Mississippi - Day 8 - Cranes and maritime museum

Santa Maria RV Resort 
Wednesday, 8 January 2020

today's route

I'd intended to leave the area today, but there are 2 places I really want to visit while I'm here, so I decided to stay another day.  The National Wildlife Refuge was only about 5 miles from the campground - very handy.

The campground is on Martin's Bluff Road, and the farm next door with the cows is, according to a sign, owned by some folks named Martin.  I'd guess an ancestor used to be the only person living out here, which is where the road's name comes from.

Next door to their farm is a Buddhist temple.  Very small, nothing grand at all, but a surprise to see it out here in this rural area.

SANDHILL CRANE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE VISITOR CENTER, Gautier

This refuge was the first in the US to be established under the Environmental Protection Act of 1973.  Its purpose is to protect the last surviving flock of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane subspecies.  This group doesn't migrate and is entirely dependent on the specific habitat that once covered vast acres of the Gulf coast: wet pine savanna.

At the time the refuge was created, there were only 30 birds left in this subspecies, and only 3% of the original habitat remained.  In the 45 years since, the flock has been increased to about 100 birds, and the habitat, though still covering only a small area, is at least healthy and still in existence.

The nearby Audubon Species Restoration Center raises 15-20 chicks from eggs to adolescence each year.  They're careful to never let the birds see human faces or bodies - they wear masks and suits that hide their scent and blur their outlines when they feed them, then release them into the refuge.

Mississippi Sandhill Cranes - 4½' tall, 6' wing span, white cheeks, red cap

this is their habitat

this is what it looks like at the refuge

Oddly, one of the reasons for the decline of the savanna, and the resulting decline of this crane, is air conditioning.  Some of us remember a time when most houses didn't have central air conditioning, which made living in this climate very uncomfortable.  Its widespread use in the '50s and '60s allowed the population in these coastal areas to balloon.  One result of more humans was that forests were cut down and marshlands drained to build houses on that land.  

Another result was a concerted effort to prevent and suppress fires.  This habitat needs fires to maintain itself - fire clears away encroaching invasive species of brush and deposits nutrients in the clay soil.  This refuge tries to mimic natural fires with periodic controlled burns to help maintain the savanna habitat.

I'm sorry that this photo is so fuzzy - I cleaned it up as best I could, and I'm including it here because it's got a lot of information about what life forms this savanna supports.

Oddly, carnivorous plants like this habitat, and 10 species of them live here.

These are three of them:






































As it happens, the MS Sandhill Cranes are an umbrella species for this habitat - if their population is unhealthy, so is that of a stunning number of other species of plants and animals

Nearly 200 species of birds have been seen here, most stopping during spring and fall migrations.  But some rare or endangered birds live here full-time.

large numbers of these birds winter here

More information about the cranes:

MS Sandhill Cranes can live up to 25 years, and they mate for life.  Unfortunately, they have a very low reproductive rate, laying only 1 or 2 eggs a year and depending on a very specific limited habitat.

nesting habits

diorama

I'm guessing the Visitor Center gets a lot of local folks in from time to time, concerned about their practice of prescribed burns, because their exhibits mention it frequently and they have a large display about why and how the burns are conducted.  Here are 2 parts:

The Visitor Center is lucky to have enthusiastic staff and volunteers, who were quick to tell me that I'd missed seeing 4 cranes that were feeding near the Center just this morning.  They have regular early morning tours for folks who want to have a guide in looking for cranes that have regular areas they visit.  They gave me maps to help me find these areas on my own and encouraged me to walk around the area near the Center.  Nice, dedicated folks.


MARITIME AND SEAFOOD INDUSTRY MUSEUM, Biloxi

I had high hopes for this museum, assuming it would tell me all about commercial fisheries in the MS Gulf coast.  When I was working with Alaska commercial fisheries, I heard now and then about the problems they were having down here, and these fisheries sounded very different from what I was used to.

I'm very sorry to say the information they had about the commercial fisheries was poorly laid out and poorly explained, and honestly, it seemed really limited.  They had a few pieces of fishing equipment but didn't explain very clearly how they were used.  Their photos and diagrams were mostly 5" x 7" - very hard to see when posted on the wall and not labeled and some too high up for a short person to read.

I'm willing to grant some leeway here, because this museum was completely destroyed by Katrina, but that was 14 years ago, they've built a fancy new building, and they're charging $10 admission ($8 for seniors), so I would have expected some decent exhibits inside.

