Day 96 - A Morning In A Grisham Novel
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
98
161
Trip End
Nov 08, 2008
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Gulf Shores,
Alabama,
United States
Friday, August 22, 2008
We've both recently read a John Grisham novel called "The Partner", about a lawyer based in Biloxi. It was quite interesting to see places featured in the book, like the Courthouse square, the road full of lawyers offices and even a restaurant called Mary Mahoney's. We don't think the lawyers eating there in their suits would be happy about us going in there in our shorts!
And so we decided to go back to the little place we had seen on the road to the camp-site at Gautier. "Austin's Po'Boys" is a simple little place but it looked clean and tidy and was clearly popular with the locals - always a good sign! We ordered a shrimp po'boy and a crabmeat one and had half of each. Po'Boys are basically sandwiches on crusty French bread filled with various things, particularly shellfish cooked in a crispy coating, a southern favourite. They were deeelicious!
We left Gautier on Highway 90 heading east and after about 15 miles crossed the state line into Alabama (the scary state - have you watched Top Gear yet?) As we headed towards Mobile we thought we passed the infamous petrol station, but we think the petrol pumps were the wrong way round.
Approaching Biloxi
The funniest thing of the day was when we were stopped at a junction by a Sheriff's Deputy controlling the traffic. You know how they say timing in life is everything? Well if only we had been one vehicle in front, we wouldn't have had to sit there and wait while 40-50 school buses were given priority out of the junction. And we are not kidding about the number. If we had realised how many there were going to be we would have started counting at the beginning. All we do know, is that we sat there for about 7 minutes. In the end we were laughing hysterically, we thought they were going round the block and coming out again!
As we approached Mobile the clouds were building and the sky was getting greyer. We guess we must be getting closer to Fay, although we found out while watching the news in Austin's Po'Boys that the storm isn't moving at the speed that was expected and has seemed to stall over Florida. We took the I-10 through Mobile as it's a very large city and we didn't want to fall victim to the badly signed roads. As we exited Mobile we crossed Mobile Bay and at the other side of the bridge is Battleship Memorial Park where the U.S.S. Alabama is situated as a visitor attraction along with tanks and some military aircraft.
The final leg of our journey took us south for about 40 miles back down to the Gulf coast and our campground at Gulf State park on the outskirts of the town of Gulf Shores. We arrived around 4.30pm and were shocked to discover that the price had almost doubled from the $12-14 we have been used to paying the last couple of months.
The Old Biloxi Bay Bridge
The ranger's excuse was "well you're on the beach". Actually the campground isn't. You need to get in your car and drive if you don't have bicycles, as it's about a mile away. As we entered the site we were quite alarmed by a sign asking us not to feed or aggravate the alligators! Oh well, we've had the threat of bears on camp sites before, we guess it's just down to the change in geography. We had been worried that we might not get a pitch here with it being so close to the coast. In fact, it was almost deserted as most people had left with news of the approaching tropical storm.
We decided to drive down to the beach and check it out before getting set up on our pitch. The beach is absolutely stunning. The sand is WHITE, not golden. And it's powdery soft. The dunes at the back of the beach are closed off as this is one of the last nesting areas on the gulf coast for loggerhead turtles. We took the boardwalk over the dunes and then kicked off our shoes and walked barefoot down to the sea. The water looked beautiful and the temptation to paddle was too great, despite the huge crabs that were in the shallow waters. We were just making plans to go back to the beach tomorrow when they attacked! Sand flies. All over us, particularly Mel. For some reason she attracts the flies and Neil attracts the mossies. A wonderful combination! So after a hasty retreat from the beach we returned to the campsite. We stopped off at the laundry room as the ranger had told us we could pick up a wi-fi signal there, but unfortunately we couldn't. Next to the laundry were the remains of a campground shop, quite obviously hurricane damaged.
As the sun went down the mosquitoes came out with a vengeance and by now absolutely fed up with being bitten, Neil resorted to desperate measures (see photo)!
After dinner we discovered that the site had at least put in the effort for their extortionate fees. The showers were the very best we have had at any state park. They're fairly new, probably re-built after the hurricane, and they're spotlessly clean and a good size. As the site is so empty, we think we're the only ones using this particular block. So it's like having your own personal luxury bathroom. Nice!
This evening, while reading a local magazine, Mel discovered that it wasn't Katrina in 2005 that had caused all the damage around here, but Hurricane Ivan in 2004. We're not sure now whether Biloxi was affected by Katrina, Ivan or both.
As we got into bed, the breeze picked up quite considerably. Obviously the storm is getting closer, but at least tonight it's cooler than it has been for many a night so we should sleep well.
Miles travelled: 134
Total miles travelled: 9185
Days on road: 76
States visited: 17
National Parks visited: 11
