After the emotionally draining workday, we took a side trip to Mississippi (and I checked it off of my 'haven't visited yet' states) to look at some of the coastal towns that were hit more directly by the hurricanes. (yes, that is a strange dog in my lap for those of you who were wondering. It was the girl who took the picture's).
[(L) Welcome to Mississippi! at the welcome center, they had a guest book and gave us free pop! hehe. (R) Teri, Susan, and Raelene stick their toes in the Gulf (kind of)]
I'll just post the next few pictures without captions. This is the coastal town of Waveland, MS, aka 'Ground Zero', which was just destroyed. Waveland was hit dead on by Katrina's 150mph winds and 35-foot storm surges reached as far as 3 miles inland...and as the water retreated, it took everything in the town with it. There is an island called Cat Island, 7 miles off the mainland, where they found cars strewn all over...there is no road to Cat Island.
After talking to the Mississippi MAN (goorrrgeous guy who was volunteering on the coast) we learned that absolutely nothing has been done in MS. They have the disadvantage of not being in the media, and are actually resentful of New Orleans. He said those homes and communities will likely never be rebuilt. So sad. I also learned that Mississippi is the poorest state in the country...
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After what was hands-down our most emotional day yet, we decided to head into the city for a good dinner, drinks, and some live music. We had a spectacular time, the Fab Five tore it up!! First, my, ahem, my phone, ahem, died and we couldn't hook up with our NY friend. ;) we headed to the famous Snug Harbor and heard a great band led by a jazz basist. The drummer was off the hook; I was totally mesmerized.
[(L) the band jams. (R) Sarah and I with hurricanes as big as our heads.]
Huge Head Hurricanes in tow, we wandered around and ended up in a bookstore...a...special bookstore. Which perhaps can be summed up by Raelene's comment after we left about the book she bought: "I hope my book isn't about GAY dogs...". After splitting our sides laughing (normal at this point in the week) we ended up in another little joint and heard Patricia Corvair and Co. We were all charmed by her and ended up each buying a CD to support New Orleans Jazz...under the stipulation that we had to get a picture with all of them.
We headed home full, drunk, and happy and geared up for our last day.
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