And if you have been with us for a while you may notice that this is the SECOND time that we have done Mississippi in a day on this trip - the first was back in December. hmmmmmm.....
After our great meal at Cornerstone in Pascagoula we headed just east on the 90 to the Walmart - our overnight place.
First thing Tuesday we were back on the 90 headed west to visit Mississippi's Gulf Coast.
The trip through the remainder of Pascagoula, Gautier and Ocean Springs was pretty uneventful, especially since the highway is traveling through the outskirts of these towns.
Things changed as we came over this bridge over the Biloxi Bay and into - where?
yup - Biloxi.
At this point the 90 becomes a scenic drive running parallel to the beach, although at first it starts off with a few casinos and hotels such as the Hard Rock. All new - as near as we can tell.
We were looking for a place to stop for breakfast and maybe a look around. My handy map showed the location of the Biloxi Lighthouse. I had read that you can climb it - for a fee - and so I figured it must have a parking lot.
Sure enough - just up ahead was the lighthouse, the visitors center, a parking lot, the beach and a pier.
EXCELLENT!
So we stopped - had breakfast and visited all those places above - well except for the lighthouse of course - but I did take a picture of it.
The Biloxi Lighthouse with the Visitor Center (new building) in the background.
It was nice to walk the pier. The first one really - the last three we saw in Florida all charged for the pleasure.
After a few hours we were done and continued on our way.
I now need to stop and address an issue regarding the rest of the drive along the 90.
KATRINA!
Yup - she was here and she took almost everything along this strip.
Perhaps like us you were far away from this tragedy....sure we felt bad....but......
Well - now it puts the devastation all into perspective.
I mean - almost everything is gone!
sad.
Derek and I were shocked to see - a lot of of empty lots, a lot of for sale signs, many foundations, and on and on. There are some new buildings - hotels, casinos, condos but nothing like there was - obviously. There are also a lot of beautiful - expensive - homes. I wish I could have photographed some but we didn't stop. Not sure if they were damaged and fixed or built new - it was really hard to tell.
Anyway, the horrors of Katrina really hit home to us - you can see some of the pictures here.
In a way we were wondering why it is taking so long to rebuild - but obvious now looking at the pictures, they have spent all this time just getting it cleaned up.
This is how most of the 90 looks now from Biloxi through to Pass Christian. It is actually a very nice beach along here with good access.
I got one picture of one of the more humble homes.
We did see the 'blue lines' painted on the light poles showing the water levels during Katrina - WoW! and the 'tree sculptures' created from damaged trees. Alas - no pictures - sorry.
We ended our trip along this route by going into Buccaneer State Park on the west side of Waveland. Friends of ours how told us about it and we thought we MIGHT stay. Laundry was listed as one of the amenities but since they are still rebuilding I wasn't sure if they did or not.
We decided not to stay because there is no laundry and for $24 we needed to be able to justify the splurge. We carried on back to the Interstate stopping in at the Mississippi Welcome Center to check the internet since we did not know weather the Louisiana Welcome Center had wifi.
Then we stopped at the Louisiana WC just down the road. The LWC can be counted on for nice staff, good info and most importantly complimentary coffee. Having found a Home Depot in Covington we headed there for the night.
We were glad to see the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. We had a feeling that it wasn't really our place - especially with so many Casinos. But at the same time it is nice to see something to know that you have seen it and don't have to go back.
Happy to be in Louisiana!
Drop us a line if you get a chance - we LOVE to correspond.
Teresa
Today's Interesting Link: The Mississippi Gulf Coast wasn't really for us - but it might be for you! Here is the link to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The beaches did look quite nice - and totally quiet on the day we drove through.
No comments:
Post a Comment