Last Full Day in Mississippi

On Sunday, David & Patricia took us out for dinner in Biloxi. We drove down along the coast from Bay St. Louis. Couldn't believe the roadways. They were full of sand from the storm of a couple of days before. Reminded us of snow drifts.





We stopped at this one restaurant but over an hour wait - too hungry - so we drove on and found a new restaurant to try. The food was fine but the service was very very slow. Doubt very much if David & Patricia go back there again.




Did see a nice sunset.


We had a very nice time in Mississippi. Looking forward to going back. Maybe David will have his boat by then.

Sharon and the alligator

We're heading back from New Orleans along the gulf coast. You can still see some leftovers from Hurricane Katrina. Some houses were left abandoned. Some piers partially demolished. And then, you come across those places that were rebuilt. David & Patricia were telling us that when they first arrived here about a year ago there were even airplanes scattered here and there due to the hurricane. And, guess what happened next:



A couple of pictures along the highway


We stopped at a roadside inn for a quick drink. The server told us that there were a couple of alligators out in the bayou near the inn. A baby and the mother. The baby loves to eat marshmallows. They hadn't seen the mother for a few days. We didn't have any marshmallows but Sharon went out along the waterway and started calling for the alligator. Can't you just hear her: "here alligator; here alligator; come alligator"






Overall, this was a very nice and beautiful day. Had a great time seeing more of the area. Kind of sad in a way that there still is so much damage from 5 years ago, though.

New Orleans

Tuesday, March 20th.
At first we weren't going on Tuesday - the winds were kind of strong. However, after looking at the forecast for Wednesday & Thursday decided to go.

Going across the bridge into New Orleans.

Skyline


Through the car window driving on a downtown street. Good thing the streets are all one way.


Had lunch at the Charter House Cafe. Sharon had a cajun crawfish platter and I had the Taste of New Orleans

Sharon's dinner. She had crawfish etouffe, crawfish cake, and fried crawfish.

My dinner: jumbalaya, gumbo, and beans & rice.


We then walked to Jackson Square.


At Jackson Square we took a carriage ride around the quarter. If you look closely at the above picture, our white carriage is in it. Some pictures from our ride. As you can see from some of the beads hanging from trees, shrubs, etc., they don't remove them after Mardi Gras.




After our carriage ride, a trip to New Orleans wouldn't be complete without stopping at Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait. I loved the beignets - however, the cafe au lait was a little weak. We were told it was very strong coffee with some steamed milk in it. Guess we thought it needed more of the coffee.



After our donuts and coffee we walked up to the Mississippi Lookout. It started raining on us at the top but didn't last very long.




Did a little shopping around Jackson Square and then headed for home. David drove us through the Ninth Ward so we could see what it looked like today. Couldn't resist taking a picture of this one pump gas station. It was open.


For the ride back to Kiln he took us along the gulf highway. More later. Hoping that our internet connection stays strong.

Mississippi

Well, we're back in Springfield, MO. Have a lot better internet connection so I'll try and get caught up over the past few weeks.

On Friday, March 16th met some friends (Buddy & Maria) in Bay St. Louis for lunch. We ate at a restaurant that just reopened due to hurricane Katrina. Bay St. Louis didn't receive any federal funding for the 2007 hurricane damage so it's taking them a little while to rebuild. Most of the menu was seafood. I had eggplant parmesan; Sharon had the grilled red snapper. I tried a bite - not too bad.




Sharon celebrated her birthday on the 17th by watching every single basketball game. Yep, she did. She also had corned beef and cabbage for lunch. Notice, I said Sharon had that. If memory serves me correctly, my cheeseburger tasted very good.

On Tuesday, we went to New Orleans. I'll do a separate post for that trip. On Wednesday, we went to the grocery store and fueled up the truck. We heard a storm was heading our way on Thursday & Friday - so decided to go earlier in the week. Coming back from the store - we took a little detour and visited one of the parks close by. A few pictures from the area. We saw some irises growing in water along the roadway and some white flowers growing on these vines climbing trees and bushes. The cypress trees were very impressive.




Almost forgot to mention the storm that arrived on Wednesday night. The rains were unbelievable. David emptied his rain gauge twice by Friday morning - had more than 10 1/2 inches of rain. There was flooding in some of the housing developments a couple of miles to the south of them. Of course, those homes were on the waterways. We definitely understood why the homes in the area are built on "stilts". By the time we got out on the weekend the water had gone down drastically.

Sunday, before we left, Patricia and David took us to Biloxi. I'll do a separate post for that also. The pictures of the sand across the road is amazing.