My high-school roomate from Louisiana is visiting as our Mardi Gras in residence expert and we are imagining what happens when Bourbon meets Maple!
Today’s the day! It’s time to get your party on at the Maple Corner Mardi Gras! Now, you might think that Mardi Gras is strictly a southern thing, with all those beads and hurricanes and whatnot. And yes, it’s true most churches are kicking-off their lenten fast already, but with all the snow and winter weather delays Fat Tuesday is busting through those sub-zero temperatures and today we are throwing caution to the wind to cut loose on the ice! So look out grandmas thinking its just another "let's have a cup of tea and watch the snow fall" kind’a day. No — today is the day to break-out your banjos and your washboards and get your snow boots thumping!
And let me tell you, this will be a sight to see. We've got folks decked out in their finest flannel, sipping hot toddies and dancing to the beat of our buckets. A bit sticky this year ‘cause the sap came early, but none the less we flip over those bad-boys to make some noise! And don't even get me started on the ice sculptures! I mean, who needs Bourbon Street when you've got a parade of snowmobiles, pulling floats on old skis, stacked with hay bales topped with lumberjacks throwing maple candy and lead by a giant papier-mâché moose by a guy in Carhartts on a pair of ice skates?!? It's like watching a game of Jenga, but with more cursing and fewer rules. It's like a scene straight out of a Louise Penny novel.
There's just something about the crisp winter air that makes Vermonters feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe it's that we’re all sugared up on hot chocolate, or maybe it's the fact that we're all bundled-up and can't run away from each other, but you can taste it — romance is in the air!
And let me tell you, the dating scene here is wild. Yeah we got coons and bear and lots of furry friends ready to snuggle. Forget online dating, we've got ice skating rinks and snowshoeing trails. Nothing says "I want to spend time with you" like a mittened paw gripping as you fall on your bottom.
So if you're single and ready to mingle, come on down to Maple Corner Mardi Gras! We can't promise you'll find your soulmate, but we can promise you'll get your jollies on. And if all else fails, you can drown your sorrows in old Larson’s glug or sweeten your spirits in a big ol' jug of syrup. Keepin’ it sweet, my friends!
Seriously now, despite all the craziness, the Maple Corner Mardi Gras is a beautiful thing. It's a celebration of community, of coming together in the face of adversity ie winter. So head on up to Vermont and join us for the wild and wooly Maple Corner Mardi Gras. Because let's face it, nothing says "I love you" quite like laughing until your tears twinkle ‘cause they’re frozen!
Stay frosty!
By Celina & Ashley
OMG, it’s as if Dartmouth winter carnival collided with Mardi Gras collided with Dartmouth green key weekend fraternity chariot races. Here’s where I wish I were still able bodied and could lace up my CCM Tackaberry‘s, and join the parade!
Actually, my most fun ever in a parade was in 1992, my first year living permanently in Amagansett. Village of East Hampton has an annual Christmas parade. That year, I was Santa Claus riding in a “sleigh“ on top of a trailer being pulled by a jeep. (You would have to look awfully hard to have known that I was in a Wheelchair.) Santa was at the very end of the parade, and walking alongside me, were many elves tossing candy to the spectators. I was finally experiencing what the pope experiences every time he appears in public. Every eye of every man, woman and child was riveted on me.
The Maple Corner Krewe! Wonderful as ever.