Bucket List Check #2: GoPro Captures Second Largest Mardi Gras Celebration in U.S.

This is a guest post from John Almeida, St. Louis resident, tech enthusiast and non-stop adventure seeker. This is the second installment in an adventure series that showcases how John is using his GoPro and the Verizon network to capture his adventures as he checks items off of his 2015 bucket list. In his first post, John used a GoPro to capture his plane flying adventures.

Most people may not know this – I sure didn’t until I moved here — but St. Louis is home to the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the country (behind New Orleans, of course). Every year, thousands of revelers flood the streets of the Soulard neighborhood in St. Louis for the annual Mardi Gras Grand Parade. After that, the celebration continues until sunset.

While my bucket list item is to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans, St. Louis was a nice alternative, especially since I live in the heart of all the action. Temperatures were in the low 30’s and even though we were dressed for the weather, it was nice to be able to pop into my apartment for a quick warm-up.

This year’s main Mardi Gras celebration (The Grand Parade) also happened to be Valentine’s Day, so the parade theme was “All Things St. Valentine.” About 100 Krewes marched down Broadway Street, some dressed as cupids, others as Adam and Eve and pretty much everything in between. It was quite the spectacle, and I’m glad I had my GoPro with me to capture the unique experience.

According to KSDK.com, 17 million beads, on average, were thrown to revelers from the Grand Parade route. Somehow half of those ended up around my neck. Not really, but it felt like it!

Have you ever been at a crowded public event and struggled with getting a cell signal? Luckily, Verizon Wireless installed three temporary cell sites in Soulard to accommodate the large crowds of Mardi Gras revelers. This allowed me to seamlessly upload my GoPro footage to my cloud without having to worry about running out of space on the device. In between Hurricanes, I even shared some footage with friends who were not able to make it to St. Louis for the celebrations. #Jealous?