Mmmm, fried green tomatoes (wonderful movie but I never ate them before), seafood gumbo, fresh lime daquiris, a pound of peel-your-own shrimp right out of the bay, key lime pie and bread pudding, all mixed up with a great live country band...this must be the gulf coast of Alabama. We just had to stop, found Lulu's, and fell in love. We might have to come here again some day just so we can eat here again.
It's interesting driving along the gulf coast. The beaches are nice but narrow and quite wet right now since it's been raining hard for a few days. In some ways it looks like any other coastal town. But as you drive you begin to notice that there are a lot of run down or abandoned businesses and homes. Then you notice all the homes being built or remodeled on stilts. And then you remember that these are the towns hit broadside by hurricane Katrina--the ones you didn't see on the nightly news because of the focus on New Orleans.
It gives me some clue as to just how great the devastation was when there is still so much to do after two and a half years. I wonder about the difficulty in making a choice between rebuilding your home to withstand water (hense the stilts) vs wind (I can't imagine a house on stilts would hold up too well in high winds). The Starbucks in Biloxi where we worked this morning is still suggesting that people donate a cup of coffee for relief workers. Perhaps the news crews have gone home and hence much of the country has forgotten, but people here still live every day in the presence of Katrina.
We are in Florida tonight and our drive tomorrow will take us through the panhandle, a first for me. My daughter called from California today and I spoke with my dad in Eureka this afternoon--a little touch-base with family and home. I'm looking forward to a good long shower and a movie with FireCat tonight. Life is good.
It's interesting driving along the gulf coast. The beaches are nice but narrow and quite wet right now since it's been raining hard for a few days. In some ways it looks like any other coastal town. But as you drive you begin to notice that there are a lot of run down or abandoned businesses and homes. Then you notice all the homes being built or remodeled on stilts. And then you remember that these are the towns hit broadside by hurricane Katrina--the ones you didn't see on the nightly news because of the focus on New Orleans.
It gives me some clue as to just how great the devastation was when there is still so much to do after two and a half years. I wonder about the difficulty in making a choice between rebuilding your home to withstand water (hense the stilts) vs wind (I can't imagine a house on stilts would hold up too well in high winds). The Starbucks in Biloxi where we worked this morning is still suggesting that people donate a cup of coffee for relief workers. Perhaps the news crews have gone home and hence much of the country has forgotten, but people here still live every day in the presence of Katrina.
We are in Florida tonight and our drive tomorrow will take us through the panhandle, a first for me. My daughter called from California today and I spoke with my dad in Eureka this afternoon--a little touch-base with family and home. I'm looking forward to a good long shower and a movie with FireCat tonight. Life is good.
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3 comments:
sounds like a great adventure! are you going to every state?
oops it looks like my name was saved under sage.
--->it's just old shane clary here
Hi Shane! No, we're not trying to cover every state--too cold in the north! We'll head north from Florida to visit FireCat's sister in St. Louis, then on to Kansas City, Colorado, and back through Albequerque, Phoenix, Los Angeles and home.
We've decided to leave New York and New England for another trip--fly out and rent a car another time when the weather is better, and because we do want to go home for awhile! We are planning a trip to Vancouver in July though, an annual visit we make for an investing conference--but instead of flying we plan to make it a van trip this year, visit my dad, stop and talk tech at Microsoft, etc.
How is your trading going?
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