Our adventures continue...

We enjoyed our summer at home.  Finished up some projects we had been meaning to complete,,,and some we didn't quite finish.  Enjoyed our vacation to the Smoky Mountains with our daughter and her family.  Enjoyed spending time on our pontoon with friends.  Leo and Thelma came all the way from Reno for a boat ride.
Now we are on the road again!  First destination was Biloxi, Mississippi where Rog was stationed at Keesler AFB, two different times.  Once for training and another for NCO Academy.  I had been to Biloxi when I was a girl with my parents.  Didn't remember much about it but was looking forward to returning.  We actually have family that lives here.  Rog's cousin Mike and his wife Michelle MacLain.  Mike is a Major in the Air Force and Michelle works at the local hospital. 

I'm getting ahead of myself.  We had to get here first :)  We stopped the first night in Cave City, KY.  There is a Mexican restaurant here that we discovered here last year called Mazatlan.  Oh My Goodness!  If you are ever on I65 between Louisville and Bowling Green you need to stop by and get the Nachos Rodeo!

Nachos with queso cheese, grilled chicken and steak and shrimp! Yummy!

 

Next night we stayed in Montgomery, Al, nothing exciting to report from here.  Thursday we arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi.  We have been staying at the Keesler AFB FamCamp.  It's great!

 

We are definitely going to add this campground to our list of places to return to.

 

Thursday afternoon, Rog's cousin Mike and his wife, Michelle stopped by for a visit.

 

 

Their son's play football for the Clemson Tigers and they were on their way out of town.  We were grateful they were able to stop and visit with us!

 

We drove over to Keesler to see if Rog would recognize any of the base.  The 70's were a long time ago.  Most of buildings he remembers were destroyed by hurricane Katrina.  He did find a couple though and we found the Back Bay of Biloxi where he spent some time relaxing.

 

This bay is located right at the rear of the base itself.  Keesler is an amazing base.  It just felt good to be there. When the MP thanked Rog for his service, it just made me smile.

 

Friday we drove over to the gulf and walked the beach and the town of Biloxi.

 

This is the 57 foot Biloxi lighthouse, only lighthouse standing in the middle of a road!

Gulf with casino in the background.  There is no shortage of those here.

Pelican flyover.

Another view of lighthouse with our truck on the right hand side :)

These are live oaks.  Along Beach Blvd/Hwy 90 many structures were destroyed by Katrina.  It's amazing the mighty trees withstood the storm.  There used to be a house at the end of the walkway I'm on.

Stopped at the Adventurer's Pub for some eggplant fries and calamari.  I'm going to have to find a recipe for eggplant fries!

Biloxi Town Hall.  Katrina pushed water through the 3rd floor windows!

This was interesting, a boardwalk that went under the freeway out into the gulf.

Our first selfie.

Just thought this was cool...

 

Saturday we decided to take our bikes and ride the coastline.  There is a side walk that follows Hwy 90 for 30 miles I think.  We only rode 10.  Got to get back into the swing of things.

 

 

Later we drove over to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  Visited the Gulfshore National Seashore park.  On the way back we stopped and walked the beach again.  We can never get enough of that.

 

These are sea gulls. I've never seen this kind, they had a red band on their beak.

 









Sunday, today, we drove to the Jefferson Davis home Beauvoir.  (which means beautiful view)

The home was built in 1848 by James Brown.  Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy, bought the property in 1878.  He wrote his memoirs, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government there in 1881.

This is furnished with period pieces.  Not very many originals because Katrina destroyed most.  The floors are 23 feet above ground,,,the surge was 24 feet.  Of course the winds did even more damage.  They've done an amazing job restoring it.

These walls are not wallpaper, it is painted to look like it.  Very beautiful.

Rose garden behind the house.

Varina Davis, Jefferson's wife.  This sideboard weighs 700 pounds!

Rear of the house.  The house had 4 bedrooms, a parlor, a sitting room and 2 dining rooms.   The kitchen was in a separate building.

This is the Live Oak tree Jefferson Davis liked to sit under and read.

 

The property also includes a museum and gift shop.  Side story here.  My grandparents, on my father's side, lived in Mississippi.  I only visited them a few times.  One of my fondest memories is of the smell of their magnolia tree and my grandmother's pecan pie.  When we planned this trip, I thought it would be cool to find something magnolia to bring home with me.  I found what I was looking for in the gift shop!  A candle shaped like a magnolia blossom, a piece of hand made pottery with a magnolia blossom, (I'm going to set the candle on it) and some magnolia scented lotion! 

 

 

After our history lesson, it was very interesting, we were there over 2 hours.  We went in search of Mississippi Brewing Company.  Micro Brew hasn't caught on much in this area.  This was a great start!  We met the master brewer and really enjoyed the homemade gumbo!  They are located on a canal close to a marina.

 

We are guessing this place really fills up at night.  We were there at 1pm.



We weren't the only customers,  more arrived before we left.  It was supposed to rain all day, we were grateful mother nature held off till we got back to our trailer.

We've enjoyed our stay in the Biloxi area.  I think we will be back!

Tomorrow it's off to Grayton Beach, Florida.  Kennen and Terri are waiting patiently on us for the 10 day party to begin!