A beautiful day for a golden Nereids parade in Waveland

The thermometer cracked 70 degrees on a sun-filled Sunday as the 50th annual Nereids parade rolled down U.S. 90, where thousands reached for beads and trinkets.

The secret all-female krewe had an anonymous queen on one of the lead floats, but the king was proud to announce that he is John Pucheu of Long Beach, the first king that Nereids has named to ride in a parade, in honor of the anniversary.

“I love it,” Pucheu said from his throne.

The Tubbs family and their friends from Michigan have never known what to make of Mardi Gras on the Gulf Coast, but they’ve been coming down for more than 10 years to stay with a friend in Kiln.

“I don’t understand the whole concept, but it’s a lot of fun,” Joan Tubbs said. “The people-watching is great.”

Her friend Clarence Hose brought his dog Wilson — Willy for short — who stayed in his human’s lap. Willy is 17 years old, deaf and partially blind. But he was enjoying plenty of attention, especially from the children in the crowd.

Makayla Ware, 5, of Raymond, Miss., had to come pet Willy. She wore a lime green tutu with shiny polka dots, crop top and leggings to match. Makayla was ready to catch some beads.

She came to the Coast with her mom and Nana, Cindi Ware, who walked over to make sure she wasn’t bothering the Michigan crew. Ware’s sister lives in Pass Christian.

“It’s a girls’ trip,” Cindi Ware said. “This is our yearly trip. We make a long weekend of it.”

They usually go to the Pass Christian parade the Sunday before Fat Tuesday, but might be back next year for Nereids.

“We decided we like this one,” she said. “It’s not as crowded, honestly, even though there’s a thousand billion people.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 2:52 PM with the headline "A beautiful day for a golden Nereids parade in Waveland."