Missing Mississippi…….

Dave and I are down to our last couple of nights here in Biloxi, MS. After spending the last ~5 months here, we are definitely going to miss the people we have met and the overall feeling of living on the secret coast. (Although, I have noticed there seems to be a lot of states that all say they have a secret coast. Lol). We’ve become accustomed to walking the sugar, white sand beach and watching the seasons change from greenish brown to lush green with flowers everywhere. We’ve started the process to pack up and head north, but I took the opportunity to add a few more photos and side trips to my collection.

Along the coast, just as you enter onto Hwy 90, you’ll notice two landmarks. The Biloxi lighthouse was erected in 1848 and was one of the first cast iron lighthouses in the south. It was civilian operated until 1939 and is notable for the several female lightkeepers, including Maria Younghans, who tended the light for 53 years. There is a lot of history around the lighthouse and the most recent dates back to Katrina when it was damaged and listing. The city now owns the lighthouse and it’s since been restored and re-opened to the public. You can see the information related to it and watch a short video on the restoration and history of this landmark.

The newest landmark to grace this same area, is a tribute to Biloxi’s own astronaut, Fred Haise. He was an astronaut on Apollo 13. The bronze was unveiled just this year. I’ll let you google him yourself, but he appears to be a very unassuming and humble man when he speaks of his life and missions.

The next thing you notice as you drive Hwy 90 along the coast, is the number of HUGE live oak trees that grace this area. To say they are spectacular, does not do them justice. Some of them are well over a century old and have weathered so many storms. Biloxi protects them and for those that were lost during Katrina, a local artist created carvings from their trunks that flow in the median along Hwy 90. They have a little wear these days, but are still amazing to see.

Biloxi has a national cemetery along with a VA service center and we have been witnesses to several funerals that have wound down hwy 90, to this beautiful and peaceful setting. The reason I added this, is because Biloxi celebrates our history, both good and bad. The Jefferson Davis library is also located here and has a confederate cemetery.

What I find most amazing about this place, is not that it’s the last home of a former confederate president/politician, but that it became a veteran’s home and provided free housing to confederate soldiers, their wives/widows. There are also the remains of the confederate unknown solider buried here, and his tomb is on the grounds. When I think back to the many presidential libraries that are across the US, all the money spent to build them, for some reason the fact that this one was used to house veterans of our country and provided a final resting place, pulls at my heart. (Yes, I am tearing up as I write this. North or South, veterans are veterans in my book). Today, this is a museum you can explore, and the grounds are heavy with the perfume of the roses that are growing throughout.

Spring is here and the air is filled with the scent of roses that seem to grow everywhere. The trees are alive with their mossy coverings and the sycamore trees are full of green leaves and peeling bark. The magnolias haven’t bloomed yet, but the stores are filled with flowers and trees. Yes, I am trying to keep a palm alive this year and a beautiful hydrangea. Here’s hoping it’s not another couple of plants I accidently destroy.

For Dave and I, plans have changed this year. He blew out two of his four tendons in his shoulder and will need surgery this summer. We aren’t going to be able to do Maine and the east coast as we planned, but will try for that next year. Instead, we begin our journey north with a quick overnight in Alabama, and then a few days with some of the family in Nashville, TN. Grand Ole Opry is on the schedule along with some sightseeing. A week in Kentucky, a couple of days in Illinois and then back to Northern Minnesota through June. (Hopefully, the snow will have melted by then, because I am NOT going back to snow!). From there, we will head back to Florida and are on the hunt for our first camp host jobs. Something I can work through the winter, while he recovers from his shoulder surgery.

What we have learned is that flexibility is key to enjoying this lifestyle. Even though our plans changed, we are ok with spending a summer in Florida and hopefully, getting some more beach time. We also get to add 4 states to our map of places we have visited/stayed, and I am loving that.

See ya on the road,

Dave and Theresa