Biloxi, Mississippi and the Gulf Coast

In my next post, I will enter the Iron Gates gorge on the Danube, but first--my one day journey along the US Gulf Coast in November 2009.

I had an extra day which I planned to devote to a Habitat building project for Katrina victims as part of  a New Orleans convention  I was attending.  Unfortunately, injuries before the trip to my shoulder and wrist left me unfit to labor.  So, I rented a car for a leisurely coastal day trip into two states I had not yet visited--Mississippi and Alabama.  I ended up in a major argument with my portable GPS navigator  about what is scenic.  It wanted to rush me ahead along smooth super highways (I-10).  I periodically ignored it to follow more scenic roads (US 90).   But just when I thought I had persuaded the GPS to continue my way, it would lead me back to the main highway.  Perhaps it sensed, better than I did, my time limitations.

In less than an hour, I was out of Louisiana and into Mississippi, the Magnolia State--birthplace of such diverse notables as Elvis Presley and William Faulkner.   The Gulf Coast extends about 75 miles from Louisiana to Alabama along the Gulf of Mexico.  It has some natural protection from the Gulf through the barrier islands that create the Mississippi Sound.

However, such protection is insufficient in a major hurricane.  Camille struck in 1969;   Hurricane Katrina struck  in all her fury in 2005 with a 27-foot storm surge, creating a 12 foot tidal surge in Biloxi.  Over 50 people were killed and over 90% of the coastal buildings  were destroyed in the Gulfport-Biloxi area.  Today, the coastal road is lined with new buildings, abandoned foundations, and the massive oak trees that have survived it all.  Sadly, the Gulf Coast was attacked again in summer 2010, but this time by the man-made oil spill.

Biloxi was founded in 1699 and served as the capital of French Louisiana until 1720 when New Orleans was built.  It's name lingers in one's memory from literary and historical references, the most famous probably being Neil Simon's play/movie Biloxi Blues.  Kessler Air Force base brings a military presence; shrimp boats and oyster luggers provide livelihoods to locals who include immigrants from places as diverse as Croatia and Vietnam;  Jefferson Davis' final home, Beauvoir, gives historical presence; and the white sands (but not good swimming) and new seaside casinos entice visitors.

I then wandered along silent autumn marshes in the Gulf Islands National Seashore, but did not make it up to the swimming beach at West Ship Island.   Instead, I headed the short distance to Mobile, Alabama.  At a rest stop, I found fall foliage, mixed with  graying Spanish moss.  Mobile was founded by the French and is Alabama's oldest city and only port, jutting down with white beaches between the Gulf coastlines of Mississippi and Florida.

I had had an early breakfast and not stopped for lunch, so I set my GPS for the recommended "no frills" Dew Drop Inn, the oldest restaurant in Mobile and "one of the city's most popular spots to meet and eat." Winding through neighborhoods, I ended up at a no-frills 60s-style one-room diner.  I enjoyed my lunch/dinner of Southern diner food, appreciated Southern hospitality, but decided at 5 pm that my journey must end there.  I realized that I was leaving most of the graceful "Azalea City" unseen, but departed with the hope that I could return some spring to see the "explosion of azaleas beneath Spanish moss oak-draped canopies." ( Fodor's Essential South)   I let my GPS speed me back to New Orleans.

Click link for slideshow:
Biloxi and the Gulf Coast
Music: George Delereu,  Biloxi Blues (Main Theme)