Thad and Drew came to Houston, had a quick sandwich then we hopped in the truck and headed for Hackberry. It is usually about a 2.5 hr drive, but with traffic, and stops, we made it in 3 hrs. We arrived right about dark, 5:00 or so, and got our licenses, visited with Kurt, Bobby and Guy, and some of the others in our party that were already there. John, Matt, Matt, Mark, and Donnie and Jim had arrived about an hour before us. Shortly after our arrival, the Lodge Masters (Kurt, Bobby and Guy) were cooking up some duck goodies for everyone to snack on before supper. While hanging out and munching on the efforts of hunters before us, Mike and his troupe arrived. Doug, Scott, Bill, Frank and Bryan. The supper bell rang, and ... read more

Keating Boys Duck Hunt in Hackberry Louisiana, 2009 James, we miss having you with us. Arrival Friday afternoon, we met at the lodge. With wonderful weather, we sat outside and visited, waiting for the other members of the group to arrive and caught up on what was happening in our friends and relatives lives. After sitting down to a meal of fresh garlic bread, etoufee, butter beans, carrots, iced-tea, and blueberry topped cheesecake, we all retired back upstairs to continue visiting before going to bed. The door opens at 4:30AM with the "Rise n Shine" wake up call. Saturday Morning ---------------------- We got up, went down to the restaurant, which used to be the office before Ike. The office moved upstairs to room number 9, and the old office-mall is now the eating area, and very ... read more

Also known as Day Last in Jamaica. Tomorrow is our last day, but that day will be filled with travel, from the time we get up, to the time we land, will be a full day, so I can't really say that tomorrow is going to be 'in Jamaica'. Today we ate, and went on the daily activity of relaxing by the beach. Boys played in the sand, mom and dad took another snorkeling trip, and one more sail on the Hobie with Gregory, the chief on the beach water sports. He took us on a good 30 minute sail yesterday, showing us some of the guest houses along the coast, one of the new resorts going in, but from what I saw, it is not going to be any competition for Sandals. We did see ... read more

Day 3 is done. We slept until we woke up as we have done so far on the trip. Isn't that what vacations are for? Not to hurry, hurry on some silly schedule. We got up, made coffee in the room, had a couple of cups (can't get more than that out of this two cup pot), and then dressed for the day. Let's see, maybe we could wear swim suits today, you think? Have swim suits for each day except the days we are traveling (3 suits for 5 days). You wouldn't want everyone to see you in the same suit twice would you? After a very good breakfast, we headed for the beach. We managed to get two great table locations, last night and this morning for breakfast. This morning, the wait staff sat ... read more

To say it was a long day is an understatement. Early up, so you can wait in lines. In Houston, no problem. Made it through security, got to the gate, and waited for boarding. After we got on board, before take off, someone got sick (rhymes with arf) and we had mechanical delay. Something about gas tank gauge not reading full. Then off to Jamaica. Capt. and flight crew did a great job of flying, and landing. They were not informed as to how customs processed arrivals however. They passed out the Jamaican forms, and clearly said "one per family. up to 4 people on one card". So, we filled out one, and The Perrodins filled out one. It may be this was their first flight into Jamaica, but when we got down to customs, there ... read more