Tuesday

Along Gulfport's Beach

Tuesday we left Shepard State Park and started a leisurely drive along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We had visited this area on our first winter escape to the South. We wanted to see the area as it is now, six years after Katrina. Much has been done to re-create and restore the area. Much has not been done. And much will never be completed, one suspects. A case in point is the development of "prime" beachfront property.

As we drove along US 90 in Gulfport and Pass Christian, we noted mile after mile of empty lots with "For Sale" signs adorning the frontage. It will take very nervy people with very deep pockets to create the change which would restore the area to the functional use of its previous life.

We crossed the new bridge into Bay Saint Louis and drove on in to Waveland where we had spent a couple of weeks, pre-Katrina. This area had been seriously damaged, and it was heartening to see that much of the town has been reclaimed. It was also the beginning of...

Reluctantly I report that things did not go well in Waveland, for it was past noon and we were both hungry. I pulled into a Hardees and BBBH strenuously objected that she was not eating at Hardees. Which did not deter me from the mission to get something to eat, but mostly I wanted a cup of coffee.

There was but one employee in the place, and he was in the kitchen. I stood, and stood, and waited and. And finally turned to go out the door when a young lady appeared from behind a door and asked if she could take my order. Torn between good sense and desire for caffeine, I went back and placed an order for burger, fries and coffee. She gave me a paper cup for the coffee. I went to the urn and drew a yellowy water which looked exactly like what you think it did. So I went back to the girl, showed her the stuff and she said, Oh, no problem. I'll make you a new pot. No, I said, just give me my food and I am out of here. And BBBH showed up in the lobby and chastised me for my rude and inconsiderate behavior, pretty much the last thing said for most of the day.

BBBH had her steak dinner in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The day ended in a campground twenty or so miles west of Lafayette, the name of which was "Frog City RV Park." We practically had to swim in, the roads were so covered with water.