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.

On the road again!

In a few minutes we'll be out the door for our overnight in Tallahassee.

Where did the month go?

Wind Chill--Florida Keys style, we visit animal shelters...and a day of packing ahead (bummer!)

Today is our last day in the Keys. How did a month go by without us noticing? we'll be pondering that question for a while!

Yesterday the weather turned chilly and windy, Florida-style. In fact, the Miami evening news put out a cold alert--48 degrees! To us New Hampshirites, this is too funny!

Noreen and I left the Steve and Bud to do laundry and generally relax while we went off to visit a few of the local animal shelters (there are several). As board members for our SPCA at home, the Concord-Merrimack County SPCA, we were hoping for an interesting afternoon of fact-finding. We did find a wonderful county-funded shelter, the Humane Animal Care Coalition, Inc. (305 451-0088) at MM 106 in Key Largo. But we also  found there are smaller non profit shelters and rescue/adoption operations with indequate funding and facilities and overlapping service areas--confusing and also upsetting to see! 

Meanwhile Bud and Steve were snoozing and reading in loungers--bundled up with blankets against the cool breeze off the water.  Well, cool meaning 68 degrees.

Maggie knows that Noreen has been petting other dogs---how could she!

A rough afternoon for Bud and Maggie!



We finished the day with a wonderful dinner at Snappers--the restuarant (non dog-friendly) not too far from us, oceanside. This was a great decision!  Their fish menu is organized like the ones we encountered a couple of years ago along the coast of Chile. You pick your fish (grouper, tuna, hogfish, etc.) from one list, then you pick how you'd like it cooked from another list (fried, blackened, more complex sauteeing, etc.).  I chose the  grouper, cooked "Dakota" style, with slivered almonds and a champagne butter sauce. It was heaven!

Alas, tomorrow we leave for the Gulf coast of Mississippi!  This means getting our KIA Sorento packed up and saying goodbye to the Keys. We'll head out early in the morning for the first leg--a 8 1/2 drive up to Tallahasse, where we'll overnight and make connections with Bud's brother and sister-in-law, Rich and Dot.  Then Sunday morning we'll make the final 5 1/2 hour drive over to Gulfport.

We're sad to be leaving the Keys--think of all the things we'll miss! The dogs parks and dog-friendly restaurants (I'll do a complete review with links in a day or two). Playing dominoes with Steve and Noreen.  Morning coffee in the hot tub. The sunsets!

Monochrome, but still beautiful!

On the other hand, we love Mississippi's Gulf Coast, have more friends arriving from New Hampshire in a week or so and then (of course) there are the casinos!

Shopping, Hemingway and Maggie has a spa day!

Yesterday was one of those days that blurs a bit when you try and remember what you did, at least for us. But Patty and Gordon and Steve and Noreen found the World Wide Sportsman, a store-marina-lounge-fishing supply place of dramatic proportions down in Islamorada.

Normally we don't like to shop, but our friends' loot got us drooling and we decided to give it a go this morning after dropping Maggie off at the groomers for a bath, haircut, nail trim and such. First off, the store had us at hello--check out the dog-friendly display at the front door!

A bit of a squeeze, but Maggie could fit!








We were so intent on the shirts, shorts and sandals that at first we missed the obvious--a 38' boat plunked smack in the middle of the sales area. Turns out it's a sister ship (well...half sister, actually) of Hemingway's famous Pilar. The real Pilar is in Cuba, at Finca Viga, where she is on display at Hemingway's homestead. (and, oh man, would I love to go there!)

But this Pilar has her own interesting history.  She was a co-star with Bogey and Bacall in the 1948 classic film, Key Largo, though she had another name--Santana. She banged around the Keys as a fishing boat, was bought and sold and now has been restored and is the centerpiece of the World Wide Sportsman. (visit http://www.worldwidesportsman.com/ for details)

We lugged our purchases out to the car and returned to explore the boat--you can climb right up and explore both above and belowdecks.

This is the most comfortable you will ever see Bud on a boat--not a chance of getting seasick!  He could even take the helm.



As for me, I pretended to peck away at the pretend Hemingway typewriter.

Maggie went in to the grooming salon looking like this!

And came out several hours later looking like this....

Ooh la la!

The fine job of grooming (and humoring my fussiness about bell-bottom legs and Tina Turner topknots) was done by Linda Geisler, owner of PetGroomer, LLC at MM 88 Overseas Highway. (305 852-4644, keyspetgroomer@aol.com)







Everglades, casinos and a funeral procession.

Our trip to Everglades National Park with Steve and Noreen started out perfectly--with Cuban cafe con leche at Cafe Cubano. Bud even bought a pound of the coffee so we can try making it ourselves--it's called Pilon Espresso (http://www.javacubana.com/). If we can duplicate the flavor, we'll try to order it online.

The temp was around 72, with light cloud cover.  Nice for photos with good color saturation.

We started at the Anhinga Trail, just beyond the Visitors Center, where we bought a hat for Bud and more presents for the grandkids in their excellent gift shop. (A bit of advice for old folks like us: if you're 62 or older, buy a Senior Pass to all the national parks. For $10, you, and everyone in your vehicle, gets free entry into all the national parks for your lifetime--a true bargain!)

