Episode 10: Big Blue and Mardi Gras

In college, if you were lucky enough to have a car to drive, it was often a hand-me-down—the ride that your family had broken in or your brother had nearly driven into the ground before it got to you. And that was all fine: if it was roadworthy, you were way ahead of the game.

Very few people, save for the future trust funders and frat boys, were driving nice cars. And no one was looking to make any kind of statement. My friend Tim drove a blue 1978 Dodge Monaco that broke down five miles outside of our destination one trip. When the tow truck driver came to our rescue, his first words were, “How do you expect to pick up any puss in that boat?” The salvage yard delivered the final verdict in exchange for $100. That felt like par for the course.  

It’s one of the paradoxes of being in college: all the time in the world but no means to wring the nectar out of life. Then again, there’s always a road trip. It barely costs anything, and as long as there’s a floor to crash on, you’re golden. 

But sometimes the most hastily thrown together plans don’t quite work out, and your vehicle is all you have. A notion to experience Mardi Gras on a whim would fall into that category. The three adventurers in this episode encounter just such as fate, but they had a secret weapon: Big Blue, a 1979 baby blue Cadillac Seville. It was more than a car on that trip; it was a beacon, talisman, guide, protector, and lodging. Big Blue had their back and kept them between the ditches when it mattered most. 

Anyone who’s been to Mardi Gras knows that’s just scratching the surface of the story. Enjoy.