Blame It On Mike

This is what happens when a polite Southern guy pops for drinks all afternoon. Lobster feet.

Okay, so it's not entirely his fault. Maybe I should have been more specific with the sunscreen. Anyway, Ann and I made it down to the pool around 1 in the afternoon. There we met Mike who, after getting to know me, is heading to California where he somehow got the impression there's an unending supply of never-married, childless women.

Mike proved to be a wealth of local information, so it was cool to fire off question after question. If only I could remember the answers. Kidding. I learned a lot. For instance, the rest of the country talks about Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, but Mike went through Ivan which devastated the corner of the South he calls home. He also reminded us that New Orleans didn't so much experience the HURRICANE as the SURGE. It was the GULF (Biloxi, Gulfport, etc.) where Katrina actually hit. Today I think we'll drive up the coast toward Gulport. Ann remembers that nine years ago, she and Marty made a similar trip and she oohed and ahhed over the Civil War era homes with their sweeping lawns overlooking the Gulf. Mike tells us they're all gone. Only concrete slabs left.

I had the local news on TV this morning. It looks like the area is trying to prepare for the worst, but how can they when they haven't recovered from what happened two years ago?? I mean, they were discussing how to get the people in FEMA trailers to safety. By the way, that's what those are--a picture I took with my phone from the hotel window. Mike also told us that there were those who were secretly pleased about some of the devastation because...well...Katrina gave them the opportunity to weed out an undesirable element (my words, not Mike's).

Plus, hey you'd think the land around here would be going for nothing, right? Wrong. If I understood correctly (and remember, alcohol was involved during these discussions), land costs more than ever. It's still waterfront, after all, and this is America! (By the way...that area where the Civil War homes used to be? Upcoming condo heaven.)

Anyway, back to more exciting matters. While we lolled around the pool all day, Marty was hard at work in the poker room at Beau Rivage. After an unsuccessful attempt to win back some money at our hotel, Mike took Ann and I over to meet Marty. We all made deposits then decided to try new surroundings so we scooted on over to the Imperial Palace for some food...and more deposits.

Finally, Ann, Mike and I surrendered for the night while Marty partied on. Since Mike had to leave at the crack of dawn, we all said our good-byes last night. If you're reading this, Mike, thanks for showing us that good old-fashioned Southern hospitality!! We had a blast!

P.S. If this is formatted funky, it's Blogger's fault, not mine.