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                                               02.13.2018 A big time serenade, It must be a Street Parade*

 Hey Now! Happy Fat Tuesday! It's 6 a.m. I need a shower. Meanwhile, it's actually not foggy out. It looks to be a perfect day for Beads. As in the Gulf Coast Carnival Association Mardi Gras Parade. Everyone says it's the biggest around here. We will see for ourselves.

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                                                              another random decoration

                      But first we have some gamboling to do. Blazin' Double 7's Progerssive. Dollar version.

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                                                               can't get that middle one

                                                Double the fun Double Top Dollar. Fitty cents.

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 It's hard to see from that last shot, but there's 35 credits lit up. But I won 70 credits. The 2x light doesn't work. Cary needs to work on it. It's that machine over by the Excalator past the Hooters. I was busy trying to take that pic and the screen saying Current Offer 70 credits finally changes to- in big letters- BEST PLAY- TAKE OFFER. I take the offer. This particular Mardi Gras morning is just all gold, with a touch of purple and plenty of green. Let's see if it holds out for Sweet Ti's lucky DouDiaDluxe. I hit for 40. and parley up to 2.

 

 

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                                                        Jim, play that beautiful footage...

                                      

            

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 1280. Steven and Alan asked me if I had hit at the IP before, as I was already in the system, Not here yet, but at a couple of Boyd's properties in Vegas. Bottom line was that they already had my SSN. I had to sign for Mississippi state taxes before they brought the money out. Alan even asked if I wanted a check which was nice. I have been turned down at the Orleans before. "We already brought out the cash". Never even asked. These guys here on the other hand were even friendly and talkative. Everyone here is very polite and friendly. Y'all. I played the leftover credits down to 200. and cashed. It's about 7:30. Time to wait for Carol at the Insomniac Bar.  She starts at 8 a.m. Drew takes care of me. Carol arrives on schedule and runs around the end of the bar for a hug. She asks after Sweet Ti so I give her the lowdown. Carol is from Scotland, she's been working here for 19 years. Great person. During one of those storms last year she rescued 2 tiny kittens. To go along with her 3 rescue dogs. What a gal. She also wears 2 wristwatches so she always knows what time it is in Scotland. Sweet Ti calls for breakfast, and I promise to bring Sweet Ti by later. I Infuse goodies and head to the 28th and make it rain. Finally. It's always a blast to bundle up a cool G for the safe. We infuse the Infusion sustenance and start on our Parade outfits. We bought a feather boa, a nice Mardi Gras scarf, some partying crawfish, some Fairy Lights, and Fedoras.

                                                                   Let's Bling Out.

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                                                                      Truckie too 

                                          

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                                                         Perfect day for a parade

 They are broadcasting the NOLA parades on TV. These guys are serious. 10 a.m. and everybody's trashed. I'm trying to find a good spot for parking and viewing. I've read great reviews of Sal & Mookie's. There's parking close by. They serve pizza and beer. Great ratings too. They open at 11 a.m. I even printed a coupon for a free ice cream. We stop by to see Miss Carol.

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 MST3k zooms us up Callivet St., but just before the railroad tracks we get diverted. There's floats everywhere. So we are detoured on Esters Blvd. It's slow going, due to the ongoing storm sewer work. Lameuse St. finally. But what's this? There's barricades on both sides of the road. And Sal & Mookie's lot is packed. Sweet Ti spots a sign. Parking 20. Perfect. It's the Half Shell parking lot. We score a spot 20 ft. from the road. I get out our new chairs and Truckie and we look for a spot. There's one right across the street. We ease our way over and are greeted by today's locals, Jack, Gina and their daughter Megan. They live over near Ocean Springs. Over the years their 2 daughters marched in the parade as part of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Marching Band. They seem to know everyone.

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                                                               MST3K's spot

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                                                                  Our spot

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 We postpone lunch till after the parade. We are next to the new Le Café Beignet. Jack tells me it was the old Public Library back in the day. Jack did the HVAC system for the restaurant. There's a Food Trailer from the joint parked under the Live Oak trees next to us. They are making beignets on the spot. There's a sign that says they have free samples of Mt. Dew Ice. The girl points at a cooler full of ice and 12 oz. cans. She grabs me one. By the time the parade started, I had a few. They did that commercial during the Super Bowl with Morgan and Missy. Nobody else was drinking them. I place a beignet order for Sweet Ti and ask after a fancy iced coffee. They are for sale at the actual restaurant. I pick up the too hot to eat beignets and we find a table out front and I go inside and place my order. 

                                                                      Beautiful place. 

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 I order some exotic iced caffeine beverage. They tell me about the elevator. We are welcome to use it and the facilities as needed. More friendly people. The elevator is inside 2 doors between the stairwells. I deliver the drink and Sweet Ti is sitting with a new friend. Yvonne from Vermont. Yvonne and her girl Pat were just cruising downtown Biloxi this morning looking for a place to park their RV so they could walk around. They found a spot and much more than they bargained for. A built in party. I take off around the side of the building and run into Jack. He introduces me to one of the restaurant's owners who is busy boiling crawfish. Smells yummy. Over across the way I spot this.

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                                                                  These guys are ready. 

 I'm talking to a local named Ned. Him and his buddies work at one of the shipyards around here. We talk ships and he says his boss just bought one of the yards in Norfolk. Small world, I've done some work there. Ned and his buddies camp out on this spot every year. They brought corn hole, a big assed grill that's loaded down with meat, and a porta potty on a trailer. "If y'all need anything, just holler!"

