I've been coming to this place nearly ever since I can remember, and I grew up in Vicksburg over 200 miles away. Many Mississippians regard New Orleans as a convenient birthright. Many think it should have been in Mississippi. I'm just glad I got to know it at an early age and can now remember the good times with my parents and my sister at Felix's, Pontchartrain Beach, the Audubon Zoo and City Park.

When I was older the youth fellowship group took the worn-out church bus. It had to be watered every 50 miles. We eventually reached Pontchartrain Park where the old wooden roller coaster named Zephyr carried us into oblivion for an afternoon. That night we drove down Bourbon Street with the preacher standing in the front and the guys hanging through the windows. Later we slept at the Methodist Seashore Assembly Ground in Biloxi 90 miles to the east.