Biloxi, Mississippi

3-20-2014

On Thursday we drove from the Styx River RV Resort in Alabama to Biloxi Mississippi, a distance of about 75 miles. We are staying at the Biloxi Elks lodge which sits right on Beach Blvd with a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico. The lodge was flooded during hurricane Katrina despite being about 20 feet above the gulf waters but has been repaired. The surge along the coast on the east side of New Orleans was 24 to 35 feet high. The storm was much stronger and devastating here but Orleans got all the notoriety because of the flood. This area is still recovering from Katrina and has been largely on their own, all the media and government's attention being given to New Orleans. 

The Katrina storm surge here at the Elks lodge was 24 feet above sea level

In the afternoon we drove the length of Beach Blvd from Biloxi to Gulfport. In Gulfport we walked the docks of the new city marina. Everything of value except the boats is located at the top of tall platforms about 20 feet above the water. The platforms are camouflaged with slats and look pretty good, IMHO

The towers above the docks contain the electrical equipment and will hopefully keep it from being damaged in the next hurricane

In the evening temperatures dropped into the sixties so we put jackets on for a stroll along the beach. We walked about a ½ mile down to a public fishing pier that juts out 3 or 4 hundred feet into the gulf. Only two people were fishing; most, like us just enjoyed the night air and used the lighted casino across the water as a backdrop for pictures. The beach sand here is very clean and light colored. It’s not white like the Florida panhandle beaches but a little lighter in color than our Myrtle Beach sand.