Biloxi, MS & New Orleans, LA

Sat., Feb. 12, 2022 thru Thurs., Feb. 17, 2022

Four rigs left Gulf Shores on Saturday morning, Feb. 12th…  (our friend) Mary, (sis-in-law) Linda & (brother) Andy, (traveling partners) Cheryl & Joe and Gary & I. All of us except Mary were headed to Biloxi, MS. Mary was headed directly to New Orleans where we would see her in a few days. We traveled a short 117 miles along some picturesque wetlands on I-10 and arrived in Biloxi, MS at Cajun RV Park. A pretty ride. This is a small campground and tight. We all have pull thru sites, although it’s looking very much like we’ll have to back out of our pull thru sites when it’s time to leave because there’s no room to pull forward… sort of defeats the purpose of getting a pull thru site. But, this is a problem for another day! We are across the street from the beach. Nice! I went for a walk on the beach with the Hannafords. Gary headed to the casino to play blackjack for the afternoon. Everybody did what they wanted.  After our walk, adult beverages were enjoyed by everyone outside (except Gary who was still at the casino). Around 6pm I figured I should call and check on him to make sure he hadn’t been mugged. He assured me he was fine and no he hadn’t gambled away our tiny home. He finally arrived home at 7:00 pm and was $54 ahead. Not bad! I’ll take it.

Gary and I had just headed to bed that night and I was asking him “think we should turn on the fan for some white noise?” and right about then there was a massively loud rumble of a train which sounded like it was coming through our tiny home. Ok then. Guess we’re sleeping with the fan on tonight! I laughed so hard I cried. Thankfully that was the last train of the evening. A walk the next day confirmed that there were train tracks directly behind the campground! 

Sunday, Feb. 13th, was Super Bowl. We were having everyone over our place for dinner, although Cheryl was doing the cooking. Bless her heart! She made chili and cornbread. Linda was bringing dessert. Life is good. In the afternoon Gary & I drove around town for a bit just to check it out. We did a cursory exploration so not fair to judge Biloxi on that. There appears to be an interesting art museum, the historic White House Hotel (over 100 years old), and Beauvoir, the historic home and presidential library of Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States. All of which would be interesting to explore if we were to come back. During a previous trip to this area we had visited Bay St. Louis which is about 30 miles west of Biloxi and that had appealed to us a bit more then Biloxi, but again we didn’t have enough time to explore Biloxi fully. I went for another walk on the beach with Cheryl on Sunday afternoon with a stop for $5 margaritas at nearby Woody’s. In the evening we watched the Super Bowl with the troops. A fun time with everyone! 

We were all getting ready to leave Biloxi Monday morning, Feb. 14th, when Gary realized we had a broken valve stem on one of our RV tires, and he had to put the spare on. Ugh. But better to find this out before we hit the road rather than after. A little more challenging start to the morning than I would like. The others (Hannafords and Stapps) waited for us to complete the repair, and we all left about the same time. Very sweet of them. We all arrived a few hours later at Bayou Segnette State Park, just outside New Orleans. We traveled 100 miles mostly on I-10. It got a little stressful around NOLA… lots of vehicles. Gary & I were here at this campground a few years ago. This time many downed trees in evidence from the hurricane damage last year. Still a nice park, although very poor internet connection so we’ll be offline for awhile. We enjoyed adult beverages with everyone and a very pretty sunset. Nice to be re-united with Mary again! 

