Restaurants, Katrina sculpture, Sophie the pug gets a wheelchair and we pack up for New Hampshire...sad!!

We can't say enough about the beaches here on the Gulf Coast, and if Maggie could talk, well...just take a look.






 

This is before the fun starts...she's still a diva.

Then she heads for the water, today's feature shot.

By the time it's over, she is a real mess, but oh so happy and tired out!

We've really loved the restaurants here. We stopped again at Shaggy's in Pass Christian the other day for lunch. It's the only restaurant we have found that allows dogs inside as well as out--kind of fitting with the beachy marina setting.

Another place we sampled just yesterday is Salute's Italian Restaurant down the beach a bit in Gulfport. They have a great menu, tons of outdoor shaded tables overlooking the beach and very, very reasonable for the upscale food they serve. Wish we had stopped by earlier in the month--another meal there will have to wait for our return. 

Our return to the Gulf Coast is absolutely guaranteed!

A moving feature of the Gulf Coast I haven't mentioned is the sculptures carved from the trunks of trees that were killed by Katrina. Click here for details. The concept began with local chainsaw sculptor Dayton Scoggins, and the idea was to utilize the dead trees as a sort of memorial, carving them into representations of coastal marine wildlife--birds, dolphins, and more. The idea also inspired Florida sculptor Marlin Miller to join in. Now there are more than a dozen sculptures along Biloxi's Beach Boulevard.

And for those who remember my post on the 75 dogs surrendered to the Humane Society of south Mississippi, I have an update.  I stopped by yesterday to meet with Executive Director, Tara High and chat about shelter operations and governance. Sophie, the black pug with the crippled back legs featured in the TV segments, happened to be visiting with her new adoptive family--and a brand new wheelchair. Mom says that she took to it with no training at all.



How's that for a fancy doggie wheelchair?

For those who were worried about the pig who was surrendered the same day as all the dogs--she is NOT going to be bacon!  She has been adopted as a pet and should be installed in her new home in Pennsylvania very soon.

Soon we'll be starting a Capital Campaign for our shelter in Concord (NH)--I am so inspired to see what can be done, and have pages of notes to bring home to my fellow SPCA board members.





Beauvoir after Katrina...better than ever--and I get the scoop on the beaches!

It's taken me almost the entire month, but today I finally got to spend the afternoon at Beauvoir, the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. This is what the grounds look like today (pardon the incoming fog!). For the details about history and plans for the presidential library now under construction click here.

The small cottage just behind Jefferson's statue is where he wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.  Beauvoir is in the background. After Katrina the cottage and statue were...well, gone.  Beauvoir itself looked like this:

Damage was incredibly severe. The magnificent front porch was gone, holes in the roof...very scary.  But what you don't see is that of the 60 pilings holding the house up, 30 had been washed away.

It's 5 1/2 years later, and look at the porch now.  The cottage you see to the west is identical to the one to the east which served as Jefferson's study. This fellow was on the 1:30 tour with me--here on business from Alabama and decided to check it out.

Both cottages are reproductions rather than restorations--Katrina didn't leave much.



It's hard to grasp the scale of Beauvoir without actually ambling up the steps and sinking into a rocker. Interior ceiling heights are 14 1/2 feet. The feel is much like some of the restored Imperial Palaces in Russia--especially the Czar's Summer Palace outside of St.Petersburg, though smaller, of course.

A portrait of Jefferson sits over the mantel in the front parlor. What looks like woodgrain on the doors is clever painting.The fabric on the chairs had to be re-made at a cost of over $500 a yard.  But experts made sure it matched the original and also that the interior wall colors and designs were authentic.

Like many southern homes, ceilings were high to diffuse the heat and windows were huge to allow breezes in. Many homes had through-and-through floor plans, which allowed the air to circulate--and we are noticing that this is still true of many southern homes. so different from our New England homes designed to trap the the heat.

I love the Live Oaks on the lawn.  They seem to make it through most anything and give the landscape a genteel antebellum feel.

Just as I was leaving, the fog decided to get serious--a bit unusual for a warm afternoon.



One interesting thing I learned about the beautiful beaches here--on the tour I noticed a sketch of Beauvoir from the late 1800's and you could see that it sat many, many feet above the water line--and the water line seemed scruffy and uneven.  We had always known the beaches here are man-made, but our guide enlightened me more.  Back in 1951 (after a bout of severe hurricanes in the '40's) Mississippi decided to dredge 15,000,000 cubic feet (or thereabouts) of sand from a trench 1500' out into Mississippi Sound.