Instead, I found a jumbled hodgepodge of stuff.  They have a gallery about the Gulf ecosystem that spent almost a fifth of the space explaining TEDs - Turtle Excluder Device that helps sea turtles escape from trawl fishing nets.  They bunch that together with some information about a couple of turtle species and fisheries that don't use trawls.  And in the same exhibit is information about the barrier islands (like I learned at the Gulf Islands National Seashore Visitor Center).

this is what almost all their exhibits looked like - tiny photos and tiny bits of info jumbled together 

In my opinion, they tried to cram too many needs into too small a space - so they have meeting rooms and a library and a boat building room and an "artifact" room and a gift shop, as well as miscellaneous models of boats that have either too much or not enough explanation.  They have a room devoted to the various hurricanes along this coast, an exhibit of nature photos by a local (dead) photographer, a video room, some information about commercial and recreational fisheries (very different fisheries but presented together).  They have an antique shrimp peeling machine next to 2 wooden boats, none of which is explained clearly.

But they've devoted most of their space to an 1800s sloop named the Nydia (NIH-dee-ah).



















On the wall opposite the windows is a video with benches in front of it that explains ALL about the boat, how it was built and how wonderful it was to sail and who owned it and where it was kept and so forth.  (For the odd story about how it ended up here, check this link.   https://www.nola.com/news-article)  This boat is on the 2nd floor and takes up about a quarter of the floor.  As you can see, it extends to the 3rd floor and accounts for about a fifth of that floor.  (The 1st floor, being at flood level,  has just the meeting rooms, restrooms and gift shop.)  Granted it's a wonderful historic boat that used to sail in this area, but the museum has made the boat its centerpiece and that's not at all what I thought I'd be seeing here.  This is called the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum, for heaven's sake.

As you can tell from my griping, I was really disappointed.  This museum was one of the main reasons I stayed over an extra day, and I didn't at all get the information I'd hoped for.  My guess is that the museum was so thrilled to be getting the Nydia that they shoved everything else into too small a space to make room for it.  Oh well.  It happens.

Mississippi - Day 7 - Pascagoula

Santa Maria RV Resort
Tuesday, 7 January 2020

today's route

The main reason I've been staying in this area is the doctor appointment I had this morning.  I'm about out of blood pressure medication, and that's apparently not something there's an over-the-counter equivalent for.  I ended up at the Singing River Medical Clinic in Pascagoula and got very good care there.  (Singing River is a major river right next to Pascagoula.)  I saw a nurse practitioner, which I was a little leery about, having had a previous less-than-satisfactory experience with one, but she turned out to be great.  She ordered a blood test to be sure my kidneys were still functioning (blood pressure meds can be hard on them), gave me a flu shot, and asked questions about my general health.  Good visit.

After leaving the clinic, I got turned around by a section of road work and ended up at a laundromat that I wasn't aiming for but that I needed anyway.  I'd already had trouble finding the one I intended to go to, so I took this one.  Clean enough, functioning machines for a standard price - apparently I can't ask much more than that these days.

Mississippi law says wine can be bought only at state-certified liquor stores - which is fine by me but I've been having a problem with them.  All the ones I've seen - and there are many around here - have been such tiny, dingy little places that I've been reluctant to even stop.  They just don't look like they'd even have room for a selection of wine, like they probably have shelf space only for bourbon and rum and vodka, with maybe some half-gallon jugs of cheap-o wine.  Other states have at least a few very large liquor stores, or stores that say they specialize in wine, or fancy stores, or even ones with clean front windows.  And considering the number of tourists the MS Gulf coast brings in, I'd have expected something like that here.  But I sure haven't found one yet.  I'll keep looking.

I saw a billboard advertising the upcoming ABBA Shriners Gun Show.  I'm assuming that ABBA doesn't refer to the singing group though can't figure out what it does refer to.  I am a little familiar with the Shriners because Daddy was one.  They're a branch of Masons and they sponsor children's hospitals around the country.  The Shriners' Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth was Daddy's favorite charity.  But even in Mississippi I'm having a hard time fitting Shriners and gun shows in the same thought.  I guess this is an example of just how different things are here - as they are in every state.

This area is another batch of towns all strung together one after another after another, as they seem to be all along MS's coast.  Here, they're Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula, and they seem to be separated by rivers - or at least by water bodies of some sort - bayous or inlets from the Gulf - bridges are a constant of life around here.

I aimed for a place called Pascagoula Beach Park, which I found on the city map, only to discover that they didn't allow dogs in the park.  The park isn't actually on the beach but instead on a block just across Beach St. from the beach.  Very attractive park, but I sure wasn't going to stroll around there without my critters, so we kept on moving.

Longfellow House

I found a house called the Longfellow House, because Longfellow was supposed to have stayed here once when he was writing a book.  It sounds like this is one of those "Washington slept here" stories, though, because there doesn't seem to be any documentation for this alleged visit.  What is known is that this house was built in 1850 for Daniel Smith Graham (no relation), who was a slave trader, which means it was almost certainly built by enslaved people.  After going through several hands, the Univ. of MS ended up with it, but it was damaged in Katrina and eventually sold as a private residence.  These owners have done a fine job of restoring it to what was certainly its former beauty.  Note the grand staircases to the 2nd floor - this house is within a stone's throw of the ocean so it's doubtful if they've put anything valuable on the 1st floor.

