Katrina Update #30Katrina Update #30Yesterday was sort of a downer day for all of us, after 4 days in the Fairfield Inn at Opryland, we had pretty much done and seen everything we cared to, and spent way too much money in the process. We were hoping to wait things out and get to New Orleans, but it really became apparent yesterday that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So we pretty much moped about during the day and decided to head back up to Mascoutah, IL today (more about that later).
Our spirits were lifted last night when Coop's Place out-of-town regulars Stan and Kelly Boyd came over to Jillian's in the Opryland Mall and joined us for the evening. We had a great time, and made some great new friends. Kelly is already making their travel plans to join us in the city for Mardi Gras next year.
While at Jillian's we ordered some appetizers. They had hot wings on the menu, so of course, I had to try my usual "make them as hot as you possibly can, and then make them hotter. Try to kill me." This time, it worked (which is a first, I might add). Their manager there has his own concoction, which is every bit as hot and tasty as The Bulldog's. Here's what happened: knowing of the manager's "special recipe" the waiter (who was wearing a name tag that said "Homer" but later revealed his real name is "Kramer"), said "Are you sure?" I said "Absolutely. Please try to kill me with your hot sauce."
Armed with that challenge, the wings were prepared. They were delivered to the table with an entourage that consisted of every waiter, busboy, bartender, and cook in the place, who most likely were really interested in seeing what it looks like for a person to die from eating a hot wing. Tonight would not be the night. As the entourage approached the table, you could actually feel your nose hairs start to singe as the aroma wafted over. Overcome by the site of all these employees coming over to are table, people from other tables got up and came over to see what the fuss was all about. We must have had a dozen or more spectators by the time the wings were delivered in front of me, most with knowing grins on their faces, eagerly anticipating my first bite. I could swear one of them even had his cell phone ready in order to call 911. They had all the presence of gawkers waiting for an accident to happen.
All I can say is the first bite was absolutely heaven and hell all at once. The pain was excruciatingly delightful, but without losing the flavor that so often happens when things get incredibly spicy. I rapidly downed the first wing, took a swig of beer, said "these are great," and then grabbed a second one and bit into that. Adam took one look at my face, which was reported to going from a general state of depression to one of sheer delight and had to have one. It's as high as he has been since leaving New Orleans.
The looks on the faces of our bystanders were priceless. For the most part, it was utter astonishment that I actually had a second wing (let alone a second bite of the first!). One of the waiters came up and said "I was his inspiration." It's good to set your sites low to begin with.
So after a great evening, we got up this morning and headed north to Mascoutah. Janis, Adam, Megan, and Andrea will stay here while Cary, Jarret, and I take Barry to a friend's house in Galena, MO. We will stay there tomorrow night and then head back to Mascoutah on Sunday, unless a miracle happens and we are actually able to get into the city.
I did get a little good news. Our house looks pretty much just like we left it:
Chuck & Janis' house, in the middle of the picture - with the van in front of it.
From what we can tell, there was no damage to the roof and none of the windows appear to be broken. Our van is even still in front of the house!
As suspected, Coop's house did not fare as well:
These pictures came from msnbc.com.
As you probably know, the storm surge from Rita overtopped the repaired levees along the industrial canal, eroding the repairs and causing waist-high flooding in the lower 9th ward. Cary also thinks his house may once again have up to a foot of water in it again.
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