"They're all gone," said Cindy Williams Hood of Woolmarket, whose Williams family continued the park even as entertainment tastes changed.
"Over the years, business has gotten worse but we held on to it trying to make a go. All of daddy's grandkids had their first jobs there. All our birthdays were there. There are a lot of memories for everybody."
Her daughter combed the site for souvenirs and found only a few golf balls and clubs. The rest is rubble, or bigger pieces like Rex. Almost 50 and the creation of miniature golf genius Lee Koplin, Rex was photographed after Camille, standing tall over the destruction of the Biloxi Strip, a "tourist neighborhood" from DeBuys Road eastward to Rodenberg.
Slippery Sam's, a waterslide across the street also owned by the Williams family, closed in 2004 and was to become a condominium site. Sale of the amusement park itself was being discussed before Katrina, Hood said. The family does not plan to rebuild the amusement park.
--- KAT BERGERON