I continued to drive down Beach St. and missed the turn I planned to take.  Which was just as well.

I found a stretch of beach called Buffett Beach and learned that Jimmy Buffett is a native of Pascagoula.  A few years back the town named a tiny bridge and this stretch of beach in his honor, and he came to town for the ceremony.

And at the end of the road I found a little park with a boat ramp and a lot of parking for folks who want to walk back along the beach.  Unlike that other stuffy park, this one didn't ban dogs so my kids finally got a walk.  I saw a large flock of terns, some pelicans, lots of egrets.  And I had an upclose view of Ingall's Shipbuilding yards, which this sign indicates is the backbone of industry in these parts.

I saw several of these nesting pads which look like they're for some bird of prey, though I don't know which ones would nest in this area.

The wind had been blowing all day but was picking up by now, and I saw white caps on the rivers and bays as we drove back across the bridges toward the campground.  I had to really hang onto the steering wheel.

Mississippi - Day 6

Santa Maria RV Resort
Monday, 6 January 2020

I spent today in the campground, mostly walking the dogs and trying to catch up on the blog and figuring out where I'm going next.

This is an odd campground, though I'm comfortable enough.  It has no ambiance whatever, being entirely gravel spread out in a large flat area.  But it's spread out enough to give us room to walk - which is a good thing because there are several large dogs living here, and it's not always easy to dodge them when we're out walking.

It's immediately next door to a large field where nearly a dozen cows are grazing, which I expected to be a problem with the dogs, given their extreme reaction to horses, but they've hardly seemed to notice them.  Thank goodness.

With all these large fields, I'm seeing a variety of birds, including a Peregrine Falcon, which is nice to see.  I would have figured this to be prime habitat for deer, as we're surrounded on the other 3 sides by wooded areas, but I haven't seen any.  The dogs alerted when we were walking in the dark early one morning, so there may have been one around, but it was only that one time.

The populated areas of the campground are well-lit, which I know is a plus - except that I've got one of those bright lights right over my RV, and there's so much light coming through the skylights at night that I have trouble sleeping.  Nice to know I'm safer, but I'd like to be safe and to sleep as well.  Picky, picky.

This afternoon while I was out with the dogs we saw 4 - count them, 4 - police cars pull up to the manager's office and then drive into one of the other areas of the campground.  And after a little bit, they all drove out again.  Of course, I wondered what sort of place I'd stumbled on, but I saw one of the employees that evening, and she told me they have an elderly man who lives in the campground alone, and his relatives worry about him to the point of having the cops haul him off to the hospital to be checked out.  Apparently he has some severe chronic health problems, but I wondered how I'd feel if that happened to me.  Nice that people care but I'd also like to make my own health care decisions.  Odd incident.

Mississippi - Day 5 - beach towns and bridges

Santa Maria RV Resort, Gautier
Sunday, 5 January 2020

today's route

Before leaving the campground, I stopped in an unpopulated area of the park to walk the dogs.  The campsites had a great view of the ocean just across the road, but the park people charged almost double for the campsites, and this time of year nobody seemed interested.  But it was a nice place to walk, and I saw a flock of Bluebirds and a large flock of swallows - both nice to see.

Not far down the road I saw a pelican diving into the Gulf - fishing for its breakfast.  I think I'm seeing both Brown Pelicans and White Pelicans along the MS Gulf coast.

Bay St. Louis

100 Men Hall D.B.A.

I drove into an old part of town looking for a building called the 100 Men Hall D.B.A.  I'm used to seeing DBA in lowercase letters, intending to stand for "doing business as," but that's not what it means here.  Here it's an abbreviation for the full name Debating Benevolent Association.  Though as far as I can tell, the members didn't do any debating but instead focused on the benevolent part.  And despite the "100 men" bit, it started in 1922 with 10 men - all African Americans - putting together a group that would mostly help their neighbors pay for burials (which there were probably a lot of, given that this was heavy Jim Crow and KKK territory and era).  But it evolved, as so often happens, into a forum for groups and gatherings of all kinds, and then into a venue for Blues musicians on what was called the Chitlin' Circuit.  Which it still is.  A venue for Blues music, I mean.  Musicians such as Ray Charles, Etta James and James Brown played here over the years.  The building doesn't look like much, but apparently it's got a heart and soul.

I couldn't get any closer than this because of that elevated railroad track you see in the photo.  Bay St. Louis seems to specialize in them - most of the tracks in town have warning signs of high track clearance with little drawings of the tracks scraping on vehicles' undersides.  I went over most of them okay, but the lead-up to this one looked too steep for me to want to risk it.  I'm guessing there's another route, but I'd already gotten lost once and didn't want to keep hunting around for it.

