It was difficult to take good pictures as there were many people that would walk in front of the camera but I captured enough to show you what has been a celebrated occasion for 10 years. Of course, they didn't come last October as they wouldn't have been able to get around the debris. This year they came knowing there wasn't much left of the Coast as they knew it. In 2003, we drove over to Biloxi and it was really exciting to ride down Hwy 90 beside these old cars with the V8 engines.







There were many more cars that we didn't get pictures of but we decided we had enough and went back into the park and sat at a picnic table. William immediately said, "Give me $2.00 for a cold drink." It wasn't what he said but the demanding way he said it that made both Anita and myself say that we didn't have any money and go see if he and George could find water at the Red Cross booth! William came back without George and said they didn't have any. He didn't know where George was when we asked. We gave William money to go get the cold drinks for all of us. After about 20 minutes we went to find George and saw him walking proudly carrying a small cardboard box. He took us literally with what we said and he went to a booth and told them that his family was very hungry and didn't have any money to buy food. They gave him two hamburgers, two hot dogs and four cold drinks .... $20.00 worth of food. We almost fainted but instead we decided to go pay for the food. We heard a couple of other performers sing but hadn't known when we came that Charlie Daniels wouldn't be performing until 8:00 0'clock and decided to leave because ALL the people in the park would be swarming to the shuttles and we wouldn't get back home until probably after midnight.

It was a great day and I am proud of Pascagoula ... they were a great host to all of us!

Cruisin' the Coast - Pascagoula

A step back in time! Let's get to the cars now!

I drove a new 1957 Chevy down all the streets of Pascagoula.... I really thought I was something! I can only imagine how I would have felt had I known I was driving a classic. My father co-signed for me to buy the car. I really wanted the hardtop but I couldn't afford it so I had a two toned blue sedan. A really sharp car! I paid $600 down and $78.36 a month for 3 1/2 years. Do the math .... do you know how little I payed for the car. Nothing near the prices of today. My father would ask me each month, "Did you pay the car note?" I was young enough to wonder why he kept asking me.

In 1978, we bought our then three teenaged daughters a 1967 Mustang to gad about in. My husband bought me a 1978 Thunderbird that was not anything like the Birds of the 50's but Boy!! ...could it go! Looking at all the cars brought memories of all the cars that we had.

I have more pictures to show you on next post!

My daughter, Anita, and her two boys, George and William, accompanied me to Beach Park to see the old vintage cars. Anita as a parent told the boys that proper behavior would be required ... absolutely no touching the cars. I added, "Do not embarrass your Nana!" With all that said we started on our way. We had to be at the school near Anita's house and leave my car parked with hundreds of other cars and be shuttled to the beach as no vehicles were allowed in the beach area except those of the "Cruisin' the Coast" people.






Since I have many more pictures, I will have to post maybe two more times to show you some of the old cars. See you then!

"Cruisin' the Coast"

Today Pascagoula is very much alive, as all the old cars make their presence known. The weather was perfect as Dave, Anita, myself and their kids drove around earlier today to watch the old cars as they drove around Pascagoula. The traffic is heavy which is exciting as I wasn't sure if I would ever see that again. Almost fourteen months later there are cars everywhere. Many, many new ones that replace the thousands that were flooded but the spotlight today is on the ones from years long ago. We will try to make it to Beach Park tonight as Charlie Daniels will be entertaining us. In case you don't know, he is the one who made popular "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". I will let you know in a later post how it all turns out. Hope to get more pictures to show you!

CTC-WalMart_CharlieD.jpg (JPEG Image, 612x792 pixels) - Scaled (65%)

CTC-WalMart_CharlieD.jpg (JPEG Image, 612x792 pixels) - Scaled (65%)

Charlie Daniels - The Devil Went Down To Georgia

2006 Cruisin' the Coast - Opening Day

2006 Cruisin' the Coast - Opening Day: "They started arriving in mass Sunday and swarmed into the Choice supermarket in Gulfport and then down to what was once the Rice Pavilion at Jones Park in Gulfport. We are not talking about bugs, but the return of hotrodders and the custom and classic cars of Cruisin' the Coast.

This is the 10th annual Cruisin' the Coast event, with nearly 4,000 participants preregistered with more to come as the weeklong cruisin' takes place. Even though the Coast still looks devastated from Katrina, more than a year after the hurricane, cruisers are here to enjoy the Coast and cars."

Charlie Daniels Band coming to 'Goula

Charlie Daniels Band coming to 'Goula: "PASCAGOULA -- The Charlie Daniels Band will rock the Flagship City on Oct. 5, the night before the first Zonta Festival in Pascagoula in two years.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pascagoula and other businesses, along with Clear Channel Radio, are helping bring the legendary Southern rock band to Pascagoula.

There will be no admission for residents, but there could be a new free toy requested at the door."

The Devil Went Down To Georgia