Orca IRL Gathering

MJ	Ms. Southern Hospitality. MJ, our gracious hostess, guide and friend. The next OrcaCon will have to go a long way to equal the gathering organized by MJ. (How many of us have a shrimp boat and a son who will captain it for us?)
Bruce, our very own alien	The incomparable, indomitable Bruce. Ask him about his trip to Gulfport. He can truly say that he traveled by plane, train and automobile. (Ask him to show you the t-shirt that Dawn bought for him. :::evil grin:::)
MJ & Bruce	Queen and King of our Pod...or perhaps Queen and Court Jester. They had lunch at the White Cap and visited one of the casinos while the rest of the gang visited the French Quarter.
Beej	Beej in the French Quarter watching the clown make Willie or Willy. Beej flew in from the Philadelphia area...and what lovely wings she had! She grumbled about losing money at the casinos but couldn't seem to stay away from them. :::grin:::
Lynne	Speaking of wings, Lynne's managed to fly her all the way from California. Unlike Beej, Lynne won lots of money when she visited the casino. She mailed most of it home to herself rather than carry it around with her. Smart lady!
Craig & Phyllis	Craig and Phyllis at breakfast at the Yacht Club. They dedicated a lot of time to us and were MJ's right and left hands. If you haven't met Phyllis online, you should; she is a wonderful lady.
Gala	Gala at sunset in the French Quarter. As our guide Gala made certain that none of us hawks and orcans were lost along the way. Hopefully we will have another oportunity to visit with her.
Joanie & George	Joanie and George breakfasting at the Yacht Club.
Craig	Craig was at the hospitality room to welcome us, and if MJ was Ms. Hospitality, Craig was Mr. Hospitality. His charm and humor were a welcome bonus.
Phyllis	Meeting Phyllis was one of the high points of our gathering. We rarely see her online so it was a pleasure to become better acquainted with her. Although a bit quieter than most of us, Phyllis was warm and kind.
Suz	Our Suz was one of the first to arrive in Gulfport, and she welcomed us with open arms and a beautiful smile.
Todd	Have you ever seen toads fly? His wings aren't the most beautiful but they certainly did the job! (What can I say? Wings are supposed to have lots of feathers...) Ask Bruce or Dawn about the trip down with Todd. Ah well...the best laid plans of mice and men...
Phyllis, MJ & Joanie	Hmmm...I think Todd should be shot for taking this picture. :::grin::: There are times when you just aren't ready to "smile for the birdie" even if he is a hawk.
Wythy	The river man was a bit quiet, but we all know that still waters run deep. Wythy had to put up with a lot of guff from the rest of us. Do you think we can talk him into hosting the next gathering in California?
Joanie	'Tis a good thing Joanie is a hawk. Her wings brought her from Arizona to Gulfport via Minneapolis/St. Paul. Talk about the long way around! We were glad that she managed the flight safely. What would an Orcan gathering be without her bright, cheery presence?
Ducks	The Ducky was lucky - the hawks and orcans didn't turn her into duck soup. :::grin::: We couldn't do that, we love our Ducks. We were sorry to see her leave early but she had to go home to take care of Cheery, who couldn't join us.
Kelpie	Amid all the hawks and whales we had our lightning-fingered, quick-witted, loveable, huggable Kelpie. Her smile brightened the atmosphere even though she wasn't as talkative as she is online. You might want to ask her about her batch of cherries.
Up	Known to all of us as "Up", Lewis was a welcome sight when he joined us for breakfast at the Yacht Club on Sunday.
Lance	Another of the early arrivals, Lance was quietly helpful. Since we rarely see Lance online it was wonderful to become better acquainted with him. Hmmm...and some of us liked his goatee. Lucky Suz..."A kiss isn't worth a nickel without a tickle!" :::tee hee:::
Dawn & Willy	Does anyone dare ask Dawn why she is blushing? Or why she is holding an over-endowed balloon man? Where did Willy sleep? Why did Dawn bring the cribbage board? Inquiring minds need to know!
Lord Strider	What with all the ladies, lords, queens and such, we were in good company. This Lord was kind enough to ride herd on us (hmmm...swim pod with us..?) with Gala. I think that we have him to thank for our endless supply of those cherries that went everywhere with us.
Mrs. Lord	Lord's other contribution to the gathering was his very lovely lady!
Steve	We have Steve to thank for {S stella}!! See those cherries? He wasn't very far from them all weekend long. :::grin:::
Orca Beanie	Dawn arrived carrying two beanie babies: Orca for MJ and Nanook for Bruce. Orca reclined in the place of honor all weekend and now resides on top of MJ's computer. If he could talk he would be able to tell us what Willie and Willy were doing all night.
Nanook	Lucky dog! He went home with Bruce. Now Nanook of the North has a little Nanook of his own.
The Pod enroute to N'awlins	Back Row, L to R: Lord Strider, Wythy, Steve. Front Row, L to R: Maiden, Kelpie, Beej and Toad. Dawn needed a break while en route to N'awlins for an afternoon in the French Quarter, so the caravan stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center on I-10. :::sigh::: Michigan should have Welcome Centers as lovely and hospitable as this one and the Mississippi Welcome Center.
Steve & Lord	Just a coupla good ole boys sharing da cherries. Cherries soaked/fermented/pickled in EverClear. Those cherries packed a wallop big enough to knock Dawn's socks off... ...and she still hasn't found 'em.
Todd	Is it a bird? Is it a frog? NO! It is SuperToad! (See that green frog on his chest?)
Craig?	Hmmm...I think that Todd took this picture but I don't know why he would want a picture of the tushes of Steve and the cabin boy. Or why he would get a picture of the skiff's propeller. :::shrug::: Being his cousin doesn't mean that I understand him!
Blushing Beej	"Gasp!" Beej! What are you doing to Willy? And why is Dawn blushing too? Where did Willy sleep? Who took him home?
Dean and MJ	Mm...mm...Ooops! Ahem! Too bad MJ doesn't have several more sons just exactly like this one! (And I don't care if you don't like the grammar! That says just exactly what I want it to say! So there! :::grin:::)
Cabin Boy	Hmmmm...and a few more like the cabin boy, too. Dan took Todd and the cooler to shore while others of us were watching and waiting for our turn in the skiff.
Kelp and Da Gang	Da Gang (pod, flock, herd?) resting in the shade at Cafe Du Monde, waiting for a few more Orcans to join them after the trials and tribulations of finding parking spaces. From back left to front right are Suz, Lance, Beej, Kelpie and Dawn.
Guide Gala	Gala and group waiting for the last few Orcans to arrive at Cafe Du Monde
Beach Babes	While most of us were lazing in the sun, Maiden and Phyllis walked around the island collecting sand dollars and sea shells.
Angel	Betcha didn't know that there were angels in New Orleans. Todd found this one outside Jefferson Park (or whatever park was just across the street from Cafe Du Monde). We did not see her fly but we did see her shake hands with a couple of the children.
Admiral Kelpie!	"Admiral Kelpie" (Has a rather nice ring to it, eh?) reads her award. All of us who had reservations were given certificates making us honorary admirals.
MJ and the Mayor	Actually, he is the former mayor of Gulfport. The current mayor had a emergency and couldn't breakfast at the yacht club with us so the former mayor was drafted to take his place. Too bad Gent wasn't there...that was his Admiral certificate that MJ tore to pieces.