Bay St. Louis is known in some circles (though not mine) as the location for filming the 1966 movie This Property is Condemned with Natalie Wood and Robert Redford.  I've never seen it but with talent like that, I think I should.

I saw a historical marker for The Battle of Bay St. Louis and thought it sounded a little weird.  And I guess it was, based on the account on the website at this link.   www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety/battle-of-the-bay-of-saint-louis  But the bottom line is that without this battle, Andrew Jackson may well have been unsuccessful at the Battle of New Orleans, which could have changed the course of US history.  Odd how things happen.

While I was wandering around town, I saw a sign for the local Mardi Gras Museum, but I was still hunting for the 100 Men Hall and didn't want to stop.  Another time, though, because it's in a historic 1928 train depot that's been restored to 1928 beauty, which is actually saying something.  Apparently, Mardi Gras is seriously celebrated here.

Speaking of that, I stopped in a local grocery store for provisions, and the first thing I saw when I walked in the store was an enormous display of King Cakes for Mardi Gras.  But Mardi Gras isn't until February 25th, which is still 6+ weeks away, so I'm starting to think Mardi Gras is celebrated around here like Halloween and Christmas and other holidays: start as early as possible.

This grocery store definitely knew it was in Cajun country (I understand French Creole is the largest ethnic group in this county), based on the brands and foods I saw here.  Big Easy Foods® Breaded Boudin Balls, Crawfish Cornbread Casserole, Shrimp Creole Crawfish Estouffée.  Mam Papaul's® mixes (e.g. for breading catfish).  Zatarain's® crabboil seasoning.  Old Bay® seasoning.  Cast nets (see example below).  Interesting reflection of the community.

cast net usage

Continuing along the Gulf road
I passed the Armed Forces Retirement Home - except for the occasional hurricane, this is a nice place to situate it.

I passed Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's home, and noticed that they'd built a very fancy new building since Momma and I had come through.  I still didn't want to stop, but I imagine they've done a fancier job of displaying their exhibits than what we saw a few years back.

In Biloxi I passed the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, not named for Georgia O'Keeffe but instead for Annette O'Keefe, wife of the mayor, and for George Ohr, The Mad Potter of Biloxi.  It's an odd-looking building, as you might expect for an art museum, but I can't show you because I couldn't find any non-copyrighted photos online.

As I think I mentioned the other day, the Biloxi Lighthouse, built in 1948, is the only lighthouse in the country that stand in the middle of a highway.  This internet photo's proof:

Historic Biloxi Lighthouse

I'm not sure if it's operational - it's now owned by the City of Biloxi - but it made it through Katrina and Camille and a bunch more hurricanes, despite being made of cast iron, which I'd think would have trouble in this climate.  It is odd, though, to be driving down this highway and find a lighthouse in the middle of the road.

Twice I passed men carrying a US flag while jogging down the highway, and the 2nd time I saw a car nearby with a sign that said something about a charity walk for some cause - but they should have made their sign clearer, because the speed limit was too fast for most folks (including me) to read it.

Gulf Islands National Seashore
This is the largest national seashore in the US, stretching for 160 miles along a slew of islands in the waters of both Mississippi and Florida.  In MS, the park includes 5 barrier islands and a bayou.  I spent a little time at the Visitor Center and learned a few things about this part of the Gulf coast.

make-up of a barrier island

the 5 islands of the MS part of the national seashore

this diagram shows how the islands are shifting from east to west, partly natural erosion, partly hurricane results

Cat Island was named by the French who thought indigenous raccoons were cats, Europe not having any raccoons until the 1900s.  Oddly, it was used during WWII as a training center for dogs used in the war.

West Ship Island (now a separate land body from East Ship Island) is the site of Ft. Massachusetts, begun before the Civil War but not finished until 1866.  Despite the incomplete fort, the island was used by both sides - the Confederates for defense, the Union for launching raids on Gulf coast cities.  Ship Island was later used as the first US quarantine island.

Ellis Island of the South

Horn Island has examples of every habitat the park offers, all on one island.

Petit Bois (French for little woods) is pronounced here as "petty boy."

These islands are all designated wilderness area, except a part of Cat Island which is still privately owned.

Also part of the National Seashore is Davis Bayou.  Sadly, the Visitor Center's handout had huge information gaps, and for Davis Bayou all it gave was a map.  I tried to take notes during the film they showed, but I didn't write all the information it gave about the importance of the bayou.  Even more inexplicable, there's no information on their website, and search engines seem to think it's important only because there's a campground there.  But my impression was that the bayou provides habitat and protection for a wide variety of species of plants and animals important to the whole ecosystem.  Seems to me it's taken for granted.  Here's all I've got from their exhibits.

