On our way to Daytona Beach, Florida, we stayed overnight in Biloxi, Mississippi, and did the 5k portion of the Biloxi walk on Thursday morning, November, 4. Now, we're on our way home and staying in Biloxi again.
After leaving Jacksonville, Florida, this morning at 7 am, we got on I-10 and kept driving almost nonstop to Milton, Florida. I wanted to have lunch with Rosemarie, our sister-in-law. We hadn't seen her since Bob's brother Tom passed away a couple of months ago. Susan Medlin and I met her at Grover T's BBQ in Milton, a favorite restaurant of ours. We had a good lunch. Rosemarie seems to be okay. It was a nice visit to catch up on how she's doing.
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Susan Medlin with boss hog at
Grover T's BBQ in Milton, Florida. |
From Milton, Florida, we had a 2-1/2 hour drive to Biloxi. We arrived at our hotel at about 3 pm and decided to do the remainder of the Biloxi walk. We had only done 5k of the 10k walk and it was easy to pick up where we left off a week ago to finish the route.
This afternoon, the Biloxi Lighthouse Visitor Center was open, so we headed inside to check it out. History lessons in the museum:
- Biloxi used to be known as America's Riviera,
- Barq's Root Beer got its start here,
- Turpentine was produced here,
- Seafood and lumber are major industries,
- Famous and infamous people from Biloxi (Frank Gehry - architect; Jimmy Buffett - singer/songwriter; John Grisham - author; Edward Barq - chemist/inventor of Barq's Root Beer, and more),
- Schooners ("white-winged queens") designed by local boat builders were used for fishing in the Mississippi sound and Louisiana marshes,
- Hurricanes that have devastated Mississippi,
- Keesler Air Force Base, and
- Eight different flags have flown over Mississippi
- France
- Great Britain
- Spain
- Republic of West Florida
- United States
- Confederate States of America
- Magnolia State Flag
- Mississippi State Flag
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Lighthouse art in
the Visitor Center. |
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| A Biloxi poster. |
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Part of a large mural in the
Visitor Center. |
Biloxi was known as "America's Riviera" in the 1960s, pre-Hurricane Camille. Big performers such as Mel Torme, Andy Griffith, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Sr., Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino made appearances here.We spent at least one-half hour in the Biloxi Lighthouse Visitor Center Museum. Susan Medlin also bought items in the gift shop here. My car was out in the parking lot so she wouldn't have to carry her purchases on the walk!
And then we were off on the walk. We passed by the Biloxi Fire Museum on Howard Ave. but didn't have time to go in today.
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This 1937 firehouse is now the
Biloxi Fire Museum. |
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| Cool mural set back from the street. |
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| Bob's mom would like this quilt shop! |
Cute houses lined Howard Ave. which were mixed in with small businesses.
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| Mural on a coffee shop. |
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| Beautiful fountain sculpture. |
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These markers were awesome, but
we only saw two of the three mentioned. |
The downtown business district is where our walk headed next. We passed MGM Park, home of the Biloxi Shuckers. Our walk instructions need to be updated. They said the Magnolia Hotel, circa 1847, is home to the Mardi Gras Museum. Umm, not currently! Below are photos of the Magnolia Hotel. It is shored up with lumber and seriously leaning over. Major remodeling is going on here.
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| Historical marker for the Magnolia Hotel. |
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The Magnolia Hotel is under
renovation! |
Water Street has been transformed into the Mary Mahoney Walkway.
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| Front entrance to the Magnolia Hotel. |
Across from the Magnolia Hotel is Mary Mahoney's Old French House Restaurant.
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| The courtyard of Mary Mahoney's. |
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| Biloxi's Hard Rock Hotel. |
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| George Ohr, the "Mad Potter of Biloxi." |
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| A mural of the "Mad Potter of Biloxi." |
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| A side view of City Hall. |
Hurricane Katrina has its own memorial in Biloxi Town Green Park. There is also a sailfish carved out of a tree stump. There are quite a few things to see in the park.
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High water marker - red line
for Katrina; blue line for Camille. |
We continued under the Biloxi bridge and along Beach Blvd. for several blocks. All along the way, there were empty lots with green historical markers showing the empty lots where magnificent homes once stood. That was before Hurricane Katrina.
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| Looking toward the Gulf of Mexico. |
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Biloxi Civic Center. The Public
Library was next door. |
We headed back through old downtown Biloxi and found the City Hall and the new location for the Mardi Gras Museum. |
| Biloxi City Hall. |
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| Watch out for sharks, Susan! |
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| A beautiful "Greetings" mural! |
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This is the new location of the
Mardi Gras Museum on Howard St. |
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The historic Barq's Rootbeer Manufacturing
Plant. |
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Cathedral of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Catholic
Diocese of Biloxi. |
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Cathedral of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Catholic
Diocese of Biloxi. |
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| Sunset is coming! |
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Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico in
Biloxi, Mississippi.
© Susan Alton, November 10, 2021. |
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Biloxi Lighthouse
© Susan Alton, November 10, 2021. |
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Biloxi Lighthouse
© Susan Alton, November 10, 2021. |
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| © Susan Alton, November 10, 2021. |
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Biloxi Lighthouse.
© Susan Alton, November 10, 2021. |
Our last 20 minutes of the walk was embellished by the setting sun. It made everything look magical.
When we returned to the Biloxi Lighthouse Visitor Center we saw a few more historical markers outside. I am particularly fascinated by the high water markers.
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Another home was demolished by
Hurricane Katrina. |
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Pierre LeMoyne Sieur
d'Iberville. |
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| The high-water-mark post. |
You may be wondering how we made a 5k into a 7k. We walked all around inside the Visitor Center, spent time walking around the Biloxi Town Green, and also walked around the outside of the Biloxi Lighthouse Visitor Center.
With that, we took a few more sunset photos and then rode back to our hotel. For dinner, Susan and I shared wine, cheese, crackers, popcorn, and grapes in her room. Then she had a Zoom meeting to attend and I went back to my room to zone out in front of the TV.
Tomorrow morning, we plan to leave Biloxi, Mississippi, at 5 am so we can be in San Antonio by 3-4 pm.
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