Post by grownups4greyson on Jul 22, 2011 2:45:48 GMT -5
This is in response to mrskatiechance's post on the contest thread.
The first part is about Hurricane Katrina, but then we'll talk about Greyson.
In your post, you mentioned Mississippi and hurricane Katrina. This area holds a special place in my heart because I visit there several times a year and a lot of the places I visited in the past were destroyed in the hurricane.
New Orleans got all the media attention, but the Mississippi Gulf Coast had much more damage because it was on the eastern side of the hurricane eye wall (The strongest side of a hurricane). To this day, it is unnerving to drive down Beach Boulevard (US90) and see an old McDonald's sign in front of what is now vacant lot where an entire building used to be.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The next video shows the Hard Rock Hotel (a 20 story building) from the Gulf side where the storm surge hit. The opening portion shows all that is left of the 4 lane highway bridge that I mention later (it has been rebuilt, and Greyson may have crossed it. At 1:40 in this clip you will see the McDonalds I was talking about. The tractor trailer trucks you will see are 4 BLOCKS inland from Beach Blvd/Hwy 90.
This last clip is 8 months after the hurricane and shows a lot restaurant signs in front of lots that were swept clean by the storm surge. Imagine if you woke up one day and all your favorite hang outs were wiped off the face of the earth. What if your home was simply, GONE.
Now, for mrskatiechance, on to happier things.
This is just a little info that will make you say, "if only I had known...".
In your post, you mentioned that one of the places that you would take Greyson would be to the beach. After reading that I just had to tell you this story.
When the "Waiting 4U" tour was in Atlanta on May 4th of this year, I met Brad Simpson. The tour schedule was May 4th in Atlanta and May 6th in Houston Texas. So I asked Mr. Simpson if May 5th was an off day or a travel day. He mentioned that they would have an off day in BILOXI,MS. the next day (after driving overnight).
As you know, that is right across the bridge from the sushi place you mentioned in your post. A few days later Greyson mentioned that he had gotten sunburned pretty badly.
So, I suppose that he got sunburned while playing on the beach in Biloxi.
I hope he got to see all the Rock Memorabilia at the Hard Rock Casino. In case you don't know, most of the exhibits are outside of the casino so anyone can see them. You can also access the Hard Rock Cafe without entering the casino so all this area is family friendly.
I wonder if they stayed at The Beau Rivage, Or The Hard Rock, or somewhere else.
Anyway, I just thought that you might like to know how close you actually were to Greyson on May 5th of this year. He & Cody were right across the bridge. If only you had known, what would you have done?
Forum members, what would you have done if this happened in your town. Would you try to see him? Would you tell your friends? Or would you respect his privacy on an off day?
Tell us, what would you do?
The first part is about Hurricane Katrina, but then we'll talk about Greyson.
In your post, you mentioned Mississippi and hurricane Katrina. This area holds a special place in my heart because I visit there several times a year and a lot of the places I visited in the past were destroyed in the hurricane.
New Orleans got all the media attention, but the Mississippi Gulf Coast had much more damage because it was on the eastern side of the hurricane eye wall (The strongest side of a hurricane). To this day, it is unnerving to drive down Beach Boulevard (US90) and see an old McDonald's sign in front of what is now vacant lot where an entire building used to be.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The next video shows the Hard Rock Hotel (a 20 story building) from the Gulf side where the storm surge hit. The opening portion shows all that is left of the 4 lane highway bridge that I mention later (it has been rebuilt, and Greyson may have crossed it. At 1:40 in this clip you will see the McDonalds I was talking about. The tractor trailer trucks you will see are 4 BLOCKS inland from Beach Blvd/Hwy 90.
This last clip is 8 months after the hurricane and shows a lot restaurant signs in front of lots that were swept clean by the storm surge. Imagine if you woke up one day and all your favorite hang outs were wiped off the face of the earth. What if your home was simply, GONE.
Now, for mrskatiechance, on to happier things.
This is just a little info that will make you say, "if only I had known...".
In your post, you mentioned that one of the places that you would take Greyson would be to the beach. After reading that I just had to tell you this story.
When the "Waiting 4U" tour was in Atlanta on May 4th of this year, I met Brad Simpson. The tour schedule was May 4th in Atlanta and May 6th in Houston Texas. So I asked Mr. Simpson if May 5th was an off day or a travel day. He mentioned that they would have an off day in BILOXI,MS. the next day (after driving overnight).
As you know, that is right across the bridge from the sushi place you mentioned in your post. A few days later Greyson mentioned that he had gotten sunburned pretty badly.
So, I suppose that he got sunburned while playing on the beach in Biloxi.
I hope he got to see all the Rock Memorabilia at the Hard Rock Casino. In case you don't know, most of the exhibits are outside of the casino so anyone can see them. You can also access the Hard Rock Cafe without entering the casino so all this area is family friendly.
I wonder if they stayed at The Beau Rivage, Or The Hard Rock, or somewhere else.
Anyway, I just thought that you might like to know how close you actually were to Greyson on May 5th of this year. He & Cody were right across the bridge. If only you had known, what would you have done?
Forum members, what would you have done if this happened in your town. Would you try to see him? Would you tell your friends? Or would you respect his privacy on an off day?
Tell us, what would you do?