As you can see at left, cordgrass anchors the bayou lands, just as the sea oats hold the sand dunes together on the barrier islands.  Without this vegetation, these areas would apparently be nothing but water.  80% of the park is underwater, as it is.

A wide variety of animals call this area home.  The Mississippi Sound has one of the world's largest populations of Bottlenose Dolphins, for instance.

There are Fiddler Crabs and Ghost Crabs.  Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs on these barrier islands (only 1 out of 1,000 lives to adulthood - a staggering fact).  Alligators have made a comeback from their formerly endangered status and live happily in this area.  There are cottonmouth snakes and armadillos.


















So altogether, I'm glad I stopped in here.  But it seems to me the National Park Service relies far too heavily on the attractiveness of taking boats out to uninhabited islands and virtually ignores the nursery area of the bayou.  But, I guess as long as it's protected . . . .

Mississippi - Day 4 - western Gulf coast

Buccaneer State Park
Saturday, 4 January 2020

My original plan for today was to move down the coast to another campground near Pascagoula, where my doctor appointment is on Tuesday.  But after studying the map, I realized my choices were to go back down I-10 (been there, done that) or to cross the numerous long bridges between this end of the coast and the other.  I just wasn't ready for a thrill like that so opted for driving down part of the coast, then doubling back to the western Welcome Center to get whatever handouts I'd missed on New Year's Day at the eastern one.

today's route

I spent the first half of my drive today on US Hwy. 90, which is called Beach Blvd. along much of MS's exposure to the Gulf of Mexico.  It's called Beach Blvd. because it's got the beach on one side and the regular land on the other, and it runs through any number of towns of various sizes.  Very attractive drive, too, with all the Great Egrets and Pelicans and various shorebirds on one side and a variety of beach houses on the other.

Mississippi: oaks and palmettos and Spanish moss

Hwy. 90 is immediately to the right

It's been almost 15 years since Hurricane Katrina wiped out most of what was along the coast, and most owners have had a chance to rebuild - or sell to someone who rebuilt.  Actually, I saw one house in the process of being rebuilt and another that looked like whatever had been there had been razed and a new one was being built.  The others looked like they were trying to say Hurricane?  What hurricane? and doing it fairly successfully.

see how high the front steps go?

house completely covered by roll-down shutters

very grand for a "beach house"

Some of the houses I saw were fairly normal beach houses, but most were pretty fancy.  These houses all would have been sitting on the beach except for that pesky 4-lane Hwy. 90/Beach Blvd running in between.  So, many of them had piers from the beach out over the water, though most of those had been wrecked and not rebuilt - the wreckage is still there.

the gate with locked door keeps this pier private

I saw a family standing on the beach, messing around with each other - and I know they were a family because quite a few of them wore the same kind of pajamas and carried coffee cups (the kind from your kitchen, not from a coffee shop) so it looked like they'd all walked across the street from their house.  Nice way to live if you can afford it.

All the beach houses were elevated to one degree or another - most elevated at least one story up.  I passed a house called The Bee Hive, and the unusual thing about it was that it was made of glass.  There was a Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves movie once that I think was called The Lake House, about a glass house, and these folks may have gotten their inspiration from that movie.

I passed 2 elevated houses that were round.  And I passed a very large church that was elevated at least one story up - maybe more.  Odd sight to see such a big building on stilts.

Although there are still a few places where there was clearly once a building there, most of Katrina's damage seems to be mended.  Momma and I drove along here about 5 years after the hurricane, and the devastation was obvious.  Now it seems more of a memory.  And here's one way they've made that change:

We drove around Galveston a couple of years after Hurricane Rita and saw many of the wrecked trees down there being turned into lovely sculptures like this one.

I remember that when Momma and I came along this beach road that time, we stopped for lunch at a very small sandwich shop attached to a gas station, and we had shrimp po-boys that were the best I've ever had.  And today I found it! except that's not what it is any more.  Now it's a doughnut shop attached to a Chevron.  Very sad for me because I'd have bought another po-boy, but it was just a hole-in-the-wall back then so understandable it wouldn't still be in business.

I went through Pass Christian - which is pronounced christy-ANN - and through Bay St. Louis - A Place Apart, they say.  I passed through Long Beach, which claims to have a long history   https://www.hmdb.org/Early-Long-Beach and turned north at Gulfport, where their shiploading equipment makes it clear they're engaged in sea-going commerce.  A sign says that's the Mississippi State Port.

I passed a sign advertising Ship Island Excursions, and I now know (from studying tourist info) that Ship Island is one of the islands that's part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  Nobody lives there and the only way out is by boat.

