#13 Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras

My idea of Mardi Gras weekend in New Orleans was what most people think of when they picture this debaucherous weekend – topless ladies everywhere, trashy people fighting for beads and obnoxious drunkenness, to name a few. There is truth, of course, to those descriptions, but after going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras last spring I have an appreciation for it and a different idea of what it’s all about. One of my friends is from Nola and many of my friends had been to this celebration before and raved about how fun it was, so I was determined it was something I needed to experience and I thought, what better time than my senior year of college?

   Well, I was right and the weekend turned out to be one of      the most fun weekends in my college years (and not just        because of the obvious reasons). Not only was it                    completely different than what I had pictured, but I had          not been to New Orleans since Katrina, so I was really glad    to travel there. First of all, I consider my biggest key to the    success of the weekend being I stayed at a local’s home. A    big group of my friends and I stayed at our New Orleans-      native friend’s house, so we had the luxury of getting            wined and dined by her parents, but more importantly, we    were in the know of how to do Mardi Gras the right way.

We avoided any of the terribly dirty parades, didn’t even frequent Bourbon Street and enjoyed the best parts of the city, while having an unbelievable time! Whether or not you have a friend who is from or lives in the city, you can talk to people who have been before and find out the best way to tackle Mardi Gras. It was amazing to see the pride of the people in the city and how that was reflected through the festivities. And to clarify, you do not have to flash for beads! The men throw them freely and in fact, the parades that we went to were very kid-friendly and children worked to gather the most beads.

Visiting the city of New Orleans is a must if you haven’t been there before, but making the trip to celebrate Mardi Gras there is a must as well! 

#6 Attend a UT football game (at home of course)

A hush falls over the fans as it becomes clear it is time to sing. The band drum-rolls. The entire stadium shoots their Longhorn-shaped hands into the air and looks toward the south end of the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The band plays the intro of the University’s fight song and the 90,000+ Longhorns loudly come together to belt the words of “The Eyes of Texas.”

 

My friend and me at the 2006 UT/A&M game

This is the point where I get goose-bumps. Without fail, hearing the familiar tune at a UT football game, along with the revved-up fans, Texas-Fight chants, orange-clad attendees, and the sight of the players jumping up and down in hopes of a victory, gives me chills and a feeling of excitement and pride. 

It doesn’t matter whether you like football or not – there is nothing like experiencing a UT football game. I think it is something everyone should do, regardless of where you’re from or how attached to the University you are. It is not just about the game and whether or not it ends in a win – of course that’s the goal – but everything that goes along with attending a UT football game makes it so special:

Tailgating (i.e. eating bar-b-que and/or hamburgers & drinking beer) and post-partying if the game ends well; Wearing orange and cowboy boots (if you’re a cowboy-boot wearin’ kind of person); Flashing the Longhorn symbol and hollering “hook ’em” to anyone you pass; High-fiveing, hugging and yelling with 90,000 of your best friends; Eating a stadium hot dog; screaming “OU Sucks” or “Make ’em eat shit”; Seeing seas of burnt orange people roaming the streets near campus; Losing your voice by booing at the referee for any call against the home team; The JUMBOTRON; Hearing the “bang” of the canon; Paying way too much money for a ticket, food and drinks; Hearing the roar of the student section; Watching the cheerleaders and pom; Bevo.

 

The players warming up before kick-off

UT is an athletics powerhouse and football sits at the pinnacle. Even if you think the University and Longhorn culture spends way too much money on athletics, commercializes it, emphasizes it too much and treats the young players like celebrities, you can’t deny that attending a UT football game is AWESOME!

Hook ’em,