FATBOB's biker rally reviews
GULFPORT MEMORIAL DAY BLOWOUT 2004 BIKER RALLY
Memorial Day Blowout may 2004 Gulfport, MS May 28-30th 2004 I'm blowed out. I dunno what to say. The very first rally I've ever been to that was fun AND boring all at the same time! I pulled in late friday and paid my $50 to get in the gate (better bring your life savings if you plan on taking your RV to this one!), only to spend the better part of an hour driving around and around the campgrounds looking for a teensy tiny spot to put my tent up. Kinda pisses ya off ya know, when you pay that much to get in a rally and can't even find a camping spot. Finally ended up squeezin' in between two nice people (after the first 25 I asked said no) and got my gear setup. Ok, off to shoot some pictures! Except of course there really isn't much going on. There is absolutely NOTHING as far as organised entertainment, and the everybody there was all quiet like. It kinda reminded me of Daytona, but with more REAL bikers mixed in the crowd. I dunno, maybe it's just me. Seems a had a lot more fun at this rally in the past years. Saturday rolled around, and there still isn't much going on. I have to admit that the drags went on from noon'ish until dinner time... but that's not really what I go to biker rallies to see, ya know what I mean? Saturday afternoon they did have a biker rodeo, but they space it out with waaaaayyyyy to much time between the events. Like about an hour. So you show up for the slow race and it lasts about 10 minutes. Then they say ''ok everybody, come back in an hour for the barrel race''! And so on. It's amazing how you can make a rodeo last all damn afternoon if you really try. And ya'll know that Mississippi is hotter than hell by this time of year. Good thing there are trees & lots of giant RV's to provide shade. It's enough to make a real biker drink himself stupid! As a matter of fact, I did hear that one person passed out from heatstroke... hehehe I guess they just wasn't drinkin' enough. Ya'll know ya gotta keep them electrolytes up when it's that hot outside. And guess what? Beer is just PACKED with electrolyte thingy's! Lucky us, huh? The good thing about this rally is that it's sorta turned into a giant tailgate party. You can walk around the campground from party spot to party spot, catchin' some action. Anything from a bunch of cajun's having a crawfish boil to sampling some homeade hooch to enterprising bikers that will let women cool down in their little porta-pools they've got setup here & there. And just about anything and everything in between. Another good thing about this rally is that it ALWAYS has an AWESOME Saturday bikini contest and a WILD Sunday wet t shirt contest. Both contests take place around 6pm or so, which is also kinda nice. It really gets the party started for the rest of the evening. A word of caution though, the stage area can only hold less than 1,000 people which isn't nearly enough to accomadate the 10,000+ people that show up at this rally. So get to the stage areas early if you want a spot, and prepare to put up with the kind of packed-in crowd you ain't experienced since Mardi Gras. Of course when the sun goes down and the contests are over they've got live bands playing late into the night, but that ain't really where the party's at. They did have a couple of guys setup doing body painting over the weekend, which is always really cool. Not to mention all them biker chicks walking around showing off their artwork. So in conclusion... I dunno. I had a pretty good time, but it's thanks more to the people that went to the rally than anything the rally organizers did. I hate to bitch but for $50 per person they really could put more effort into the rally. Ya know, like a few extra contests late at night? Or maybe free beer? Hell, they could at least throw in a complimentary rally t shirt. Think of this one as a giant tailgate party for bikers, with a dragstrip and a couple of wild contests thrown in just for fun. ---------------------- Adult recommended children allowed, bring them if your an idiot. Entry : $50 per person + $20 per vehicle AND per trailer (ya, you read it right it's not a mistake) Camping on Site : Included RV Spots : Available ($$$ extra) Beer Sold on site Live Band Contests : Wet t-shirt Bikini Contest Events Biker rodeo Bike show Tatoo Contest Top fuel drags Sunday AM CMA services Food vendors on location Hotels, restaurants and everything else located in in Gulfport, MS not too far away