Great company!

On Sunday Jim and Sue drove us around Spanish Fort, a city rich in history. It is located directly across the Bay from Mobile; it took its name from an old fort which was built there during the American Revolutionary War by the Spanish troops of General Bernado de Galvez; it had been the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1781 when a British force from Pensacola tried unsuccessfully to drive off the Spanish.

During the Civil War the Confederates built massive fortifications and batteries there as the bluffs at Spanish Fort commanded a key water approach to Mobile. On 27 March 1865 a major battle began. Union troops encircled the land approaches to the Confederate fortifications. With a force of only a couple of thousand men, the Confederates defended the Spanish Fort against the Union army (15 times greater in size) for 12 days until 8 April 1865.

Spanish Fort holds onto its history. As we drove around, Jim and Sue pointed out earthworks and breastworks (battle trenches)  in the yards and gardens of homes, preserved and still to be seen to this day. It is quite something.

Afterwards we went to Jim and Sue's home for a lovely meal; bbq pork steaks, wonderful salads and to top it off ... a King Cake, a Mardi Gras must!  Lots of fun and great company!

And then we are  headed for Mississippi.

We leave Spanish Fort on a cloudy, foggy and cold morning. We get onto I-10 and immediately are swallowed into a tunnel! Fortunately Jim had warned us about the tunnel but it was still something new, driving into its mouth!!

















We cross into Mississippi about 9.45am and stop at the Welcome Centre. Then off I-10 and onto Hwy 90 which will take us along the Gulf Coast. The fog hasn't lifted a lot and visibility is limited. I have put a Starbucks in Biloxi into the gps so that is our next stop!


The Mississippi Gulf Coast is 62 miles of scenic shoreline including the world's longest beach - man made and 26 miles long - Long Beach.
There are also 11 casinos along the coast with 24 hour gaming and world class entertainment.
We travelled here 25 years ago when we visited with our boys, our friends John and Christine and their 2 boys - 4 teenagers!
Quite some trip!











We cross several large bridges over waterways, bays and inlets along the coast.

The weather is closing in more and more! Some of the bridges appear to hang in the air. It is a relief to reach the highest point and see the road continuing over the other side!
We see many empty blocks of land along the waterfront. This area was badly hit by Hurricane Katrina and it looks as if a lot of the homes that were there were destroyed. I wonder if the residents have moved away or rebuilt elsewhere. The concrete pads of houses are still there as are some of the driveways; even garden structures and retaining walls - but no houses.

There are numerous For Sale signs.

We stop at Bay St Louis. I rang ahead and booked a site at the Hollywood Casino RV Park.

I'm not going anywhere!!

It is really foggy by late afternoon and quite cold! When we have settled in, we go over to the Casino to have a look around. We don't stay. Not even a flutter!