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                                                                   Nice ride ladies.

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                                                               Oysters Rockefeller lunch

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                                                                        Hey Now!

We got settled in. This little red tiger kid named Josh is running around shirtless. He asks about my notebook and pen. I tell him I'm writing down what's happening around us. Josh takes the pen and writes down his thoughts. 

The sun was hitting us right in the face. I asked Gina if there was any chance she had an umbrella in the car. She smiles and walks over. "You have a choice of 3." That big assed golf umbrella will do nicely. We had forgotten sunscreen, and Sweet Ti's Hungarian epidermis. Jack walks by and admires our umbrella. " Great handle, what brand is that?" Well Jack, I'm not really sure- it belongs to your wife. The parade kicks off with the aforementioned marching band. I swear Gina, Jack, and Megan know everybody in the parade. They always seemed to get all of the best swag too. 

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   And still they kept coming. I'm using my Ippy- it's an Ipod Touch, for pics. The sun is right there. I can't even see the screen. I'm surprised they even came out. I asked Gina how many floats are in the parade. "Around a hundy". The beads are piling up. The idea is to get the attention of one of the floaters. That's the people drinking themselves to oblivion and throwing out the various items. You are always on the lookout for a floater with premium swag in their hands. "Throw me something Mister!". Behind us is a couple with 2 little kids. They are cleaning up on stuffed animals. Gina and Sweet Ti are getting the big beads. I get a few. Ti gets beaned in the hand by a wad of beads. I keep getting hit in the hat and face. Incoming shrapnel.  I lost count of the number of Krewes. And still they kept coming.

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             And still they kept coming. Each float had massive speakers and the tunes were fairly blaring.

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 That last one was #95. Quite a parade. It lasted more than 2 hours. There are beads everywhere. The street is littered. 

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 Everyone started slowly packing up. We bid our new friends farewell, loading them up with beads. Gina says they recycle them into next years parades. Sweet Ti and I truck over to Sal & Mookie's for lunch. I dropped the chairs in MST3K along the way.  As we get closer it becomes obvious that the restaurant is on the 2nd floor. There's a ramp, which is split in half and each half is about 60 ft. long. That ain't gonna happen. Poor Sweet Ti is already pretty tuckered out. I tell her to chillaxe here and I'll bring MST3K over. She's parked about half a block up on the other side. But first we notice an older dude staggering to his car. He drops the keys and finally opens the door. We are worried about him driving. But he gets back out and shuts the door. He stands up and takes a step forward- and then falls flat on his back. It's a gravel parking lot. I run over to him and along with one of the restaurant's employees, we pick him up. He's way taller than me, a big guy. He says he's fine- there's no blood. But it's all we can do to hold him up. He says he needs to get back to "his bride" who is at the Half Shell. We called a cop over who was nearby and I handed my side to him. They ended up sitting drunk Biggun down in the shade. There's still a bunch of people standing around partying. I have to kinda drive around them. I retrieve Sweet Ti and her pal Truckie and then it was....You can't get there from here. 

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               Just for a bit of background here. The peninsula that encompasses the old Biloxi is very small.                        

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                        before Europeans                                                        after 

 

 Everywhere we went there were barricades. We ended up getting shuffled down Back Bay Blvd. And then stop. Nobody was going anywhere. We inched about a quarter mile in an hour. Sweet Ti thinks we should try a back street. I'm stubborn- I can see the IP Tower from here. She was right. We go thru a neighborhood that has the streets all torn up. They are still rebuilding from Katrina. We finally end up just about where we started, but closer to Callivet. It became obvious what the problem was. You can't get get there from here. See I-110 is backed up. We finally made it back to the IP. It took an hour and a half. I let Sweet Ti off out front and we meet at the High Tide. We ate your basic casino cafe fare. We should have stuck with the burgers. One half of a lonely spork. We rose above and de-blinged. Sweet Ti engaged in conversation with our Feather so I head downstairs. Kisses for luck. As I was leaving the hallway I had to jump out of the way of a lady on a Rascal. She slammed into a room door and then backed up and did it again. I call her the Oxygen Lady. I ask her if she needs help getting into her room. "I'm trying to wake up my husband". Ma'am, are we a bit tipsy this evening? " I had a glass of wine earlier. It's lack of oxygen!" Is your tank empty? " No, it's fine. Giggle. This is roon 2016 right???" No ma'am, it's 2816. Right room, wrong floor. "It's a lack on oxygen I tell ya". Well then, let's get you to the 20th floor then. So we have a good old time riding down. I make sure she she slams her Rascal into the right room. "Thanks, and remember- oxygen!" Well I've done my good deed for today.

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Interesting payouts on this machine. Any 3 symbols pay 2 credits. I played an hour before Deputy Fife showed up. 

                                                              

            I tried some Top Dollar and had a few non- screenshot worthy hits. Then it was time for some serious VP.

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              I gave it my best shot. I'm beat. I decide to quit once I get my 10k points. What a day. Ala madigra!

                          TOTALS:      Sweet Ti- 0 pts.        RB- 10567 pts.      BR- back to a push for the trip!

 

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                       02.14.2018 It's not really work. It's just the power to charm

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                                  02.12.2018 Time enough for life to unfold

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                                                           *Street Parade, Earl King