Katrina history and my blog tops 1000 hits!

Our hosts here in Gulfport left an amazing picture book, Katrina Before & After, for their guests to look at. It was produced by the Sun Herald and illustrates Katrina's wrath by pairing before and after shots of various sites (some businesses, some homes) along the Gulf Coast.  It was published in 2006, and we are going to try and find a copy to bring home with us. It is horrifying!

At the same time, the rebuilding and restoration of the economy is progressing (not really helped by the BP oil spill, of course).  Here is a shot of a home along Beach Road--I love the color and feel--and, yes, it is another cheat shot.  I took it last June.

Who wouldn't love to live here?



A cool thing for me--last night my "stats" tracker on Travels with Chase Hit 1000 views since I started the blog a month ago! (And no, I am not tracking my own views).  Guess I'll keep going!

Another rare double post--a park, a casino and a review of The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint!

Our primary mission this morning was a scouting mission to the The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint. They have been written up on the Food Network and won numerous awards for their BBQ.  They also are known for their weekend blues bands--so we wanted to see if they are worth a Saturday night trip.

Well!  The story goes that the Shed was started by dumpster-diving Brad Orrison--a trash collector and lover of BBQ. He decided to build a BBQ joint out of all the trash he had collected.  Family members were impressed and joined in the venture--developing award-winning BBQ and adding the stage and music as time went on.

We found the place, though we were a bit tentative walking in the front door.

It turns out that the Shed is actually a real shed (expanded a zillion times, for sure). It is built out of real junk and trash--not faux decorations like in some national restaurant chains. This is slap-your-knee-by-gosh-and-golly....junk!

We sat at the bar for lunch, got the pulled pork (a "speciality") and were wowed. The beans are great and the coleslaw is too.  That's as far as we got. Our server, Sara, told us that this Saturday a blues/funk band called Fort Bayou Slim would be playing--and said thay are consistently great. When I asked about reservations, she looked amused. Silly me to think that the Shed would have reservations! We'll plan to be there when the band starts at 7.

We also stopped in at the IP Casino in Biloxi and won a very nice jackpot.  We had forgotten about the banks of keno and video poker machines on the second floor.

A couple of days ago (in balmier weather) Bud was walking Maggie and ran into some other dog owners out for a stroll.  They recommended a park just a block away--it's not a dog park, per se, but is fenced and has lovely sitting areas and even a tennis court.  We took Maggie there for some serious play--all based on chasing her favorite green ball, weird-looking though it is.

Go Maggie!



Notes on the weather....cold!

A morning note about the weather: it is 37 degrees! It reminds us a bit of the New England seashore in the early spring--water a silvery gray and a very nippy wind. For the first time since we left New Hampshire on January 3, I am wearing my winter vest and scarf!

The temp is at least 30 degrees below normal for February, and it's making news.  Last night the local TV station weatherman did a lengthy segment explaining what sleet is--complete with film showing what it looks like and how it bounces off the hood of your car. He had a black raincoat on so he could give a live demonstration, but the sleet stopped. Too funny!

But the weather is giving us time to research and plan what we'd like to do.  One thing that's high on my list is an excursion on the Biloxi Shrimping Trip tour.  You go out for 70 minutes on a shrimp boat and learn all about it.  They operate Feb-Nov. and if I can't talk Bud into it, perhaps I can persuade friends Nancy and Cloyd who arrive from NH on Saturday.

Meantime, here's what the water looks like in this weather pattern.  See the resemblance to to the Atlantic on a calm day in early spring?

But the good news is that by Saturday the weather will return to more normal...mid 60's.  Wahoo!

The Friendship Oak, shrimp boats and an excursion to Pass Christian.

Today's primary mission was to locate the Friendship Oak on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Long Beach (the next town towards New Orleans). It's right off Beach Rd, or US 90, and was so worth the trip.

It is a Live Oak (as are all the other magnificent trees the grace the lawns and line the beach boulevard), and is 500 years old--imagine! It's now 50' high with a spread of 156 feet and provides 16,000 sf of shelter. It's a favorite place to get married, and legend has it it that those who walk under the limbs will be friends forever.

A signpost puts everything in perspective.

The stairs are no longer there (washed away by Katrina?), but it still is something to behold.

Next on our list was to find Pass Christian Harbor, and a restaurant called Shaggy's . Since there is really only one road along the beach, it was easy to spot.

Rumor has it they have great food, great music and also allow dogs.  We'll see! On the other side of the harbor, shrimp boats sat idle--we will have to find out more about the shrimping season.  We hear there's a shrimp boat in Biloxi that takes on passengers for day trips--that would be very cool!



