Biloxi and Mississippi Gulf Coast

Thursday, June 7 – It’s really shocking to see the scars from Hurricane Katrina.  There are so many empty lots with only foundations left, and tress that still look mangled after all these years.  The lighthouse right at the start of the drive was one of the few landmarks still standing after Katrina.  One interesting thing is that there is an artist, Marlin Miller, who made carvings of some of the tree stumps along US-90/Beach Boulevard, turning them into public works of art.  They are now one of the top attractions along the Mississippi coast.

There is also some building still going on, along with a lot here and there that has what looks to be a relatively new house.  Most of them are on stilts.  It definitely feels "empty" overall.  While we've never been there before, let alone before Katrina, you get the sense that there is still a lot missing.  While the landscape may not be as beautiful as it was pre-Katrina, it still was a very interesting drive.  Thanks to both Sandy’s cousin Jane and my friend Carrie for suggesting this route!

Thursday, June 7 - Now we’ve entered the state along the Gulf Coast, instead of mid-state when we went through Jackson last week.   When we got close to Biloxi, we got off the interstate to take the scenic drive along the coast. 

The added bonus of getting to this route is that we got to drive the ENTIRE length of another interstate: I-110.  Our avid readers will remember that we did the same thing along I-16 in Georgia.  However, this route was much shorter, only 4.1 miles, and it needs to be qualified because there are several I-110 spurs throughout the country.  However, we can definitively say that we drove the entire length of this spur.

One added note:  The Mississippi Welcome Center on I-10 going west was definitely the best state Welcome Center we’ve ever seen.  It was more like entering a nice colonial-style museum than a rest area.  And the ladies offering us coffee when we walked in the door couldn’t have been nicer.  Southern Interstate Highway hospitality at its best!

Heading across Mississippi

Tuesday, May 29 - Heading out of Jackson, Mississippi, we started following the Southern Pacific route in the Road Trip USA book, one of our stalwart guides that we've used on all of our trips.  It's a great book, because it takes you off what they call the "anodyne interstate" and takes you on the local roads so that you can see more of small town America.  We try to stay off the interstates as much as possible, unless we just need to get somewhere as fast as possible.

This route took us on US-80 from Jackson to Montgomery, Alabama.   It took us through the Bienville National Forest, which was a nice drive, but we didn't even see one of the familiar national park service signs that we know and love.  Here's the sign from their website:

Our next destination was Meridian, but along the way we passed through Chunky, Mississippi.  Now, with a name like Chunky, it cries out for some comment.  Let's just say it's a "wide" spot in the road that stands proud with a baptist church and a post office along US-80.  Small town, big name.

We took a quick break in Meridian, the birthplace of the "Father of Country Music," Jimmie Rodgers.  While we didn't go into the museum, the town is also known for it's Dentzel Carousel in the town's Highland Park, built in 1896 for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and moved to Meridian in 1909 where it's been in operation ever since.  It's also housed in the only surviving original carousel building built from a Dentzel blueprint.  The hand carved animals have all been restored to their original condition, so of course we had to go for a ride.  Fifty cents per person!

State Capitol #2

Monday, May 28 - Our second state capitol in two days!  We exited the Natchez Trace Parkway near Jackson, Mississippi, and headed straight downtown to take a look at the Capitol. Obviously, much more traditional than the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

The one strange thing was that there almost wasn't a soul in downtown Jackson.  We were standing in this park in front of the Capitol, and for a few minutes we didn't see one human being.  Granted, it was after 5pm on a holiday, but it was almost like one of those movies where everyone just disappeared, and you're the last person in the city.  All you could hear was the cicadas...

...which I had to admit were so loud that I didn't think they could be insects.  Sandy thought they were bugs, but I thought maybe they were birds...?  My Yankee upbringing didn't teach me what a cicada sounds like, and crickets certainly aren't that loud.  Well, a quick Google search and a YouTube video proved me wrong:

Natchez Trace Parkway

Monday, May 28 - We love national parks.  So, we'd been looking forward to drive about 90 miles of the 440 mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway, which is operated by the National Park Service.  The parkway follows the course of the old Natchez Trace, which was a major overland route from Natchez to Nashville, Tennessee before steamboats provided a faster alternative.

It's a very relaxing and scenic drive, with historic points along the way.  One of those historic sites is the Emerald Mound.  I have to say that I had never heard of a mound before I started reading up on the Trace.  Thus, today marked my very first mound visit. What's a mound, you ask?  It's a prehistoric ceremonial site.  This one was built and used from about 1200, and was still in use when the first Europeans arrived in the 1700s.  The Emerald Mound is the second largest mound in North America, is 35 feet high and covers about 8 acres.  The big mound actually has two smaller mounds on top of it.  That's me standing on top of the second mound (though it's hard to tell), which is about 60 feet high in total.

One more kinda cool pic...  Due to the way the topsoil settled in this area, some parts of the original Trace are actually sunken about 20 feet.  We took a short walk through one of these sections.  Nice for a little hike, but can't imagine going 440 miles through this...

Fat Mama's Tamales

Monday, May 28 - I think this pretty much says it all.  But don't worry... it's family run, and everyone behaved. It was lunchtime after all...

Memorial Day Observance

Monday, May 28 - There's a lot of history surrounding Memorial Day in Natchez.  There's a parade that starts in Vidalia, LA and crosses the Mississippi River Bridge to Natchez, MS, with a ceremony later in the morning at the Natchez National Cemetery.  The origins of this event go back to the Civil War in 1864, when a commander of the 2nd Mississippi Heavy Artillery, African Descent, received a dispatch to cross the river at Vidalia to support the Union army.  Soldiers of African descent had only recently been allowed to serve in the Union army as a result of an Act of Congress in 1863. As a result, local black men, all recently emancipated slaves, enlisted in the Union army at Natchez.


We visited the national cemetery, and found the graves of many Civil War soldiers, who were grouped by state.   There were quite a few from midwest states like Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.

Around town

Monday, May 28 - Just a few pictures of the houses around town.  Which one doesn't seem to fit?  You decide...

The Dunleith

Monday, May 28 - We spent night #2 at another antebellum mansion, the Dunleith.  However, this one was not on a plantation; it was in town in Natchez (FYI, it's pronounced like "matches").  Natchez is filled with these antebellum homes.  Before the Civil War, it had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the country.  The reason so many of the homes have survived is that Natchez came under Union control almost without a fight.

Out in back, they have a huge magnolia tree, pictured below.  Some of the branches scoop down and actually touch the ground, and as a result, there's some new growth from the branches coming out of the groud.  This picture of us was taken "inside" the tree.

Dinner by the River

Sunday, May 27 - After arriving in Natchez and checking in at the Dunleith Mansion, we headed to the riverfront bluff in downtown Natchez.  After taking a look at the view, we went down by the river and had dinner at the Magnolia Cafe.  Great spot.

Mississippi!

Sunday, May 27 - State #2!  The first town we hit across the state line was Woodville.  It's claim to fame is the Rosemont Plantation, the boyhood home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  By the time we got there it was closed, and you can't even see it from the road through all of the oak trees.