Casinos brace for hurricane

The Mississippi Gaming Commission ordered the 12 casinos located along the Gulf Coast to be closed as of Sunday morning (8/31/08). Employees and local residents joined the many visitors in town for the Labor Day weekend in evacuating to higher ground. All the casinos of Mississippi's Gulf coast had been swept out to sea when Katrina hit three years ago. However, the path of the current hurricane, Gustav, is somewhat west of the Mississippi casinos, so -- while they were evacuated -- casino management, employees and guests were hoping for the best. The casinos in Mississippi had all been totally rebuilt after Katrina.

In Louisiana, all casinos along the coast were also closed today. Harrahs in New Orleans and L'Auberge du Lac and Isle of Capri in Lake Charles are sitting directly in Gustav's expected landfall area.

Coushatta in Kinder, LA (somewhat north of the coast) also closed temporarily. Three years ago, in the aftermath of Katrina, Coushatta's cottages and RV park sites were filled with evcacuees for many months while the cleanup and repairs took place in New Orleans.

Post-Holiday Getaway Offer

Coushatta RV Resort in Kinder, Louisiana -- a favorite casino destination for Winter Texans -- is offering "Stay 3 Nights / Get 4th & 5th Nights Free" with a coupon that can be printed directly from their web site (gccoushatta.com.) The RV Park at Coshatta has roomy full hookup sites and there's reliable 24-hour shuttle service throughout the resort. We've stayed at Coushatta's RV Park many times...it's a comfortable place to just kick back and relax for a few days. The resort is in a quiet rural area and the RV Park is somewhat removed from the noise of the casino/hotel complex. For a January getaway, the free nights offer is attractive. Temperatures in the area this month are in the 70's daytime and 50's at night. The resort has a challenging golf course, several fairly nice restaurants, live entertainment and (of course) the casino. Texas Hold Em tournaments in the Poker Room.