Just at the end of the harbor there is a an extensive fishing pier, complete with benches, shaded canopies and containers for fishing line and other used fishing gear. Maggie enjoyed exploring.

Just beyond the pier there was all kinds of activity...fellows in shallow boats with rakes and another fellow who seemed to be collecting or processing the catch.  Bud's guess is oysters...but we will have to find out.

The drive along Beach Road is interesting. Parts are still lined with the Live Oaks, but often you see empty lots with forlorn-looking foundations--houses destroyed by Katrina and never rebuilt.  But some houses  (clearly many which have been around for many decades) are beautifully maintained--what we would call southern mansions.  Very Tara-esque.  I stopped to take a photo of one and was greeted by an immense  Great Dane.  I took my shot and hopped back in the car!

From there we stopped into the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, just beyond Pass Christian click here for link (great keno machines and an $800 win for me).  Another stop at the Sliver Slipper Casino click here for link netted Bud $100.

Fun!!

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!

Pecan pie, an afternoon walking the beach and hunkering down for tomorrow's thunder, lightening and rain!

I know for sure I am down south now! There are Waffle Houses every few feet--or so it seems.  Bud and I stopped for a lunch at one yesterday and I decided to treat myself to a small 99-cent piece of pecan pie.  The waitress asked if I would like it warmed (sure), then asked if I wanted butter on it. Butter on pie! This has to be a southern thing, along with grits and sausage gravy! I said no thanks...and the 99-cent slice looked to me like a $5 slice. (Yes, I ate it!)

The weather here has been delightful. We spent the morning connecting with the post office to make sure we would be getting our Premium Forwarding service (no problem) and picking up provisions at the local Winn-Dixie Supermarket. We shopped the same chain in Florida, and picked up a rewards card there--which also works here and saved us a bit.

I say provisions because the nasty weather up north that's coming seems to be spinning off some severe weather down here as well (OK, not as bad as up north, but still). It may well be a day to hunker down, make some beef stew and read.

We also explored the dog-friendliness of the area. Our rental is a dream--fenced yards, wonderful shade--Maggie is right at home.  But unfortunately, a quick fact-finding visit to the local Humane Society revealed that the Gulf Coast has a ways to go to be as dog-friendly as the Keys.  There are no dog parks at all...none! The idea of a dog-friendly restaurant hasn't hit yet--though we stopped for a bit at the local Checkers chain (hamburgers and such) which has outdoor tables, and Maggie was a hit. No problem. We'll explore more.

We had been waiting forever to walk this long beach, and (on advice of some locals)decided to defy the no-dog signs and take Maggie. We walked the one block from our house to the beach and found a fog bank had rolled in.

It gave the beach a silvery, surreal feel, but still was just magnificent.  Sugar white sand, water actually warmer than in the Keys--don't ask us how!  Bud and Maggie were playing catch with her favorite green ball in a nano-second.

At one point a Harrison County truck roared down the sand and we cringed--Maggie was flipping and flailing around in a very fun-loving and obvious way. Would we get busted? But the fellow just smiled and waved and rolled on by.  How happy are we? Happy!!

Here's how we plan to spend a bit of every single day (weather permitting).

We arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi!

Well, in mapping out our route from the Keys to our overnight in Tallahassee, Bud found a reference to taking Rte. 27 up through the center of the Florida instead of the Florida's Turnpike.  The advice was that we would see interesting scenery and the "real" Florida. Hmmm...it was a  loooong ride with many traffic lights and lots of flat, dry landscape, punctuated by malls and vast orange groves, and a huge nest of fire ants that I stepped into at Lake Okeechobee. Ouch!

It's not a decision we would make again, though we did find a lovely Camille's Sidewalk Cafe in a mall near Orlando where we could have Maggie join us under a outdoor table with a nice umbrella.

We overnighted at a La Quinta an independent national chain, a bit more upscale than the Choice Hotels brand and all offering accommodations for pets with no fees and no deposits. The Tallahassee one was set in a very nice wooded area, with even a few hills (something we hadn't seen in a month!)

This morning they had fog alerts on Route 10, the main highway through the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi an on to New Orleans.  They weren't kidding!

We made a special stop at the Mississippi Welcome Center, right over the border from Alabama to pick up info on events, sight-seeing and so on.  We plan to explore the state as much as we can.  The moment I walked in the door I was offered free coffee and information and looked around to find an elegant ante-bellum decor.  Wow!

It's now late afternoon (an hour earlier than back home in New Hampshire). We are all unpacked in our very lovely rental just across from the beach, have made connections with Bud's brother Rich and his wife Dot and soon will be off for an hour or two at the casinos in Biloxi!

For those who don't read the Concord Monitor, my column this week is on how to get (and stay) organized on a long road trip.Click here if you'd like to check it out.