I spent a fantastic five days in Lake Charles, LA, visiting my grandparents for Thanksgiving. One of the days we hopped in the car (cars, rather, since there were six of us) and drove around downtown and the lakefront area to see how the city is working to recover from Hurricane Rita. This is a water park situated on a little jut of land that extends into Lake Charles, from which you can view the bridge to I-10, as well as the spot where the Harrah's Casino came loose from its moorings during Hurricane Rita.

Then there was the usual merriment - lots of food, good wine, good conversation, as well as the expected photographic silliness. Some of it involving Santa hats.