The Ray Adventures: Gulfport, Mississipi, Theodore, Alabama and Robertsdale Alabama

Well it seems we have a knack for finding unseasonably cold weather. The temps have been up and down, when it's good it's very good, when it's bad it's very, very bad. Meanwhile our friends in Rockport are lounging around the pool. No matter what the weather we feel blessed to be living our life on the road. The Carnival season ended Fat Tuesday with parades all over the south. We skipped going to the parade it's just too cold, there were many revelers downtown Mobile in spite of the temperatures and wind. In the south schools were closed most of this last week. We were curious, do they get a spring break too?

Tuesday, Feb. 10th, I spent the morning getting my blog (s)out, in the afternoon we drove down to Biloxi to see the sights. The town is quite a tourist area with numerous casinos and resorts. On our way back to Shields we stopped at Beauvoir, the last home of the first and only Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The Presidential Library/Museum and home were extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina, so much so the library and museum were beyond repair. A 24 foot tidal surge hit the home which has an elevation of 20 feet, they had a 4 foot flood throughout the house. All the furnishings, which were original from the Jefferson  days had to be completely cleaned and or restored. The pine floors held up well but had to be refurbished, the antiques had to be restored, they didn't say how much it cost to fix everything, but our tour guide did say it cost over $4,000 just to repair the grandfather clock. Of course I enjoyed seeing a crazy quilt made by Mrs. Davis for her daughter. The Presidential Library and museum was rebuilt, which also must have cost a fortune. Originally on over 3,000 acres, now has 51 which includes a cemetery and animals running around.

Wednesday, Feb. 11th. A beautiful warm day with only a light breeze, since we were going to be on lock down because of security training we decided to wash the coach and Jeep. Many neighbors offered to let us wash their rigs too. Later in the evening we found a tick on Luci, icky, Stacy told us how to remove them, we tried but she wouldn't hold still.  We applied her flea and tick treatment, it was time for the monthly application. I hated the thought of sleeping with a tick. (No Gary didn't have any ticks)

Thursday, Feb. 12th, As soon as we could leave the base we took Luci to a walk-in veterinary clinic to have the tick removed, $25.00 but money well spent. The flea "stuff" must have worked, the technician that removed it said that it was dead. We missed having Beignets in New Orleans, we heard Triplett and Day Drug and Soda fountain in downtown Gulfport makes them. Delish! They make them out of their biscuit dough, fry them then douse them in powdered sugar. We didn't realize they were so big, we both got an order, 2 HUGE beignets for each of us. We had been warned not to inhale while eating. I guess it give you the coughing fits for quite a while afterwards. We skipped lunch, they really stuck to our ribs (and butt too). Once in a lifetime is enough though, I'd hate to get hooked on them. I have enough vices without adding one more. Just up the road from Gulfport, in Biloxi, is Keesler AFB, we decided to check out their fam camp and commissary. We are so glad we chose to stay at Shields it is so much nicer.

Friday, Feb. 13th, No bad luck for us today. We drove back to Biloxi to the visitor center. They had some beautiful costumes for King and Queen of Krewe on display. We heard some of them cost $5,000 to make. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café and Casino, I had a delicious Portobello veggie sandwich, Gary ate a burger that was a specialty of the house. We didn't gamble, we normally don't but since it was Friday the 13th we didn't want to try our luck. Poor Luci, she was cooped up all morning so we took her to the dog park on base, no other dogs were there but she chased some balls to amuse us.

Saturday, Feb. 14th, Happy Valentine's Day! While Gary was at the dog park with Luci I puttered around. He was so sweet he brought flowers back. Not from the park . I tried to go downtown to pick up a special dessert for dinner but the streets were blocked off for the Mardi Gras parade, not being familiar with the town to go the back way I headed back. I barbecued some Baby Back Ribs for Gary for dinner, I smoked them for 3 hours then bbq'd on low for another 2, fresh asparagus, twice baked potatoes and sautéed mushrooms to round out dinner. Champagne too of course.

Sunday, Feb. 15th, Another beautiful day, we busied ourselves getting ready for our move to Theodore, Alabama tomorrow. We took Luci to the dog park, this time there were several other dogs there for her to play with. Nothing better than a tired dog.

