~Mississippi~

We had a great day driving through Mississippi.   The southern part of the state is just 75 miles.  We decided to take the coastal route which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  The beaches all have beautiful, white sand.  The thing that got to us the most was the destruction still visible from Hurricane Katrina which was in 2005!  The towns are trying to get it back to "normal" with new restaurants and hotels being built up again etc..... but there are SO many vacant lots for sale still.

This is the Biloxi Lighthouse which was erected in 1848 and is one of Mississippi's most prominent landmarks. It is the only lighthouse to stand in the middle of a 4 lane highway!  The lighthouse survived Hurricane Katrina and is said to be one of the most photographed landmarks on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The lighthouse has been kept by female keepers for more years than any other lighthouse in the USA.

The beaches all have new benches and stairs and they are trying to plant new palm trees too.

Anything that has been built since the hurricane is now up on stilts.

The whole way along the coast are these empty lots.  There are numerous driveways heading into "nowhere" - all SO sad.

There are these beautiful carvings along the coast made by local chainsaw artists. These standing dead trees were topped and then carved in memory of the Hurricane.

There were many fishing docks too - the old, broken one next to a brand new one.