Gulf Coast Adventure

Hey everyone!
Kat and I just got back from a terrific four-day weekend trip to Gulfport. We went to see my mom, who celebrated her 77th birthday on Saturday.
While we were there, we:

• had Mom's fried chicken, which is absolutely delicious;
• toured the Coast from "bridge to bridge" (that is, from the Ocean Springs bridge in Biloxi, currently being rebuilt, to the Bay St. Louis bridge in Pass Christian, which has two lanes open but is still being rebuilt) and saw... lots and lots and lots of empty lots;
• had lunch at Harbour View (which is a cute name but entirely inappropriate--it's at least a full mile inland);
• got together with Mom's closest friends and my Uncle Dick, Aunt Mary and cousin Debra to have a birthday party for Mom;
• went out on a yacht all day Saturday (courtesy of Ruth, Renee and Drew A.) to Ship Island--saw manta rays (or maybe stingrays), swimming crabs, jellyfish... and a large pod (or two) of porpoises, two of whom "surfed" in our bow wave halfway back to Gulfport;
• effected a rescue at sea for a boat that had broken down a few miles out;
• had dinner with Dick, Mary and Debra (Kat absolutely LOVED all the Southern cooking!);
• attended church with Mom (I sang a duet with her-- On Eagle's Wings);
• dropped by Dad's grave, as well as Jerry, Maman and Papaw's;
• went to Wal-Mart and got CFLs, which we used to replace all of Mom's lightbulbs; and
• said farewell before hopping a (delayed) flight to Atlanta for a harrowing run to make our connection and then getting home around 12:40.

Whew!

We took a LOT of pictures, including Mom's wacky pets (Barney, Henery and Tess), and Kat will be putting them online. As soon as we have a URL, it'll be posted here.

Hope you're all doing great and that you'll stop back to see some pictures!