ONE PARTICULAR WEEKEND

Last month when I found out that my favorite singer, Mac McAnally, was going to be in concert in Gulfport, MS on Saturday night, September 12; my first thought was “can’t do it”. Alabama’s hope opener is that night. Then I thought…Well! I went to the season opener in Atlanta and this is Florida International, not the “real Florida”. Then I said, maybe. Then I said, “why not”. I’ll be attending the Alabama games for the rest of this season and it’s not that often that I get to see Mac up close and personal. Besides, Mac’s career is really taking off and who knows how long he will be doing small venues where he meets and talks to his fans. Also, I’ve never hung out at the Mississippi coast and here was the opportunity. Enough said, I’m going to see Mac. It wasn’t hard to talk my friends Myrna and Kay into making the trip with me.

Mac was actually the headliner for the “Phlock at the Dock” event held at the Dock Bar and Grill in Gulfport, following three exceptional acts.

Plans were made to drive to Gulfport on Saturday morning, show up at “the Dock” about 5:00 when first act, Brent Burns was to begin. Then on Sunday, we would hit the casinos for a little while and head home. Then I got to thinking, New Orleans is not that far from Gulfport, why not drive to New Orleans and spend the day there on Sunday, drive back to Gulfport Sunday evening, then hit the casinos on Monday. I have some vacation time left. Now that was a plan…seeing Mac and the others, getting my New Orleans fix, and visiting the casinos.

The only problem that we were facing was bad weather. A tropical low was spinning in the northwest Gulf of Mexico, bringing lots of rain to the area. But we didn’t let that stop us.

We left at approximately 8:30 Saturday morning under cloudy skies. As we traveled south on I-65 in my comfy SUV, we were amazed at the amount of road kill that we saw. There was a fox, a fawn, a dog or two, and some armadillos. In fact, there was so much road kill that we decided to make a list. So every time we saw something, Myrna would write it down. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. I hope Myrna still has the list so I can publish it. The armadillos, of course, won out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a live armadillo except maybe at a zoo.

We arrived at the Dock around 5:00, just in time for the music to start. Of course, the Alabama game began at 6-ish. Friends at the game were to keep me informed. I also had my fairly new blackberry so I could get updates from the Internet, if necessary. My old college roomie, Sandy, was leaving me voicemails, I had to go to the restroom to hear them, and they weren’t too good. Alabama was struggling. They were doing a little better in the second half when Mac took the stage. I was still, though, running to the restroom to hear Sandy’s voicemails. Sorry Mac, I chose you over Alabama Football, but I still want to know what’s happening at the game. About 1/3 of the way into Mac’s concert, I got the voicemail from Sandy that we had won 40-14 and that the game was mercifully over. That put a smile on my face and I could now really enjoy hearing Mac sing and tell stories. When I got back to the table (we were sitting right under Mac’s feet), I signaled to Kay that we had won and mouthed the final score to her. Well, when Mac finished his song, Kay looked up at him and told him that Alabama had won its game. Then Mac announced to the audience that Alabama had won its game. I thought that was so cool. Thank you, Mac.

Mac was fabulous. Just when you think he can’t get any better, he does. After he finished singing, he greeted his fans. He signed some CDs for me and I had my picture made with him for the “upteeninth” time. When I apologized for leaving so many times to check on the game, he said to me, “I heard it was a little scary at times”.

Next day, New Orleans! As I indicated earlier, the weather was not good and we had to dodge rain on Saturday and on Sunday. As we were nearing the eastern side of New Orleans, I didn’t like looks of the clouds up ahead and to my left. These tropical lows have much of the same characteristics as hurricanes without the strong winds. They can drop a tornado, and we were on the side where tornadoes just might drop. There were no tornadoes, but the bottom fell out and I mean fell out. I was blinded by the rain and had to pull over on the side of the road. I generally won’t pull over in heavy rains. It’s an ego thing. I’ll say that this is the hardest rain in which I’ve ever tried to drive. When the it slacked up a bit, we drove on into New Orleans and to the French Quarter. After enjoying a lovely jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters, we made our way to other favorite haunts including Pat O’Brien’s, the Evans Candy Company, Margaritaville, the French Market, and Café Dumonde. Then we headed back to Gulfport to spend our last night.

While Kay and I are “night people”, Myrna is a morning person and is usually up by 6:00 or 7:00. When Kay and I were still sleeping, she was up walking on the beach both Sunday and Monday mornings. On Monday, I woke up at 8:30, pulled back the curtains and saw that it was pouring down rain. So, I decided to text Myrna to see if she was on the beach. Well she called me back and indicated that she was walking on the beach at the waters edge when, in the blink of an eye, sunk up to her knees in the sand. She was able to get out, but the sand sucked up her flip-flops. She then started back to the hotel and it began raining hard. We were laughing, but then it wasn’t so funny. What if she had sunk really deep into the sand? No one was on the beach at the time. We’re all in a funk about this and probably will be for a while. We all like to walk on the beach at the water’s edge and have the waves cover our feet, but we probably shouldn’t do that if we’re alone. Instead, we should walk on the dry sand. God is good and we’ll all be careful from now on. In addition to losing her flip-flops, Myrna broke a fingernail.

After checking out of the hotel, we did a little shopping and then headed to Biloxi. Because it was lunch time, we decided to stop at Snapper’s, a restaurant right on the beach that specializes in seafood. Before heading to Beau Rivage, we decided to use the facilities. Well, I got locked in one of the ladies’ bathroom stalls. I also happened to be in the restroom alone. After what seemed to be a long time (it was probably about a minute), I was able to get the latch to cooperate and was a free woman. We made it to Beau Rivage where Myrna and Kay came out ahead and I didn’t. You win some and you lose some.

Got home about 9:30, played with my kitty and went to bed. What can I say, it was a great weekend. Hey, when you have road kill, Mac McAnally, an Alabama victory, New Orleans, shopping, and gambling; “ya can’t help but have fun”, and we did.