It Just Keeps Getting Better ....

Hi everyone! This is our last blog from good old Bay St Louis! Our last day here began with a very simple yet delicious breakfast consisting of fruits, danishes, and cereal. Soon after we had all eaten as much as our stomachs could handle, all of us applied loads of sunblock to prepare to head out to New Orleans. We all piled into Humperdink, our fifteen passenger van (dinky for short), for an hour car ride, not really sure what to expect when we got there. In order to get there, we crossed over Lake Pontchartrain by means of a bridge which was completely destroyed after Katrina. Upon entering New Orleans, or as they say in the south N'awlins, we began to see all of the destruction that took place four years ago. All of the houses had been almost completely submerged in water when the levys broke; some were left with water lines and many had Xs painted on their exteriors. These Xs were used by the National Guard during the storm search. They would show how many people, if any, were found within the house, how many pets were found, or what sector of the National Guard had searched it. On the other hand, upon driving into the garden district, we saw multiple big, beautiful houses (we may have even seen where Anne Rice supposedly lives). Seeing the Garden District made it seem like we were in a completely different place than the houses that we had seen before.
After driving around sightseeing and experiencing Mrs Donnelly's superb driving abilities (Ms Tyrell you know what we're talking about!), we made our way over to the French Quarters to begin our day of shopping. After parking the van, we walked along the Mississippi River in order to go into the city. Our first stop was the St. Louis Cathedral, which is absolutely breathtaking. We walked through the church and took multiple pictures before saying a few prayers as a group. We left the cathedral and walked along the edge of Jackson Square, where local artists display their artwork for others to see and purchase. The artwork ranged from paintings to prints and from flowers to portraits of cartoon-like cats and dogs. It was truly amazing work. Having worked up an appetite, we decided to grab lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. The whole restaurant was decorated as if we had walked into a tropical paradise. We sat up on the balcony and enjoyed our nachos and Cheeseburgers in Paradise. After lunch, we crossed the street to the French Market. The French Market is almost like a flea market with vendors selling everything from harmonicas to t-shirts to Mardi Gras masks. We spent almost four hours browsing through all of the merchandise. Most of us bought bags, Mardi Gras masks, and jewelry along with presents for y'all back home. Tired and somewhat hungry, we walked down the street to Cafe Du Monde, a large outdoor cafe that only serves coffee and beignets. We enjoyed our tasty treats and finally started our journey to the car. On the way, we saw a huge steamboat on the Mississippi River as it was about to depart from its dock. We got to the van and piled in for the ride home. The ride wasn't exactly quiet, but it was peaceful enough, if you consider it peaceful to hear thirteen highschool girls singing along to "Amazed" by Lonestar. Now everyone is sitting in the cafeteria playing games and chowing down on brownies, gold fish, and much more. The perfect way to spend our last night at Lagniappe!

It's almost scary to think that we're all leaving tomorrow! Going back to Scranton is bittersweet. It's not that we don't love y'all, but we've grown to love this place and all the people here. As a group, we've become somewhat of a family, although a bit disfunctional. It's going to be a big change going from somewhere where we think 85 degrees is cool to a place where that is extremely hot; going from listening to people singing in the shower and waking up to fifteen different faces everyday and to Mrs Donnelly calling us her little chickens to sleeping in and not having to hold a chain while showering; going from being constantly questioned about where we're from and what we're doing to angry drivers honking at you on the Casey Highway; and going from not having a cell phone or ipod to having every appliance known to man at our fingertips! Although it may sound like coming home is a bad thing or a disappointment to us, it's not that at all! We love all of you and can't wait to see you again, and every day we would rush to the "blog machine" to see who made a comment, but the thing is, the Bay has become part of us and in return we are part of it. Hopefully, someday, we can all return to Bay St. Louis, whether it be to volunteer or to just check up on everyone that we have met along our journeys here this past week.

For our last day, we are planning on attending mass at what is supposed to be the best Catholic church in the area, and we are hoping to get some breakfast at the waffle house. After that, we're heading to downtown Bay St Louis for the last time to do some last minute shopping. We also have to find time to make a sign which we will leave at Lagniappe, and, around three o'clock, we will arive at the airport in Gulf Port and say good-bye to our beloved Humperdink. We will then be on our way home! =) Until then......
Good-bye! We love you all and we can't wait to see you!

This beautiful and heartfelt message was composed by Katie and Samarah, with a little help from Steph! =] A special shoutout to all our families! We miss you all dearly and we cannot wait to see you! Hope you don't mind us saying y'all all the time after we get home. After hearing it for eight days, it catches on!