I saw a sign advertising the Seabee Museum, which I'm sure is interesting, and I'll go when I'm here with more time.   https://seabeehf.org/museums-heritage-center  The Seabees were on the spot almost immediately after both Camille and Katrina, helping rebuild infrastructure in this area.

There's a Coke Bottling Plant in Gulfport.

I drove back down I-10 almost to Louisiana for the Visitor Center.  Speaking of which, when I asked at the campground office where I could recycle stuff, the young woman said, "Slidell."  I said, isn't that in Louisiana?  And she acknowledged she didn't know of any recycling facilities in the state of Mississippi, other than those for residential service.  Somebody please explain to me why Yankees are so much more interested in recycling than Southerners.  Surely this isn't one of those liberal pink-o commie hippie ideas that good old-fashioned Southerners don't agree with.

On the way back to the campground, I passed a sign saying litter pickup (apparently that's not too liberal) duty in that area is being done by the Citizens Militia of Hancock County, MS.  I had to look it up and now find myself very disturbed.   https://www.citizensmilitiaofmississippi.com  Check the copyright date on this page and you'll see why.

Back in the campground for another night, I asked 2 different park staffers if there'd ever been any pirates in this area, since it's called Buccaneer Park, and since my particular section of the campground is named Jean Lafitte (actually, the sign says "Jeanne Lafitte," but I'm guessing the sign maker didn't know better and just tried to make the spelling look very French, rather than that it's named after Jean's twin sister).  Both staffers said nope, no pirates, just names like for a theme park.

On the other hand, the park literature says yes, Lafitte and his merry men did indeed hang out around here at one time.  Also that Andrew Jackson (different kind of buccaneer) used a nearby ridge as his base of operations during the Battle of New Orleans.  In fact, Jackson came back here later and built a house on land that's now part of this park.  I guess the staff should read their own literature.

Mississippi - Days 2 & 3

Buccaneer State Park
Thursday, 2 and Friday, 3 January 2020

On Thursday it rained intermittently, and on Friday it rained hard for much of the day.  The permanent buildings in this park, which are all new since Katrina, are elevated - some even to the 3rd story level, and these boxes up on high stilts look really weird.  That all makes sense, though, given that the Gulf is less than a quarter-mile down the street.  Seriously, to get here I drove along Beach Blvd. which is (surprise!) along the beach, and turned into the main gates of the park.  My campsite is not much more than a quarter-mile from the water.

What's odd to me, though, is that the streets weren't graded properly when they were paved, and there's almost no provision for storm water, so even with a mild amount of rain there are patches of roadway covered by an inch or more of water.  Now that we're having some real rain, I'd guess it's close to half the roads that are covered.  Granted that's not exactly dangerous, but it makes walking difficult, and lots of people walk in campgrounds.  And why would they go to all that trouble elevating the buildings and ignore the roadways altogether?  Simple drainage ditches would have been a basic first step and shouldn't be too expensive.  Very strange.

There are a lot of campers here (and lots of dogs), though the campground's only a little more than half full.  There may be more coming in tonight (weekend beginning), even though there's rain, because the weekend forecast is for sun.  The rain's actually been a help to me because fewer people are wanting to take their dogs out for long walks, so I can walk mine without worrying about much more than them getting really wet.

I expected a lot of folks from northern states, and they're here - 2 separate groups are from Québec, even.  But about half the campers are from Mississippi and Louisiana and Texas - not exactly folks who are avoiding bad winter weather.

I've spent the time here finishing my Alabama posts and starting the Mississippi ones.  I made a doctor appointment in Gautier (which is apparently pronounced GO-shay here) because I'm running out of blood pressure medicine - not something there's an over-the-counter equivalent for.  And I've found another campground not far from there to move to after here.

I've also taken a good look at the map to plan some sightseeing, and I've discovered that Biloxi - in fact, most of those towns along the coast - are connected to the rest of the state by very long bridges.  I know I must have gone over one or more when Momma and I came this way, because I remember driving through some of these places, and you have to drive across at least one bridge to get to Jefferson Davis's house, which we went to.  But that was in Momma's Honda Civic, an entirely different proposition than this RV.

Still, I don't want to let my fears (which aren't well grounded in reality anyway) hold me back from seeing things I want to see, so I'm working out a route that will minimize the bridge bit.  Did you know there's a lighthouse in Biloxi that's in the middle of U.S. Hwy. 90, which is called Beach Blvd. as it runs through town?  It hasn't operated as a lighthouse since 1968, I think - it's now owned by the City of Biloxi which offers regular tours.  But it's apparently right on the water and withstood Katrina, and I'd like to see it.  So I'm working on all this.

And since I'm almost to the state line with Louisiana, I'll go up to the Welcome Center near here and see what information I can find about traveling the state.

