We see Mississippi sights, hear Mississippi sounds and dabble at a couple of casinos.

I'm sitting here in a cozy house overlooking Mississippi Sound and listening to torrents of rain bounce off the trees and hit the decking.  It sounds a lot like the rain we got in the Keys...but little else sounds like Florida.

We don't hear seabirds squawking--perhaps being a half-block away from the beach is responsible. And we don't hear the leaf-blowers that drove us a bit loony in the Keys--they seem to the primary landscaping tool down there. Ah...for the good old days of rakes!

But there's a train track not too far from here and in the night we hear the whistles of passing freights. I find this kind of cool. It reminds me of Johnny Cash's songs and Mark Twain's stories--and definitely lets us know we are somewhere other than  New Hampshire.

The architecture is another mood-setter. As we walk Maggie around the neighborhood, we love scoping out the houses. Many are just lovely, with wonderful porches and lawns shaded by these dramatic trees. There are still empty lots with abandoned foundations hete and there--Katrina leftovers--but many properties have been refurbished. And many are for sale, as you might expect.

This one, right around the corner, really caught our eye.  It has a direct view of the beach, a great feel about it, and is right next door to a property that is listing for around $1 million.

We checked out the interior on the listing page 1130 2nd Street, Gulfport and love the fireplaces, high ceilings, big back yard--though the yard needs work and the furniture as shown is too formal. Maybe we should take a look!

We've also visited a couple of casinos. Grand Casino Biloxi has a few (very few) of our favorite casino machines. They were mostly full so we headed for the tables. The Gulf Coast casinos are very player-friendly in that there are always $5 tables.  Let It Ride is very common, of course Black Jack (we even saw a $1 table last night) and several novelty games like 3-Card poker.  You don't see Caribbean Stud very often--but they have a game called Mississippi Stud, which is everywhere.  It's a table poker game, but allows you to increase your bet if you have a good hand. Last night at Island View Casino, Bud and I both left with more than we came with--a good thing!

We have lots more exploring to do...can't wait for the rain to stop!