My favorite Mardi Gras memory is pretty easy to recall. It was 2014, on Bacchus Sunday, one of the biggest days of New Orleans’ carnival season. It was the second year that I was a rider and my first year as a member of the Krewe of Bacchus. I had originally been invited by Kelly Gibson, a local PGA pro and golf course designer who I had gotten into our coveted post-Super Bowl parade after party at Lucy’s. Kelly was a good friend of mine at the time and as a lifelong Saints fan, this was the equivalent of getting him on actual floats with the Saints team. That was the night Drew did his famous breakdown in the bar. Kelly, was just to Drew’s left. He always told me, I will find a way to pay you back for that.
So, Gibson had invited me to ride with him in the Bacchus parade in 2013. Think of that as my rookie season as a rider with a super krewe on a super float. That’s a huge endeavor and honor in NOLA. Now, this being my second year on the same float, I knew many of my fellow riders and built relationships with many of these dedicated revelers that last through today.
Our float members always have a brunch the morning of the parade at the Redfish Grill in the French Quarter. This is the last opportunity for families to spend time with us before our actual ride, so the room was filled with wives and children. I had neither at the time. Kelly Gibson was walking through the room asking riders if they had an extra ticket for the Bacchus ball that night. Those can be awfully hard to come by the day of the ride, so he wasn’t having any luck. As one of the few single riders, I did still have a ticket, but was saving it just in case. I told Kelly I might have one, but wanted to know who needed it. He told me “Discon,” meaning Tommy Discon. Tommy was a fellow rider, and I knew he didn’t actually need one, so I reiterated, “who needs a ticket?” Discon said his daughter Charlotte. So, I asked the most important question I could think of… which one is Charlotte?
Upon learning who was actually asking for a ticket, I sprinted to my bag to grab my extra. I walked to Charlotte’s table and handed her the ticket asking if she would be my date to the ball. She recoiled, scrunched her face in confusion and forced me to say, “Just kidding, here ya go.” Charlotte maintains to this day she didn’t do that… she did.
When I got to the ball, I stumbled off my float and headed towards my table, which was now her table. Charlotte & I met officially for the first time at that Bacchus ball. After spending a few minutes at the table chatting, we headed to the dance floor. The band Foreigner was deep into their set at that time and we spent the next three hours dancing and enjoying the evening, Charlotte dressed in a beautiful, red, form fitting gown, and me, dressed like a turtle.
After the Bacchus ball we exchanged numbers; I walked Charlotte to a taxi, and proposed two years later. Charlotte Discon is now my wife, and mother of our sons Rhey and Porter. It’s a tough Mardi Gras to beat, but I sure do look forward to the future where we can give it a shot again. Hail Bacchus!!
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