The first thing you see at the Anhinga Trail is masses of black vultures (Noreen, our bird expert, noted that these are different from the one with red heads, called turkey vultures).

A face only a mother could love!



The trail makes a two-sided loop, and we started with the loop that overlooks a large pool filled with American Alligators--they are darker, have broader snouts and are more common (and bolder...uh, more aggressive) than the endangered American Crocodile. When I say the pool was filled,I counted 14 and those were just the ones above water, trying to soak up some sun on the hammock!

I remember the same overlook from our houseboating trip to the Keys back in 1986.  Could these gators be the grandkids of the ones we saw then?

The trail is called the Anhinga Trail because of the plentiful anhingas.  They are stunning birds and are everywhere.

Anhingas like to dry their wings...nice display!



Anhingas also have rather startling blue-rimmed eyes.

I can't name all the birds we saw, but I loved this one...such a beautiful body, with wonderful colors.  But, oh, those legs and feet!  surely they were meant for a much larger bird?

After taking in nature and enjoying a healthy stroll, Bud and I headed for the Seminole Hard Rock Resort and Casino, just north of Miami. Click here for details. It was a short, if a bit fun, trip.  Table limits were high ($15 and up).  The machines are overwhelmingly slots (not for us), though we did find some keno machines that showed promise-a few minor jackpots for me. It all seemed ok until a cocktail waitress came by and offered drinks--for $5 each.  We haven't seen this in casinos anywhere in the world--not in South Africa, not in South America, not anywhere in Europe, Southeast Asia or the Caribbean--and certainly not in the US! Drinks are always free--though tips are greatly appreciated.

On the way back to Tavernier we decided to hop over to 95 instead of taking Florida's Turnpike and ran into the funeral procession for the two Miami police officers that were shot last week. Click here for the full story.  It was incredible--the entire northbound section of 95 was closed and there were hundreds of law enforcement vehicles, lights blazing in the procession.

What, might you ask, was Maggie doing all this time?  She was having a lovely day with her dog nanny, Carol Trump (305 664-0539).  Carol took her to the dog park to play with her usual pals, then snagged her an invitation to the doggie birthday party of one of those pals. When we picked Maggie up she was pooped and smiling, and got rave revues for her behavior.  (Of course!).

Dog park pictures...editor's (my) picks--some Maggie, some not!

Over the past three + weeks I have taken hundreds of pictures as we tool around the dog parks here in Monroe Country (better known as the Florida Keys). Click here for the page that gets you the list, complete with addresses. Most allow you to walk dogs on leashes, especially where there a walking/jogging circuits, like the Key Largo Community Park, which has a lovely shaded walkway.

Some of the parks (like Sunset Park right here in Tavernier and Higgs Beach in Key West) have off-leash park/play areas where you often find regular play groups built around certain times. I think I mentioned that we are addicted to the mid-morning play group at Founders Park (community park, not county) in Islamorada. We are going to miss them when we move on to Mississippi next weekend.

I haven't been able to weave all my favorite pictures into my posts, so here's a selection--no story line, just dogs. Most images are mine, but some are Noreen's.

Maggie and her friend Bailey at Founder's Park--Noreen's shots!

Tigger (who surveys all action from his owners lap)--another of Noreen's shots.

Play action fake (?) at Founders Park



Tomorrow Carol is sitting for our Maggie while we go on a wildlife excursion to the Everglades with Steve and Noreen. Dogs are not allowed in Everglades National Park, which is probably a good thing.  I imagine Maggie would make a tasty appetizer for a hungry croc!

The opposite of flat calm is....WIND!!

We're into our second day of serious, serious wind. This comes a week after our last serious wind--surely this is not a weekly cycle!

This time several windsurfers were plying the waves just off our dock, criss-crossing each other and generally looking like they were having a jolly time until the winds kicked up from the mid-20's to around 30 mph. They all gave it up but one, who fell and took a good 10 minutes to right himself.

Here's some video of the waves hitting the jetty about 100' to the west of us. Believe it or not, this was before the winds hit their highest.

Maggie will normally look skyward when a jet makes noise overhead and seemed very confused as to where all the noise was coming from!



Maggie looks right...left...up...down...back at me...huh??

 

Anatomy of a Sunset

Most days, right about happy hour, we make our way down to the dock to watch the sun set over the point just to the west of us. The tiki hut out at the tip of the point makes a good foil for the changing colors, and we have found that two sunsets are never the same.




Bud hangs at the end of the dock with friends Ted and Lucy for the sunset while Maggie plays dockmaster.

On Thursday evening the 20th of January, it was almost flat calm.  The sun had been out all day and a few clouds appeared on the horizon just as the sun was beginning to fall.  Here's how it looked, with the shots spaced out as we watched the mood and the colors change.

6:39 pm





and 6:42 pm...

and 6:46 pm...

and 6:48 pm...

almost gone just a minute later at 6:49 pm.

At 7:18 pm the chairs at the end of the dock are stacked against any wind that might come in overnight; the solar-powered lights have come on, and our loungers stand ready for tomorrow's reading in the sun.