NEW ORLEANS - @Ford Online's Focus Rally Correspondent Syrita Ford, from the company's Ford Motor Credit Tampa Business Center, recently joined the Focus Rally: America teams on the road in New Orleans the weekend of Feb. 12. Below she shares her experience with the @Ford Online audience. For more Focus Rally: America news, click to FocusRally.com.

WOW!  OMG!  LOL!  Are MY sentiments from winning an awesome trip to New Orleans, as the @Ford Online Focus Rally: America correspondent on Feb. 11-13, 2011.

The Ford Focus Rally trip began Friday, Feb. 12, with a flight from Tampa, Florida to New Orleans. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, on the 26th floor, with an unbelievable view of the city and Canal Street below!

Saturday morning the other Focus Rally winner, myself and the Exposure Marketing representative, along with our guest, met in the hotel lobby at 9:45 a.m.  From there the limo driver took all of us to the Mardi Gras Warehouse on the Mississippi River front.

The Focus Rally drivers were already there working on the floats for their cars, which would be in a parade later that day. They also learned a dance routine that would be filmed later in the day and performed in the Ford Focus Mardi Gras parade.  We were the backstage crew waiting to meet and greet the Ford Focus Rally teams. The Ford media crew and Ford marketing teams were there also to show us around the Focus Rally challenge event for that day.  It was really cool to see the floats being prepared for the coming Mardi Gras parade, on March 5 and to observe the Ford Focus Rally teams compete in their challenges for the day. 

Around 1 p.m. we were released for lunch.  We were driven to the Red Fish Grille on Bourbon Street. Great restaurant for alligator gumbo, oysters, red beans and rice etouffee, fish and grits, plus a hurricane or two.
 
Out of nowhere, we heard the brass band sound coming down Bourbon Street, with the Ford Focus Rally teams right behind them. We sprang from the table and dashed out of the restaurant into the street to watch an awesome mini Mardi Gras 2012 Ford Focus parade. The teams threw beads and tossed T-Shirts to the crowd while performing their dance routines. What a thrill to see!! So much excitement in one day; we could hardly believe it was all happening.
 
After completing our lunch, the energy was still high. We departed from our new friends and ventured off to explore the mystic and historic town. New Orleans loves its football, food, music, culture and traditions.
 
Winning the Focus Rally: America trip gave me an opportunity to experience a tremendous visit to a great place in our great America. It was nonstop excitement and I’m most proud that Ford is doing something fun and exciting to promote the Focus…and they’re taking employees along for the ride.

Go Red Team! Thank you Ford Motor Company!!!