At this point, it's probably beating a dead horse to make fun of those omnipresent ads for BP promoting tourism along the Gulf of Mexico -- the ones that call it "the Gulf’s best tourism season in years.” The reality for most tourists along the Gulf Coast is that -- to put it mildly -- the experience can vary. It's possible to have a grand summer vacation two years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion -- but it helps not to eat seafood, given the lax testing standards. And if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, your experience could be a nightmare. Check out what happened to these locals from Foley, Ala., when they tried to swim in their local waters recently:
A Foley family said they became seriously ill after swimming on the beach in Gulf Shores where tarballs and oily sea shells were washing up Sunday. James Nolan said their bodies were coated in a tacky, brown tar that was nearly impossible to clean off.
“It was all over our arms and our legs,” Nolan said, who was swimming in Laguna Key. “I threw up right after. I never do that. We ...