Day 95 - M.I. Double S. I. Double S.I. Double P. I
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
97
161
Trip End
Nov 08, 2008
Gautier,
Mississippi,
United States
Thursday, August 21, 2008
We spent the morning just taking it easy, waiting for our parts to arrive. At 1pm we had to check out and when we got to the office our parcel was there. Sadly we didn't see Melvin this morning to say goodbye.
We took a different road out to the Interstate, passing even more devastation. It really is incredible that 3 years on, there are still derelict buildings and abandoned homes and businesses. And every few miles there was a trailer community, where the people that had lost their homes were now forced to live, in a lot of cases packed in like sardines. A really, really sad thing we saw, was a sign outside a mattress shop which read "Times Are Hard, Any Reasonable Offer Accepted". That really does sum it up.
We drove out of NOLA for the final time, this time taking the temporary I-10 bridge alongside the new one that is under construction. Once on the northern shore of the lake we travelled about 10 miles east before crossing the state line into Mississippi. About 20 miles later we crossed the St Louis Bay and from there the road ran alongside the beautiful sandy Gulf beaches. It looked all the better for the fact that the sun was out and the sky was blue.
Tree Frog
We remarked on how all of the front line property seemed new. And then we began to notice foundations of buildings that were no longer there, and we realised that this whole coastline had been wiped out, presumably by Katrina. Anything that was standing was quite clearly leas than 3 years old. From the remnants of the former structures it appeared that this had previously been a thriving little community with strips of small stores and big lots that had probably been home to supermarkets. But now they were just weed-ridden patches of concrete and tarmac. As we drove through the centre of Biloxi there was a high-rise building, formerly an apartment block, just stood derelict with most of the windows blown out. Now don't misinterpret what we are saying here. Biloxi isn't some dump of a place. On the contrary, it is very much on the up. The new houses that have been, and are being built, are gorgeous and a fair old size. And in the centre of Biloxi are several casino hotels, also looking pristine. Add to this that the roads, kerbs and beach access are all being smartened up and it really does have a lot going for it - until the next hurricane. Our map told us that the US 90 bridge across Biloxi Bay was left impassable by Katrina and was currently being reconstructed. We didn't know how up to date that information was, so as we sat waiting at a set of lights, asked a couple of guys in the car next to us and they told us that it was now open and just ahead of us. Sure enough less than half a mile further along we crossed the brand-spanking new bridge which provided us with beautiful views of the bay and the remains of the old bridge.
The road from Ocean Springs to Gautier looked remarkably familiar. We think it may have been the one the Top Gear team used on their jaunt from Florida to New Orleans. If you never saw that episode of Top Gear, YouTube it. Very interesting!
We arrived at our camp site on the outskirts of Gautier around 6.30pm. It's such a contrast to where we were last night. There are cigarette buts littering the pitches and the grounds aren't as well kept as at St Bernard. The toilet/shower blocks aren't brilliant either but then again we have had worse.
Miles travelled: 120
Total miles travelled: 9051
Days on road: 75
States visited: 16
National Parks visited: 11