Monday, Feb. 16th, We left base around our usual time 10 but fueled up first. Regular unleaded was $2.10 and diesel was $2.39. The price of gas has gone up, it seems silly to complain about having to pay over $2.00 a gallon for gas. We were meeting Ron and Sharon Espersen across Biloxi Bay in Ocean Springs, they are riding their bicycles from St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego. Our timing was perfect for us to connect with them for lunch. We parked the coach in an elementary school parking lot (no school until Thursday) drove into the quaint downtown area with lots of eateries, boutiques and antiques. We at Mosiac Tapas, they seemed to be out of everything due to Mardi Gras parties and changing up their menu. Gary and Ron had 2 for 1 beers while Sharon and I enjoyed their water. We just about left to find another restaurant when, voila, they managed to come up with the food for our order. Pretty tasty but pretty much a comedy of errors. Ocean Springs has a population of about 17,000, with an elevation of 22 ft,   During lunch Sharon mentioned to Gary she needed to find a bike shop for Chamois Butt'e (known to bikers as butt butter), Gary made her day, he went back to the coach to get her a tube. She was pretty happy. While Gary was gone Sharon and I checked out the boutiques while Ron watched the bikes. Cute things, it's a good thing we didn't have more time. We spent about 2 hours with them but had to say our good-byes to head off to Theodore, Al. and they were going to spend 2 nights in Biloxi and maybe catch a parade. We got to Paynes RV Park, out in the country, about 2:30, let's just say it's a "rustic"park. It's okay we'll only be here 2 nights and we have stayed in worse places. Our view is a pond filled with ducks and geese. We made a quick trip into the visitor center just before closing. Sweet lady, she was so helpful.

Tuesday, Feb. 17th, Very cold and breez but seemingly not as windy as forecast, we loaded up Luci and headed to Bellingrath Home and Gardens set on 65 acres about 8 miles down the road from Payne's. When we pulled into a nearly empty parking lot we spotted a Jeep with Oregon plates, we are always on the look out for fellow Oregonians. The lady in the gift shop said we were only the second couple in that day and the other couple was from Portland. Walter Bellingrath, the second Coca Cola distributor and his wife Bessie created Belle Camp in 1917. Did you ever wonder where the term soda pop came from. Mr. B. coined the term because of the sound the bottle made when taking the cap of. Who knew? Originally a fishing camp they hired a architect to turn it into a country estate. There were over 2,000 varieties of roses in the garden, too bad they weren't in bloom. There were tulips, daffodils, camellia bushes and magnolia trees in glorious color, especially in comparison to the sky. The house 10,000 square feet with 15 rooms plus a basement was built using bricks dating back to 1853 and iron works salvaged from historic structures in the 1870's. It is completely furnished with the antiques and collectibles collected by Mrs. Bellingrath. Our tour guide Paula told us she had so many sets of China Mrs. B. and the butler would go down to the basement to every morning to pick out 3 different sets of china for the day. Well I have one lovely set of trailer china. (paper plates)and I don't have to go down to the basement to choose.
Basically the home and gardens were untouched by Hurricane Katrina. We met up with the couple from Portland at the house, we had a little time before the tour started so we had a nice visit with them. We were the only ones on the tour, after we finished the garden tour and had a nice lunch with them in the cafeteria.   They are on their way to Florida to catch up with a Caravan tour that will take them down as far as the keys. We left Bellingrath gardens to go out to Dauphin Island to catch the ferry across to see the historic Ft.Morgan on the tip of the peninsula. We took a 3 mile bridge across the Intercoastal Waterway then hoped to catch the ferry across Mobile Bay to the fort. Well wouldn't you know, the ferries were having maintenance done. So we went to Ft. Gaines, on the opposite tip of the bay, a historic fort that was the scene of civil war and Spanish American war conflicts. Gary went inside for the walking tour, me I "wussed" out, Luci and I picked up a geo cache on the grounds then sat in the car with the heater on. We drove through a residential area right on the beach, all the homes were built on stilts. There was public access to the beach so Luci got to run in the sand and of course roll.

Wednesday, Feb. 18th We left Theodore for our long drive, a whopping 43 miles through Mobile, across the bay to Wilderness RV park in Robertsdale, Alabama. It a fairly nice park, located in a forested area BUT we are able to get satellite. The sky is beautiful blue with the breeze that cuts right through you. I thought a nice nap was in order since we had such an arduous drive.

Whew, so far so good, no major boo-boo's. Enjoy the pictures!

TTFN

Gary and Pam