Bayou to Beach

We left the New Orleans Bayou Country and headed East on Interstate 10 under a cloudy sky. After a few miles of passing through one bayou after another, we crossed into Mississippi and diverted onto Highway 90, the scenic route. We quickly went from "Bayou to Beach" . . . Mississippi beaches are wide and wonderful as far as you can see.









Highway 90 runs right along the beach through Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi, Mississippi, where the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina struck the hardest. We passed down this road in early 2007, only a couple of months after Katrina hit. We were dumbfounded at the time by the extent of the devastation . . . and we were surprised today that so little rebuilding progress has been made in the intervening two years plus.

When we were through here two years ago, the wall of water, the tidal surge, had leveled nearly every structure within three or four blocks of the beach. Although many new homes and buildings have since sprung up, and many more are under construction, I estimate that only about 10% of the damaged and destroyed structures have been repaired or replaced.


Hundreds of now vacant beach front lots, as well as lots a block or two back from the beach, have 'For Sale' signs on them. Many now vacant lots are just setting there facing a beautiful sandy beach, some with pilings, a driveway, a foundation, or a concrete slab remaining. A few brick or concrete buildings were gutted by the storm surge but not destroyed. Some of those have been restored, but some, like the brick home in the photo at the right, have simply been boarded up and stand silently, a lone sentinel in a field of vacant beach front lots.





We passed a big brand new building right on the beach with a large sign on the front, "Snapper's Seafood Restaurant". We didn't hesitate! We pulled into the first parking space available and walked back to this beautiful new restaurant . . . it was lunch time! But when we got closer, we could see it was still under construction. Bummer! So much for a nice seafood lunch overlooking the beach.

















We continued along the beach highway until we found a bridge still out from the hurricane, so we had to return to Interstate 10 to continue Eastbound. But near the Alabama border, we were intrigued by a billboard for a bar-b-que restaurant with Blues music, The Shed. We pulled off the Interstate and had some difficulty getting our rig parked. You can't backup a 40 foot motor home towing an SUV, so we have to be careful to not pull into any space we can't either pull on through or make a U-turn. A campground adjacent to The Shed allowed us to drive through their campground and out the back into the parking lot of The Shed, which solved the problem.

We parked "The Bus" and walked into The Shed . . . what a shock. This was like no other. Most of their tables were outside, the band stand was outside, and The Shed itself was, well, a shed. It was decorated with strings of lights, license plates, witty sayings, dollar bills, and junk.

















We were greeted at the door by a Shed employee, a young man from Kansas who quickly assured us The Shed bar-b-que was "better than Gates", a bar-b-que icon in Kansas City. So we sat down and ordered too much food . . . but it was delicious. The meat literally fell off the bone and the sauce was great.

The kitchen area and the bar were so fascinating the way they were over-decorated. The young man from Kansas told us he wanted to open a "Shed" in Kansas, near the Kansas Speedway . . . so don't be surprised if one of these pops up in Kansas.

















Carole struggled to finish her Sampler Plate, but I picked up a pint of their sauce to-go. It was sooooo good!

We returned to "The Bus", and drove through Mobile to Gulf Shores, Alabama . . . right on the beach. We stopped at the Gulf Shore State Park, but were disappointed in the campground. It was out in the open, no trees, and the units were packed in too close together. Also, it was at least a mile drive to the beach. Instead, we settled for a site at the Island Retreat RV Park in Gulf Shores, where we have a concrete pad and patio, trees, cable TV, free wifi, a swimming pool, and other amenities. We may be a couple of miles from the beach, but if we have to drive to the beach, we might as well be in comfortable surroundings two miles from the beach as be in uncomfortable surroundings one mile from the beach.

At any rate, today we literally went from "Bayou to Beach" and have a very nice parking spot. We might just stay here a week or so.