Mississippi - Day 1 - finishing Alabama and driving across coastal Mississippi

Buccaneer State Park, Waveland
Wednesday, 1 January 2020


And Happy New Year to all!
And Happy New Decade!

Thoughts in last night's campground
I unwillingly participated last night in all the New Year's Eve celebrations in the neighborhood of the campground.  The fireworks started soon after dark - I was hearing them regularly by 8:00 PM, got really intense at midnight, and then went on for well over an hour after that.  Gracie, of course, was terrified and buried herself in the bathroom, and none of the rest of us could sleep.  I'm glad fireworks are common for only 2 holidays a year, because it's impossible to get away from the sound of them.

On the plus side, I saw a whole flock of Bluebirds here in the campground this morning.  Also a vast supply of mistletoe in some of the trees.

I keep forgetting to mention the red dirt/mud I started seeing as I got to southern Alabama.  It's especially noticeable in this campground because so few of the roads are paved, and the unpaved ones are so rutted.  Reminds me of that wonderful movie My Cousin Vinny that I saw when I was learning courtroom procedure in law school.

In the last few states, I've been buying the Vital Farms brand of eggs, which claims to be providing eggs from chickens that forage in actual grassy areas.  In the latest batch of eggs, they included Holiday Tips from their "girls on grass" and their "routine that brings them joy."  And here they are:
   1. Eat healthy.  When foraging or grazing, choose real food - as close to nature as possible.
   2. Exercise.  It's amazing what a walk outside can do for your mind (and body).
   3. Get a good night's sleep.
   4. Take some time to care for yourself.  If dust baths aren't your thing, a bubble bath might do the trick.
   5. Live in the moment.
Good advice.

I got a call yesterday from my next campground, telling me that their office (it's a state park) would be closed today when I get there, that check-in isn't until 4 PM, and that the person staying there now doesn't have to leave until 2 PM.  This was actually a message on my voice mail, and I got no answer when I called back in the afternoon - they probably left early on New Year's Eve.  I wanted to ask about the weather report I'd heard that there's a flood warning for some river in the area.  But since she didn't seem to think there was any reason why I wouldn't show up, I assumed the flood threat isn't too serious right now.

Because I might not be able to get into my campsite until 2 PM, and that campground is only a couple of hours away from this one, I decided to stay here longer and make Hoppin' John, thinking there might not be time later and wanting to be sure I got my black-eyed peas quota today.  Actually, it's only an adaptation from other recipes I found, but I really like it and it makes a good black-eyed pea delivery system.  After the pot had cooled down a bit, I wedged it into the sink for transporting to Mississippi.  That's worked for me before.

And because I still had plenty of time, I decided to take a route that would let me go along some of the western Alabama coastline, and I'm glad I did as it's completely different from the predominately tourist/beach atmosphere on the eastern side.

today's route

Driving in Alabama
I passed the turn for Bellingrath Gardens and Home.  Momma and I went down there once to see the gardens but decided not to when we found out how much they charged as an entrance fee.  It's $14 to see the gardens without the house, and there are 65 acres of gardens, but at the time Momma was beginning to have mobility problems and, even with a wheelchair, we knew it wouldn't be worth the entrance fee to us - $28 for the 2 of us, after all.  But sometime I'd like to see them.  Mr. Bellingrath was one of the first bottlers of Coca-Cola in the Southeast, so you can see where he made his fortune.  Apparently, this is what he and his wife spent it on.

I passed a sign for the Estuarium on Dauphin Island.  In the first place, I hadn't realized there's a road I could drive to get to Dauphin Island - I didn't bother to try to go there because I assumed, incorrectly, it needed a ferry trip.  And in the second place, I've never heard of an estuarium, let alone this one.  But it sounds interesting and I'd like to go when I come back this way.  For $10 (seniors) I could see many different aquariums that exhibit the plants and animals of the 4 main habitats of the Alabama coast.  I think that'd be really interesting.

I passed another sign for a Dauphin Island attraction, this one historic Ft. Gaines.  This was the site of a major Civil War battle, and where Adm. Farragut supposedly said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."  The full story, which is a lot more interesting than I'd expected, is at this link.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Battle-of-Mobile-Bay

I turned right on Rt. 188 and found myself back on the Alabama Coastal Connection, also an Alabama Scenic Byway.

The road took me first through the tiny town of Coden and, without much pause, through Bayou La Batre, which calls itself the Seafood Capital of Alabama.  Both these towns are quite clearly fishing communities, based on the front yards strewn with fishing nets, the harbors full of various types of fishing boats, and the multiple businesses related to fishing: selling fishing equipment, boats, and the end products of oysters, shrimp and mullet, for instance.

