Mardi Gras!

[Tugboatcap]

Wife and I are heading out now for a 3 day party! Heading for the French Quarter for 3 days of parades, beads and boobs!

Happy Mardi Gras, Y'all!

[Bonecracker]

Lucky bastard!!

[Tugboatcap]

And we're back in the apartment for a bit. It's RAINING! Supposed to stop later and then drop to 31° by 8am in the morning. BRRRR!

[Bonecracker]

Yes, those of us with feet of snow are REALLY sympathetic right now. </sarcasm>

Have a wonderful time and get lots of pics!

[bosomblaster]

Post some random pics of big fake boobs!

-said the dirty old man

[Tugboatcap]

Oh Lord, I need a Bloody Mary right about now. I left the apartment (we share a lease on a French Quarter apartment with a good friend of mine and his wife) at 6am this morning to head into work and I think there was still enough alcohol in my system that the hangover didn't hit until about 10am this morning.

I feel like a truck hit me and then backed over me again to see what they hit, figured it wasn't anything important and then ran over me again!

I'm heading home and then to bed. I've had about 10 hours sleep since Sunday...

[Rickypym]

Glad you're okay! Did ya see any memorable boobs?

[Bonecracker]

Sounds like nothing I'd complain about!!

[Tugboatcap]

And off today recovering from this year's Mardi Gras.  It was just plain hot at 84 degrees yesterday.  Hottest Mardi Gras in memory.

And one of the TAMEST in recent memory.  Kind of a disappointment in the Quarter last night.

[loucar1986]

u luckey sob...

[Tugboatcap]

u luckey sob...

My brother and I have a shared apt. in the French Quarter and I live just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.  Kind of makes it too easy to get wasted knowing you don't have to drive home afterwards...

[Tugboatcap]

And this will be the first year since 2004 that I will NOT be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Mrs. T and I sat down a few weeks ago and decided to let the lease go on the Apartment. Crime and the political environment in New Orleans right now is horrible and considering the political views of the new Mayor, it's only going to get worse.

Whereas we used to go over to the city every 2-3 weeks or so, we don't ever go any more. Last time we were there was March.

There have been 9 murders in and around the French Quarter alone so far in 2018, 6 of which were in areas that were formerly considered "safe" (as safe as you can get in New Orleans!) and 5 of which were in broad daylight. There have been 27 for New Orleans as a whole in just the first 38 days of 2018. Don't even start counting the Assaults that have occurred.

Couple that with the fact that we've FINALLY started rebuilding in G'burg, we just decided it wasn't worth keeping the rent paid on the place. Lease ran out on Feb 1.

Considering the risks, its just not worth going to the Quarter any more for the foreseeable future.

[JustSomeone]

And this will be the first year since 2004 that I will NOT be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Mrs. T and I sat down a few weeks ago and decided to let the lease go on the Apartment.  Crime and the political environment in New Orleans right now is horrible and considering the political views of the new Mayor, it's only going to get worse.

Whereas we used to go over to the city every 2-3 weeks or so, we don't ever go any more.  Last time we were there was March.  

There have been 9 murders in and around the French Quarter alone so far in 2018, 6 of which were in areas that were formerly considered "safe" (as safe as you can get in New Orleans!) and 5 of which were in broad daylight.  There have been 27 for New Orleans as a whole in just the first 38 days of 2018.  Don't even start counting the Assaults that have occurred.

Couple that with the fact that we've FINALLY started rebuilding in G'burg, we just decided it wasn't worth keeping the rent paid on the place.  Lease ran out on Feb 1.

Considering the risks, its just not worth going to the Quarter any more for the foreseeable future.

Sorry about all that. I've not been to nola in probably ten years. Where is G'burg? Are you staying in the area, or moving back East?

[Rickypym]

Gatlinburg is hidden away in the Great Smoky mountains of East Tennessee

[Bonecracker]

Lots of possibilities for G-Burg! Could be Gettysburg too.
Could be some place else, like where Mr and Mrs Tugboat actually live. LOL

[Tugboatcap]

Our Primary residence is in SE Louisiana North of New Orleans. That's not changing, at least until I retire, if I don't fall apart first...LOL (I should have done things a LOT more gently when I was younger!)

We had a vacation chalet up on Ski Mountain in Gatlinburg that burned down during the arson incident of 2016 that claimed thousands of buildings in and around the area.

Getting the insurance claims settled and getting through the permit approval to rebuild has been a real bear.

