Hooters

Happy St. Paddy's Day. As we Irish like to say, "Wearin' no bra" or was it "Erin...something...something."

The water came back on in the park this evening so we managed to give Daisy a bath after her dead-man roll in some road kill. We discovered she's picked up fleas from running in the grass here or possibly on the beach in Biloxi. Oh well, it certainly isn't the first and won't be the last battle with fleas. Also, the park manager came around to warn us that the water is now contaminated and if we drink it or cook with it we'll have to boil it thoroughly. You gotta love Mississippi and we still have Alabama to go.

We drove up and down the beach in Biloxi today. Saw a lot of Katrina hurricane damage. In some places whole buildings have been blown away. Only the foundation is left standing and in others even the foundation is gone. But a lot of restaurants were also obliterated. We expected to find a nice little local fish joint somewhere along the beach where we could have lunch. We found nothing so wound up instead eating at Hooter's. Which was either quickly repaired or built following Katrina. And all along the waterfront where once quaint little places were to be found now it's casino after casino. Even they suffered extensive damage. Some have been repaired. But even the biggest and best known such as the Beau Rivage struggle to stay open in this economy.

We visited Beauvoir ("beautiful view"), the Biloxi waterfront home of Jefferson Davis, president of the confederacy. It suffered massive hurricane damage and is now undergoing extensive renovation. It stands now almost shiny and new like a reproduction of what it once was when Jeff Davis lived there in the 1870s. Hard to tell what's old and what's new. But there's a cool old confederate soldiers' cemetery out back. A cemetery that also contains the tomb of the unknown confederate soldier, an impressive memorial.

We topped our day off with a trip to Walmart. Ah yes, the dog that rolls in road kill, a trip to Walmart, and now with the first, warm comfortable evening we've had we can't sit outside the trailer because zillions of pesky little chigger-type bugs bite the hell out of you and drive you back inside. Which is not altogether bad because we're camped only about 100 yards off I-10 and it's a darn sight quieter inside than out.

Tomorrow morning we're off to Pensacola to link up with Paul's Marine Corps buddy Willie and his lovely wife Gail. We'll be going to the Naval aviation history museum on the grounds of the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Paul's been there before and some of his Marine fighter squadron memorabilia is on display.

All in all, it's amazing how blue sky, sunshine and 75 degrees can lift your spirits. Now we'll probably roll the damn trailer tomorrow. But then, it's all about the dog (who's asleep on my lap).