run only during Mardi Gras. It is going to run all year long!

You can catch the train in New Olreans, where the station is decorated with murals painted by a schizophrenic, in the morning to Mobile, and take it back again at night. Make a day of it! The reverse is true for the good people of Mobile. They can come to New Orleans for a day.

The fare is going to be fifteen dollars one way. That seems very reasonable for the people who live in Mobile. A trip to New Orleans for fifteen dollars is a steal. As for how Orleanians feel about the value of fifteen dollars to go to Mobile, we will have to wait and see. I don’t know anyone who has ever gone to Mobile by choice. I don’t know if it worth fifteen dollars to get there. I know it is worth fifteen dollars to get out.

Hmmm… I wonder what kind of boilerplate New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. has to say about this?

“Today is only possible thanks to the dedication of stakeholders all across the Gulf Coast who have been tirelessly committed to restoring passenger rail service to our communities for 20 years. Amtrak Mardi Gras Service reconnects New Orleans to its Gulf Coast neighbors in Mississippi and Alabama, bringing benefits to our residents, businesses, and visitors and furthering anchoring New Orleans as the premier passenger rail hub in the South.

“Amtrak’s return to the Gulf Coast has been a long time coming and we’re excited to see passenger rail returning to the Gulf Coast and will continue to be a strong advocate for existing and future Amtrak service in New Orleans.”

I didn’t vote for her. I look forward to the day when I can spit in her face.

No paywall today. I am busy doing other things. In a New Orleans state of mind, there is always tomorrow. I’ll see you on the train.