We are finally about to start construction after nearly 15 months. We're hoping to be able to stay up there Christmas 2018.

http://forum.bearchive.co/thread-873-pos...l#pid17092

[Tugboatcap]

Gatlinburg is hidden away in the Great Smoky mountains of East Tennessee

Yup!  We love it up there.

[Tugboatcap]

13 people shot and 1 stabbed in New Orleans yesterday on Fat Tuesday, 8 of them shot in broad daylight (3 killed and 5 wounded) on main parade routes during active parades with bystanders wounded, 1 stabbing in the Quarter just a few blocks off of an active parade route.  5 shot in the 9th Ward about 6:30 pm last night, 2 of which were killed, 3 wounded.  

It's just not safe to go to the city any more!

[JustSomeone]

13 people shot and 1 stabbed in New Orleans yesterday on Fat Tuesday, 8 of them shot in broad daylight (3 killed and 5 wounded) on main parade routes during active parades with bystanders wounded, 1 stabbing in the Quarter just a few blocks off of an active parade route.  5 shot in the 9th Ward about 6:30 pm last night, 2 of which were killed, 3 wounded.  

It's just not safe to go to the city any more!

Sorry man. I wish I had something more to say. I've always thought nola was a cool place, just a little too dangerous for my tastes, jmho.

[Tugboatcap]

It's sad. It used to be that if you avoided certain areas, you were fine. I've been going to the French Quarter since I was able to walk and I lived in the CBD Downtown in 1997-1998 off of St. Charles Ave. and never had any issues.

It's only been the last 2-3 years that crime has begun to run rampant, last year was really bad, the worst statistically ever.

The numbers so far this year are proving to be MUCH worse than last year.

I heard on the news a few weeks ago that tourism is way down percentage-wise from any year in the past 20 years, all from national coverage of the tourist murders last year in the Quarter along with the outgoing mayor's political agenda. Unfortunately, the incoming mayor has an even worse political agenda and crime and civil unrest will likely increase even more under her.

Glad I live on the North Shore...

[JustSomeone]

Sorry if this is a silly question. But, what do you think is enabling the crime to increase?

[Bonecracker]

Sorry if this is a silly question. But, what do you think is enabling the crime to increase?

The destruction of values, morals, ethics and respect for authority . . . thanks to the politically correct Libtards

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

[Tugboatcap]

Sorry if this is a silly question. But, what do you think is enabling the crime to increase?

The destruction of values, morals, ethics and respect for authority . . . thanks to the politically correct Libtards

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

Exactly!  That and an outgoing Liberal idiot Mayor (Mitch Landrieu) of New Orleans with visions of a US Presidency in the near future, doing everything he can to suck up to the Democratic constituents while destroying everything good and trying to rewrite history to match his political agenda.

And now we have an even MORE Liberal incoming Mayor of New Orleans who makes Mich Landrieu look like a conservative! (Yup, Mary Landrieu's brother)

New Orleans had a very good police chief that was making GREAT strides to improve the department and dropped crime drastically.  But he was White and Conservative and was actually arresting the folks responsible (the NERVE!) for the crimes and the Democratic Population did everything they could to take him down and accuse him of racial profiling.  The woman who is our new incoming Mayor (she was a councilwoman) actually asked him one time during a press conference whey he didn't arrest more White People.  His answer, that she went apeshit over, was that "I arrest the person or persons responsible for the crime.  Nothing more or less".

Eventually, he got enough of it and took a job somewhere else and he was replaced with a idiot/puppet representing the faction that ran the very good and capable Police Chief off.  The New Orleans Police, under his leadership, have the lowest arrest record percentage of any other Police Chief EVER.

That and the Liberal Democratic Governor that lied his ass off to get in to office and then immediately did everything he promised the voters of Louisiana that he WOULDN'T do and has raised taxes to painfully high rates while increasing spending like there's no tomorrow so he can give out more free stuff to the Democrats, thus insuring his re-election.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Bonecracker]

I loathe politicians

[Tugboatcap]

Well if any of you are thinking about coming to the Crescent City for Mardi Gras this year, do be careful and be aware of your surroundings. Mardi Gras is just getting going good and there have already been 6 shootings at or near parade routes so far in the last 2 weeks and frequent assaults on tourists in the French Quarter, most in broad daylight!

New Orleans is fast becoming the Murder Capitol of the USA! As of a few weeks ago, it was 3rd in the nation for the most murders per capita, right behind Detroit and Chicago.

Shame, it used to be much safer and fun. Now I don't even go over there for fear of being assaulted or shot!