Last chance to eat, drink and be merry before Lent

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Clarinetist Pete Fountain led his Half-Fast Walking Club out onto Uptown streets Tuesday morning and headed for the French Quarter in a trolley car, signaling the unofficial opening of the final blast of New Orleans’ pre-Lenten celebration.

By dawn, throngs of Mardi Gras revelers crammed parade routes in anticipation of the day’s biggest parades and costumed revelers mingled with all-night partiers in the French Quarter’s narrow streets.

“It was cold, but nobody minded,“ said Delores Johnson, 53, of Slidell, La., who staked out a place on St. Charles Avenue with a group of friends dressed in matching green and gold shirts. They arrived on the oak-lined historic parade route just after midnight Monday.

The first parade of the day is Zulu, the traditional African-American parade, followed by Rex, the king of Carnival, and hundreds of truck floats.

At 4 a.m., Zulu members got into costume, which for them means blackface, huge afro wigs and grass skirts — as they have traditionally done. Zulu marks its centennial this year.

“Oh, my God, if my family could see me now, the only good news is that they wouldn’t recognize me,“ said Zulu member John Rice after his face was painted. “This is the only city in the world where you can get away with this.“

It was the 49th time Fountain has made the journey from Commander’s Palace, one of the city’s most famous restaurants. Costume-clad revelers snapped photographs of Fountain and his entourage of men dressed as toy soldiers in reds, greens and aqua blues. Fountain has had health problems since Hurricane Katrina, but still plays his clarinet during the parade.

Along for the walk for the 43rd time was Jim Ponseti, 74, of Gretna, La. “We don’t play, we just play around,“ Ponseti said of himself and his fellow nonmusical marchers.

The weather was expected to be mild for the final day of revelry with temperatures in the 70s and the skies sunny.

On Monday night, actor Jim Belushi and his Sacred Hearts band ushered in Mardi Gras, dancing and singing past midnight with “Hard to Handle,“ ‘'Soul Man” and about a dozen other songs.

“I love New Orleans!“ Belushi shouted to the hundreds gathered at the Morial Convention Center for the Krewe of Orpheus ball, a swanky party after the organization’s parade.

The performance began after 30-plus floats and marching bands made it through the Convention Center ballroom where onlookers waited to catch a glimpse of about a dozen TV stars and to catch some beads and trinkets.

Besides Belushi, comedian Joan Rivers, AMC “Mad Men” star Bryan Batt, former American Idol contestant turned country music star Josh Gracin and the cast of Comedy Central’s “Reno 911” rode in Orpheus.

Big crowds over the weekend and nearly full hotels bode well for a busy Mardi Gras. Visitors bureau spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig said officials were cautiously optimistic because of the slumping national economy.

While there have been no official estimates on visitors yet, huge crowds have gathered downtown and along parade routes leading up to Fat Tuesday.

There was a shooting after Friday’s parades and police said there was another shooting in the early hours Tuesday near Bourbon Street. Still, police said the celebration was mostly peaceful.

“Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and not making trouble for anyone else,“ spokesman Bob Young said.

Many visitors gather in the French Quarter area, where Carnival’s more ribald side takes place.

“I just keep calling my friends at work and telling them what they’re missing,“ said Bud Weaver, 31, of Philadelphia. “It’s 40 degrees colder there and none of them had beer for breakfast.“

Mardi Gras officially ends at midnight Tuesday. Police, followed by street sweepers, move down Bourbon Street announcing the event is officially over and Lent has begun.

In heavily Catholic New Orleans, many revelers will be in church Wednesday to have ashes daubed on their foreheads as they begin 40 days of prayer, penitence and self-denial leading up to Easter.

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Associated Press writers Stacey Plaisance and Mike Kunzelman contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.