Comment

Comment by Tripatini on July 7, 2010 at 1:19pm

Gulf Shores, Alabama update from BruceAtTheBeach.com, July 7:

Comment by Tripatini on July 7, 2010 at 1:08pm

From Alabama Gulf Coast CVB Facebook page, July 7:

Bonnie McGraw Israel "We just spent a wonderful week in Orange Beach! The 'Beach Patrol Crew' is doing a wonderful job keeping up with whatever BP throws our way." 52 minutes ago

Comment by Tripatini on July 7, 2010 at 10:49am

From West Point, Mississippi Times Leader, July 7:

"We Don’t Regret This Trip"
by Brandon Walker

"When [Stephanie] Craven and her family were getting ready for their yearly summer vacation, they opted for a week near Orange Beach, Ala., near the once-pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

In the days leading up to their trip, Craven acknowledges she grew nervous about what they would find in Orange Beach, thanks to the fallout from tragic oil spill emanating from BP’s deepwater horizon oil rig, which exploded on April 22.

“We had people tell us that we needed to cancel that we’d be wasting our time coming down here,” said Craven from Orange Beach on Tuesday, “but we were not going to let anything get in the way of our trip. We were determined to take the trip and support the people and businesses down here that need all the help they can get right now.”

“We were worried at first,” said Scott Reed, owner of Petal Pushers in downtown West Point. “But once we got here, it’s been absolutely beautiful. It has been nothing like we thought it would be.”

That’s currently the message being championed by tourism officials on the Gulf Coast, and its one that beach-goers from West Point seem to agree with. One-by-one, each agreed that if you were considering the Gulf Coast for a vacation spot this summer, then come on down.

“We got here a few days ago and we haven’t seen any signs of oil yet,” said Reed. “There are crews on the beach here working day and night to keep the areas clean.”

...While the oil is definitely in play, reports east of the Louisiana-Mississippi line have been spotty, with oil sheen and tar balls being seen here and there as far east as Panama City Beach. The wetlands and coastline of Louisiana, directly 108 miles north of the rig, has taken the brunt of the spill’s coastal effect so far.
“We’ve been here almost a week, and we’ve seen tar balls a couple of times, but it’s been sporadic,” said Craven, who was in Orange Beach and Perdido Key... “There have been no beach closings since we’ve been here. It’s been a great time.”

Not all beach excursions by West Point natives have been spotless, though. Rebecca Hinshaw DeSantis, a West Point native who recently moved back to town with her three children while her husband, Andy, serves in Iraq, reported a much more dire scene on her final two nights at the beach in mid-June.
“We were in Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) from May 23 until June 18,” said DeSantis. “It was absolutely beautiful for most of our trip, and then we started seeing the oil on our final two days. We saw some tar balls, but mostly it was a thick sheen on the top of the water. It was so sad.”

That sheen was reported from Pensacola to Panama City in mid-to-late June, but has since eased in the early part of July."

Comment by Tripatini on July 7, 2010 at 9:01am

From NicksTravelBlog.com, July 6:

"Marriott Hotels & Hotels.com are offering oil-free guarantees to help ease the fears of those wishing to travel to the gulf coast this summer but are worried that BP’s oil spill environmental disaster will ruin their trip.

* Marriott is offering a refund of 50 percent of the room rate for each day that the beach is officially closed and a full refund to guests who cancel before their arrival.
* Hotels.com is offering an extended cancellation window to the day of arrival for participating hotels in Florida"

Comment by Ed Wetschler on July 6, 2010 at 9:57pm

from AP
Oil Seeps into New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain

"For the first time since the accident, oil from the ruptured well is seeping into Lake Pontchartrain, threatening another environmental disaster for the huge body of water that was rescued from pollution in 1990s to become, once more, a bountiful fishing ground and a popular spot for boating and swimming.

Over the July Fourth weekend, tar balls and an oil sheen pushed by strong winds from faraway Hurricane Alex slipped past lines of barges that were supposed to block the passes connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the lake.
State authorities closed the lake's eastern reaches to fishing on Monday, though most of it remained open.

Out in the Gulf, meanwhile, stormy weather kept skimmers from working offshore Tuesday for yet another day and delayed the hookup of a big new ship intended to suck more crude from the gushing well. "

Comment by Tripatini on July 6, 2010 at 6:26pm

From Galveston Island, Texas CVB, July 6:

"An Update on Galveston Island Tar Ball Sightings
Small Tar Balls Sighted and Removed from Beaches; No Others Found

[July 6, 2010] - The Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau today provided these key points regarding recent tar ball sightings on Galveston-area beaches:

* As of July 3rd a small amount of tar balls connected with the Deep Water Horizon oil spill were found on Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island’s East Beach. These small tar balls have been removed from the beaches and no other tar balls have been found.
* Galveston’s beaches remain open to the public, and are still looking good."

Comment by Tripatini on July 6, 2010 at 6:19pm

From Panama City, Florida CVB Facebook page, July 6:

Donna B Knight "Just spent the weekend at PCB....beautiful beaches everyday NO SIGN OF OIL & water was beautiful as always !!:)" 51 minutes ago

Comment by Tripatini on July 6, 2010 at 6:05pm

Comment by Tripatini on July 6, 2010 at 2:22pm

From TravelMole.com, July 5:

"Expedia Media, the advertising sales division of the online travel company Expedia Inc., announced plans to provide marketing support to travel destinations affected by the Gulf oil spill.

During July, August and September, Expedia Media will offer a 3-to-1 matching program for destination marketing organizations and tourism boards in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Organizations in these areas will receive $3 in marketing value for every $1 spent with Expedia Media."

Comment by Tripatini on July 6, 2010 at 11:01am

From Pensacola News-Journal, July 6:

Little Oil on Pensacola Beach, But Crowd Thin, Too
by Thyrie Bland

" At Pensacola Beach on Monday, rain — not the BP oil — kept people away from the beach. About 50 people were on Casino Beach about 3 p.m.

Santa Rosa Island Authority Executive Director W.A. "Buck" Lee said he walked the tide line on the west end of the beach Monday morning and could see what looked like an oily substance.

"You could see when the high tide came in a little line of product of some sort," he said.

Tar balls, tar patties and sheen have been reported in Northwest Florida, but there were fewer effects reported over the holiday weekend due to westward-moving winds and ocean currents, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said.

...But [Santa Rosa Island Authority Executive Director W.A. "Buck" Lee] said the number of vehicles that went through the toll plaza at the Bob Sikes Bridge beach Saturday and Sunday was only 5 percent fewer than the same time period last year.

'I thought that was amazing,' he said. "Most everybody thinks we are down 50 percent, but we're not.'"

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 21
• 22
• 23
• 24
• 25
• …
• 34
• Next ›
• Page