We meandered around town observing the Inaugural Seahorse Open Putt-Putt Championship put on by the Mystic Krewe of the Seahorse. Venues around town hosted the putt-putt holes, as well as serving snacks and drinks! We had to sample the local fare!
Oysters on the half shell!
Soft shell crab display at the 16th hole.
A Walking Tour of BSL is de rigueur!
Historic L & N Railroad Depot.
The Mardi Gras Museum inside the depot. Fantastic costumes are manufactured just up the street.
The “Starr Boarding House” featured in the 1966 movie “This Property Condemned” starring Robert Redford and Natalie Wood.
The Blue House, home of Alice Moseley, folk artist.
That’s “Walking Tour of Bay Saint Louis”! Several days of meandering around this picturesque town.
A marketing mural.
Colorful store front.
A comfortable place to sit!
Funky artwork.
We decided to stay for several days to relax and enjoy the Gulf Coast and Southern Hospitality! We usually have motorcycles, or this winter the jeepster, to sightsee with. Not so on this trip, so we dropped the camper to travel more lightly with the truck.
Uncoupling the truck and camper, something we’ve never done before!
We drove west towards New Orleans through the bayous of west Mississippi and across a bridge into Louisiana where we turned into an old fort we saw from the bridge. This is Fort Pike, built in 1819, finished in 1827 and finally abandoned in 1890 and according to Wikipedia, “Despite having changed hands multiple times in a history spanning at least two major wars, no cannon was ever fired in battle at Fort Pike.” Nature however almost finished the fort off when the Hurricane Katrina storm surge completely submerged it. It was reopened in 2009 but is still badly damaged.
Entering the Fort after crossing the ‘moat’.
Up on the ramparts looking into the interior parade ground.
The circular interior where the gun ports and ammunition batteries were.
We took a meandering route across southern Mississippi and south to the Gulf shore of the state, finally settling down at Buccaneer State Park near Waveland, MS. We headed east on Beach Boulevard to historic Old Town Bay Saint Louis to explore the town. We were impressed with the beautiful houses along Beach Boulevard, but noticed they were all new, with lots of empty lots between them, many with old foundations, pilings or just concrete steps to nowhere. We realized this was Ground Zero for Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. The beaches of the Gulf of Mexico are opposite the new homes and vacant lots. Along the beach are the remains of huge old Live Oaks that were killed by the salt water storm surge of Hurricane Katrina. The trunks of the trees have been carved into beautiful images of land, sea and air creatures and protective angels.
One of the carved Live Oaks.
We heard the story that three survivors clung to one of the oak trees throughout the storm and felt that the tree was their guardian angel!
For a personal account of the destruction of the storm in the area here is a website to visit;
http://4christe.tripod.com/WavelandDamage
For before and after pictures of towns along the coast visit this website;
http://www.louisianaphotos.com/Katrina/B_A/Bay-St-Louis.html
For more images and info on the sculptures visit this website;
http://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/2009/03/update-on-highway-90-sculptures.html
Just as the dead trees have been revived into beautiful works of art, the communities of the Gulf are revitalized, inviting and beautiful!