Great Steamboat Race Cookout Review

A phrase I use frequently in asking how a person's day was is "Other than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like the play?" It was apropos today down at Cox's Park for my annual Great Steamboat Race cookout. We all got there at 10:00, and surprisingly we set up the canopy in record time this year. The morning was great - I got some homework done, had a great hot dog, and best of all, there was no drama. That is, until the remnants of Hurricane Katrina swept through. The wind was unbelievable. On the tables, we had everything anchored down with cornhole bags and other heavy objects so it all wouldn't blow away. Unfortunately we can't say the same for my dining canopy. A huge gust of wind came and blew the canopy over. And over. And over. And over. By the time we were able to chase it down, it was mangled. There's no use sweating over it - it was about 8 or 9 years old, and I got my money's worth out of it. So we took off the actual canopy and saved it, and then dragged the mangled metal frame over by the garbage cans.

But we weren't the only ones to experience this unfortunate incident. By the time we packed up and came home, there were two other canopy frames, also mangled, with ours by the garbage cans.