I get sad thinking about the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We visited in October of '83. We stayed a few days in New Orleans and remember the streets being torn up and a lot of construction going on as they prepared for the Worlds Fair. We rented a car and drove along the Gulf Coast to Gulfport where we stayed at Chateau Charmont. I don't believe there were timeshares in Boloxi, nor were there casinos...probably a good thing. I remember beautiful beaches and a blue ocean. The timeshare was nice, across the road from the beach, and the people were great. Being a New Yorker, I was taken aback by how friendly and helpful everybody was. Even strangers who spotted you as a tourist approached to offer advice on where eat, what to see, etc. I was broken hearted to see, after Katrina, that the timeshare and the beautiful homes in the nearby neighborhood seemed to be gone, at least according to Google maps. One thing that came out of that trip, and a few others, was that years later we retired and are now Southerners.