These are also extremely religious communities, based on the stunning numbers of churches (given the combined population of less than 3,000), the multiple yard signs saying things like "Prepare to meet Thy God" and "Keep watch for you do not know the day or the hour."  A billboard advertising a heating and electric business mostly said, "Is Jesus on your mind?"  The local gym is named Rocky's Gym of Faith.  I never in my life saw such a hotbed of religious fervor, and I grew up in the South.

I passed a yard with a homemade sign: Satsumas for Sale, and containers of oranges sitting out.  I wondered if they'd just bought them at a Mobile grocery store, but I now know that Satsumas grow quite well in southern Alabama.  That town of Satsuma (Safest City in Alabama) near the campground with the problem dogs was named for these oranges, which used to be the dominant crop in the area until the Depression.  They're starting to make a comeback, though, on both sides of Mobile Bay.  One of the perks of coming to Alabama this time of year.

I was surprised to see a watermelon drawn on the water tower for the town of Grand Bay.  Turns out that's an important local crop, celebrated by a Watermelon Festival every July.

And then I was crossing the state line.

Welcome to Mississippi - Birthplace of America's Music!

Mississippi - my 22nd state

I stopped at the Welcome Center, only to find Mississippi didn't want to welcome me until tomorrow.  I'd expected there to be no staff - after all, it's New Year's Day - but I figured they'd have left out some tourist stuff anyway.  Instead, they'd locked the outside doors and nobody could go in, even to look for state maps.  I saw other people trying after I did.  Disappointing.

I drove on I-10 across that lower projection of the state, that bends around Louisiana to the Gulf, and saw the message the DMV'd posted on the highway's electronic signs: 

   Greens for money.

   Peas for luck.

   Seat belts for life.

Not a problem for me because I have to wear my seat belt or I'd be driven crazy by the dinging warning bell in this vehicle.  I always eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for luck (though can't ever seem to get an entire year's worth).  And since my Momma was from Rhode Island, I didn't grow up eating greens and don't know how to cook them so will just have to make do with the income I've got.  Though some day I want to learn, greens being good for more than just money hopes.

This area of Mississippi is crowded (it seems) with casinos, which vie for stars to pull crowds in.  I saw signs advertising Engelbert Humperdinck (did you know he's still touring?) appearing at one on January 18th, and Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone appearing January 3rd at another - or maybe the same one - I didn't look.

This section of I-10 skates by a number of towns without showing any of them to the great driving public.  I passed the turnoffs for Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs, D'Iberville, Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, De Lisle, Bay St. Louis, and Waveland, which is where I was headed.

I passed the turnoff for Beauvoir, the home of Jefferson Davis.  Momma and I stopped there once, and since I visited the home of his youth in Kentucky, I doubt if I'll stop at Beauvoir again.  Despite the information I found in Kentucky, my opinion of this man just isn't very high, if for no other reason than he was furious with Gen. Lee for surrendering and refused to acknowledge that his lost cause was lost.  He was apparently plenty willing to send more Southern boys out to be killed, even after that result was certain.  Not my idea of a leader.

I passed the turnoff for the Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge and learned some interesting facts about their work when I looked them up.  This refuge was established in 1975 to protect the Mississippi Sandhill Crane population, which at that time was so endangered it had only about 30 birds left.  The problem was their disappearing habitat, which is also being protected from development by this refuge.  That unique habitat is described as wet pine savannah, and there's less than 5% left of the acreage that was originally there before humans decided to improve it.

In addition, this is one of only 2 major staging areas for spring and fall migrations of the eastern population of Sandhill Cranes, the other being in the area of Jasper, IN.  This refuge has been working diligently since it was established and estimates the number of cranes to be up to 100 - definitely not many but more than 3 times what it was when they started.

For many miles in this area, the roadway is elevated because of going over wetlands and many streams and other bodies of water.  Like one very long, low bridge.  And the land is absolutely flat, all along the road.  Quite a change from Alabama, though it may get hillier when I go farther north.

Waveland, The Hospitality City, was completely destroyed when it was "ground zero" for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  And that's after it had rebuilt itself from the direct hit by Hurricane Camille in 1969.  Katrina's eyewall made a direct hit on the town, followed by a 26' storm surge.  Worse still, Katrina came ashore at high tide, making the effects even more dire.  Waveland was hit harder from wind and flooding than any other Gulf Coast town during Katrina - and, since we've all seen the pictures from New Orleans then, that's saying something.

Driving through town, I can see many houses are built on stilts of different heights.  Surprisingly, though, quite a few are sitting flat on the ground on concrete slabs.  They're less than a mile from the Gulf, and they're still lived in.  They must have been completely underwater, and Katrina was the 2nd hurricane to hit here directly.  I'd regard that as a trend myself and wonder why these folks haven't figured out alternative housing.

The campground where I'll be staying for the next few nights was totally demolished.  They've had to rebuild everything.  I'll give more of a report on that later.