Hence, the beaches.  But they are lovely, lovely, lovely. I intend to learn more about how they are maintained.



A day trip to Natchez, the Mighty Mississippi and the Natchez Trace Parkway!

Sunday we had a plan--get up super early (6 or so) and head for Natchez up on the Mississippi River, about 200 miles away.


The plan worked well, except for the getting up super early part.  Donna and Keith and the Hard Rock Casino called us Saturday night and before we knew it, it was late!

The drive is the longest we have taken since coming over to Gulfport from the Keys--a good chance to get back into our audio book, Stephen King's Duma Key. Before we knew it, we rolled into the wonderful new Visitor's Center that looks out over the Mississippi and the bridge that crosses over into Louisiana. Click here for a direct link.

Natchez sits on a bluff and the city has built a glorious walkway along the very top...a great place for a Sunday afternoon walk.

Benches for viewing are scattered along the length and the rail design makes it easy to see what's happening along the river.

Like this barge chugging along below, no doubt headed somewhere down in the delta.

One spot along the river below the bluff is called "Under the Hill" and has some long-standing pubs and restaurants as well an old riverboat made into a casino.

The casino was mostly slots with just a few table games so we moved along to Fat Mama's Tamales for lunch. They have a great dog friendly outdoor patio.  Yum!

 One of the delights of Natchez is the architecture. The bluff was inhabited by the French (early 1700's) and then the British--all, of course, after the Natchez Indians. You can see the different influences, along with some magnificent antebellum estates.

Nice Mardi Gras festoon!!

And one of the belles of the ball, "Rosalie."

We weren't on schedule for a tour, so will have to return on our next trip. Click here to see the website with photos of the gardens in bloom.

One of the things we wanted to do was drive a few miles on the famous Natchez Trace Parkway.

The southernmost tip of this 400-mile plus scenic drive is just northeast of Natchez. It ends near Nashville, Tennessee and has eye-popping scenery (in season) and lots of history as well as hiking, biking and more.
Click here for the National Park Service link.


Sadly, we could still sense winter along the route.  In the spring it must be a wonder.  Driving the whole route is now on our list of must-do's in the south.

Imagine this in the spring, summer or even fall!

A Mardi Gras experience--Ocean Springs celebrates!

We been absent from cyberspace for a few days because we’ve been busy with life here on earth. Time for catch-up!

Saturday’s parade in Ocean Springs was great fun.  It’s the first Gulf Coast parade of the Mardi Gras season (period beginning with Epiphany and ending the day before Ash Wednesday when the Lenten fast begins). This parade has been around 36 years and prides itself on being a family-oriented event—no exposing of body parts that really should remain private!

This young dad fashioned a home-made viewing stand for his girls…clever!

We found a good place to park to view the parade near the starting point and walked a bit to find a good spot.  The people are incredibly friendly. Every few feet someone stopped us to ask if they could pet Maggie and give her beads.  Several invited us to sit with them and ultimately we came to rest on the lawn of a wonderfully welcoming woman.  Her son, Brock, and daughter-in-law and little grandson were there—she told us Brock was returning to Afghanistan on Sunday (yesterday), so it was a special afternoon. She asked if we would pray for his safe return and ask friends and relatives to do the same—of course we agreed.

This young dad made over Maggie and enjoyed the parade with his parents and family--you'd never know that he would be heading back to Afghanistan the next day.

This girl was all decked-out!

The parade itself was a real community event—some floats were elaborate, others just pick-ups or jeeps decked out in traditional greens, purples, blues and yellows. Several marching bands provided live music, and many of the floats had speakers. It was a fun and very interactive event.  People riding on the floats tossed everything from beads and candy to religious messages printed on slips of paper.

This fellow was tossing candy to parade goers.



Everyone has fun and colors are fabulous!



Beads, little balls, candy, whoopie pies--everything you can imagine!

We’ll miss the actual Mardi Gras when the official parties happen (March 8)—our friend Donna told us that “king cakes” are a must. They are a round donut-shaped cake with a small plastic baby baked inside, representing Jesus.  Whoever gets the slice with baby Jesus in it has to do the next Mardi Gras party.Here's how to have your own party!