Day 14: We Made it to the Gulf of Mexico

The last two days we were on the banks of the Mississippi and today the Gulf of Mexico--not water FALLS but definitely water.  It was just a morning of driving--pretty and very uneventful other than crossing the Louisiana/Mississippi border numerous times.  Got to Biloxi in time for lunch.  Yelp had a number of good reviews for Parrain's Jambalaya Kitchen.  When we arrived there were a couple of cars in the parking lot but the "open" sign wasn't on.  We decided to try it anyway.  Well, there was no glass in the door--just the push bar..  We asked and found out the glass had been broken some time during the night and someone stole the whole cash register.  It was a cute little place and we ordered a sampler plate.  We got 8 ounce bowls each of chicken and sausage jambalaya, chicken gumbo, crawfish etouffee, and red beans and rice.  It was all very good and because we split a lunch we decided to have white chocolate bread pudding with beignets on top--so delicious.  Had a nice conversation with the owner and his wife.

Needed to walk some of our lunch off so we found Gulf Island National Seashore in Ocean Shores, Mississippi, just east of Biloxi.  There was a good little information center with lots of interactive displays that told about the animals and habitat of the area.  Then we found a little walking trail that could have had some wildlife but we didn't see any.  Along the road there were a couple of alligator viewing areas and one croc decided to "show his face" but nothing else.  We will be happy with that but hope for more tomorrow.  It was very warm so our 30 minute walk was a great plenty.  A man stopped his blue Honda CRV in the middle of the road and just began talking to us.  Had many stories to tell and said the water was a little high for alligators to surface and sun themselves.  He reminded us of a friend with many experiences at home.

It was a 20 minute ride back to Biloxi and we cooled off during the drive. We then found a place on the sea shore, walked down and admired the gulf.  It is certainly not like the Oregon coast: the water is warm with small waves.  There were quite a few playing in the water with their jet skis, others just sunning themselves and enjoying the (intense) heat. We didn't get our feet wet today but may tomorrow... maybe.  

We purposely got a room "with a view" and a balcony just one block off the beach.  Well, the view is of a huge casino.  I didn't realize how big gambling was here in Mississippi.  It truly is like a mini Vagas--probably 8 casinos or more with names straight from Nevada (Harrahs, Golden Nugget to name two). Bummer.  The room is clean and nice. We'll test the wifi in the near future as we join CCKF for the Wednesday night service.