We went to bed with owls hooting and woke up in the morning to lots of birds singing. Lovely. Nice change from the train in our living room during our previous stay in Biloxi. lol. Tuesday we boarded the Algiers Ferry to head over to NOLA. It’s a nice way to get into town. We were fortunate to be able to rely on our friend, Daryl, for some ideas as to what to see in NOLA. She recently moved with her husband Corky to NOLA from NH. Daryl is also a retired graphic designer. She, Joe, and I have all known each other for decades. Based on Daryl’s recommendation, we visited The Sazerac House. The company created the Sazerac cocktail in the mid-1800s. In 2008 the Louisiana legislature made it the official cocktail of New Orleans. Now Sazerac House is one of the two largest spirits companies in the US. Fabulous self-guided tour with tastings! Gorgeous building with impressive graphics that definitely appealed to the retired graphic designers in our group. Afterwards we walked down Royal Street in the French Quarter to ogle all the galleries, ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, and met up with Daryl & Corky at the French Market which is America’s oldest public market. We had an adult beverage and an early dinner before heading over to the New Orleans Jazz Museum for a free outdoor balcony concert. It felt like a true NOLA experience! So fun to visit with Daryl & Corky in their new home city. After the concert, we caught the street car back to the ferry. Phew… a full day.

One impressive fact about NOLA, during our visit there was still a mask mandate downtown and you needed to show a vaccination card to gain entry to restaurants. Daryl had already told us this so we were prepared. 

Wednesday, Feb. 16th, Daryl & Corky joined us all at the campground for a late breakfast and toured our tiny homes! Unfortunately we were not able to convince them to join us in our on-the-road lifestyle! In the afternoon some of us headed to City Park to tour the amazing free Sculpture Garden and enjoy the beautiful grounds. We had WAY too much fun there!  One interesting thing that happened was a monarch butterfly first landed on Cheryl’s outstretched hand and then moved to Gary’s bald head. It stayed at both locations for quite a little while. A visit from our heavenly moms perhaps??? The sculpture garden is very special. So worth a visit. City Park is 1,300 acres. It’s huge. It also has one of the best public Christmas displays in the country, which perhaps we’ll be able to see another year. To give you a sense of the size, it’s 50% larger than Central Park in NYC. 

Daryl & Corky had graciously invited us all for dinner at their beautiful home. Gumbo and King Cake were on the menu along with yummy brussel sprouts. Dinner was delicious from start to finish! We also were able to tour Daryl & Corky’s gorgeous home. Daryl has gone back to her first love of creating fine art. You can check out her work at www.daryldjohnsonartist.com. Just a perfect day with friends and family! We had to bid goodbye to Daryl & Corky, but will see them again when we’re next in NOLA. Can’t thank them enough for their warm hospitality and feeding all 7 of us! 

Thursday, Feb. 17th, we bid goodbye to Mary. She was leaving NOLA and headed elsewhere. Cheryl, Joe, Gary and I visited the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. It’s designated by the US Congress as America’s official National WWII Museum and an affiliate of the Smithsonian. It covers 4 buildings and is remarkable. Not to be missed when visiting NOLA. The stories, the facts, the immersive experience are truly unique and special. When you first arrive, you get the dog tag of someone serving in the war, and you can track their progress throughout. Among other experiences, the museum takes you step-by-step through the Road to Berlin and Road to Tokyo, plus there is a 4-D movie narrated by Tom Hanks. Truly one of the best museums we’ve ever had the pleasure to visit.  

Afterwards, as we were leaving, we were fortunate to catch some Mardi Gras floats being transported by police escort across town. That was unique! 

Linda & Andy graciously hosted dinner that night. It was our last night in New Orleans before we separate from them tomorrow. Hard to believe our time together is ending but we’ll see Linda and Andy again in 3 months! So we won’t be separated for long. 

Tomorrow Cheryl, Joe, Gary & I move on to San Antonio.  

In closing a few fun facts about NOLA:

Crescent City: A nickname for New Orleans originating from the shape of the Mississippi River as it bends around the city. 

Big Easy: A nickname for New Orleans with dubious origin: most commonly assumed to be because of the laidback easygoing lifestyle in the city. 

King Cake: The traditional Mardi Gras circular cake festively iced with purple, green, and gold frosting. A small bean or plastic doll is inserted somewhere in each cake and signifies luck or prosperity for the recipient. (Gary was the recipient of the doll from Daryl & Corky’s King Cake.)

Fleur-de-lis (flur-de-lee): The most enduring symbol of New Orleans is a stylized lily that has roots to French Monarchy representing royalty. 

5,000 defiant New Orleans establishments still served liquor during Prohibition.