Mississippi, Bay St. Louis - Tuesday, November 12, 2013 - Gulf Coast Ride

Sunday we did some Christmas shopping.  I’m finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s in the mid 70’s and I’m wearing shorts.  We did find a few of the things we were looking for – had to strap one to the back of the bike.  Other than that we didn’t do too much so I didn’t think that warranted a post.

On Monday we left home about 10:00 to ride the beach road along the Gulf of Mexico – WOW.  I couldn’t decide where to look, Gulf of Mexico or the beautiful homes on the other side of the road.  We got home a little after 3:00, fixed supper and then I had to watch Dancing with the Stars and Castle – so no time for a post.

On Monday we headed to Waveland first.  Since it was Veteran’s Day, we wanted to see the veteran’s memorial they have on a pier in the Gulf of Mexico.  We found it, but were disappointed at the condition of the memorial.  If we would have had some trash bags and a truck we would have done some cleaning.

 

The next time we are in this area I know where I want to try to get an RV site – The Silver Slipper Casino.  They have 35 full service sites that are right across the road from the Gulf of Mexico.  You have to call for site prices so I don’t know what it would cost, but most of the casino parks we have run into so far are very reasonable and you are under no obligation to gamble.  Being that near to the Gulf of Mexico and having that view would be wonderful.

In Waveland there were yards of beautiful white sugar sand beach between the road and the Gulf.  On Monday there wasn’t another person in sight for most of the time.  A couple of times we saw people out exercising their dogs.  The dogs are supposed to be on a leash, but they sure did look like they were having fun running free at top speed through the sand.  I could have sit there all day, just listening to the waves come in.

 

 

A lot of the piers that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina haven’t been rebuilt.

This one either made it through or has been rebuilt.

We walked out to the end of it.

There are a lot of empty lots where homes haven’t been restored since Katrina.  A lot of for sale signs are up.  But, there are also some amazing homes looking out over the coast.  I didn’t even try to get pictures since they wouldn’t have turned out very good while we were moving and if we had stopped to photograph every one of them, we still wouldn’t be back home.  There are very few areas that haven’t been cleaned up.  This pier is still closed and has debris laying around but most of the area looks very good.

We stopped for lunch in Bay St. Louis at The Blind Tiger.  The fish tacos were great and the breeze blowing in off the Gulf through the open windows was fantastic.  This place has a bar that seats 18 and another 30 or so can be seated at tables, menus are written on blackboards hanging on the wall. 

 

We took a stroll through a yacht club in Gulfport.

I bet they have some high class parties here.

 

We drove on to Biloxi to see the lighthouse there, which is supposed to be one of the most photographed sites on the Gulf Coast.  The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1967 and where it stands is now the middle of highway 90, two lanes of traffic flow on both sides of it.

The lighthouse has stood through 20 hurricanes.  August 17, 1968 Hurricane Camille smashed into the coast with 200 mph winds.  The beachfront of Biloxi was devastated and 172 lives were lost along with scores of architectural treasures.  Miraculously, the lighthouse received only minor damage.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina’s record storm surge of 26 to 30 feet damaged the lighthouse brick lining and destroyed the electrical system.  Winds ripped off the door and smashed windows in the light cupola.  After the storm, although it was battered and bruised, it stood tall amid all the destruction around it.  There is a picture of this shown in the visitor’s center, it just takes your breath away to see how much destruction there was and this lighthouse was about the only thing standing.

 

 

Within hours after Katrina, workers hung a flag from the cupola railing and it hung there all during the cleanup and restoration period.  February 19, 2010 after a $400,000 restoration it became a lasting symbol of the strength of Biloxi.

 

The visitor’s center is across the road from the lighthouse.  The original building was destroyed during Katrina and a replica was built on the same site.  It’s built in the likeness of an old mansion that once stood in Biloxi.

 

 

 

The visitor’s center has a small museum that is pretty interesting.  This jacket is one that was once worn by Elvis Presley.

 

Today we hung around home.  Greg did some cleaning on the exterior and I made potato salad and bread pudding with vanilla sauce.  We did take a walk to the end of the campground and pick up some large pine cones in anticipation of doing some Christmas decorating.