Deep South Surprise...

The travel from the panhandle of Florida to Ole Miss. was good fun. We had Sirius satellite radio cranked and we were singing along. Still know most of the words, titles, artists from the 60’s hits, but if not, Sirius can scroll through titles and artists and resolve any issues that come down the pike. Sometimes, like on this trip, the DRIVING MUSIC is in control and we just let it be. The beat, the mood, the rhythm just right for driving down the highway on a crisp and overcast day, heating up the coach with warm fuzzy feelings of yesteryear and cheating the late days of winter and the early days of spring into thinking we are not paying attention to either of those sets of limitations. We are still riding high on a phone conversation from friend and musician extraordinaire Chuck Kruger who called from Sanibel (on vacation) to say it was warmer in Florida than in Maine- even if the beach was loaded with red algae. Sorry we missed you Chuck! We talked about the 770 pound tuna he caught, the pictorial proof of which he sent me only weeks before. What a guy! What a fish! I love ‘em both…
‘Bama was clean and beautiful coming across, Mississippi a bit of a roadside disaster trash wise but that’s got to be near the bottom of their list, the top of which is rebuilding these people’s lives still in disarray from Katrina. Some of the things we would like to have seen and done in these states is still not “open for business” a couple years later. We understand! At the welcome center, they told us how to detour around downed bridges to get to casinos in case we wanted to leave some of our money here. “We need it” said the lady behind the desk. We can see that. But on this trip, food, campground fees, fuel taxes and miscellaneous expenses will have to be our best contribution to the effort.
Made a side trip to the “Strip” along the Gulf on Rt. 90 at Biloxi expecting to see businesses, homes, general activities in recovery mode. THAT IS NOT WHAT WE SAW. We drove the roughly 20 mile strip in awe- realizing that 99.9 % of everything is gone. Totally gone. We were not prepared for that. Marilyn wept pretty much the entire ride. I had a lump in my throat.

When is a picture NOT worth a thousand words?

When there is nothing to take a picture of…. Literally nothing other than the few shots I took - the only townhouses remaining on the beach which were floated right off their pilings, the only commercial beach operation still standing (and you can see it won’t be standing much longer) and the art museum, which itself is now oddly enough a bizarre piece of art in its own right, crafted by the female artist, Mother Nature. If you get back a few blocks from the strip, a few of the casinos are open again. But no place open to eat. No where to shop. No sights left to see other than old foundations and perhaps a few signs that survived even though the business they signaled had gone back out with the surge when it left. Even the vast majority of the beach was gone! Katrina is worse up close and personal!
A few courageous souls have started to rebuild but it is hard to see why they would want to. It seemed to us it would be 20 years before Biloxi can become even a shadow of what it surely must have been. Even in the devastation though, there was a hint of humor. In each of those 20 miles or so, Waffle House has put up a new place. It looked funny! The only chain to be rebuilding on the beach is Waffle House. Perhaps in years to come, Biloxi will boast the most Waffle Houses per capita in America. And who’s to say their effort won’t set a good example for the return of others. But don’t rush right down there yet; not a one of them is open!