April 3 - Day 18: The Swamp & Mississippi Gulf Shore

It was a little spooky being the only guests in the B&B. There were no staff members on-site. We had a little bit of a schedule to maintain to get to our next event, so we were concerned whether we would actually get our breakfast before we had to leave. There was no evidence that we could find that someone would have food ready for us, but as the clock struck 9:15, there is Rico at the door to the B&B restaurant area, the stealth chef. He provided us an absolutely wonderful meal. The eggs were perfectly cooked, light and fluffy. He also served us perfectly cooked bacon, grits with a light cheese topping, fruit and toasted english muffins.

Now sad to leave Covington, we head to our next site, the Honey Island Swamp Tour. The tour begins 4 miles west of the Louisiana/Mississippi border, just across the Old Pearl River from the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. The tour is absolutely grand. We took a shallow-bottom goat with about 22 other people down the river. We saw lots of wildlife, including snakes, birds, alligators and raccoons.

Don't Fall in the Water

The narration by the 20-year veteran tour guide was quite informative about how life on the river and in the swamp has changed over the years. There are lots of people living on the river on rafts tide up to trees on either side. There is evidence of the damage unleashed by Katrina as she came ashore near here. We highly recommend this tour.

People Used to Live Here?

One thing that is absolutely surprising: no bugs! We are assured that there are lots of mosquitoes in the evening, but for some reason, they don't come out while the sun is fully up. We must check out why this tour doesn't require any bug repellent (though sun-screen is still recommended).

And now it is on to Mississippi and the pristine white sands of the northern gulf coast. Shortly after crossing into Mississippi, we leave I-10 for the more coastal US-90. We are partly searching for an interesting place to eat lunch, but it is only 40 or so miles to our next stop on Long Beach. Finding no restaurants that look good to us, we check-in to the Long Beach Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

We take a short stroll down the beach to Steve's Marina. Amy has a fish sandwich and I opt for the Shrimp Creole over Pasta. We have a short, energetic debate about whether "Creole" can be over pasta or whether it requires rice, and we agree to that the shrimp is in a creole sauce and move on to other questions.

This coast is pretty stunning. The white sands are impressive and there are few structures and even fewer people. The damage from Hurricane Katrina is apparent. There are lots of pads where it is apparent that houses used to exist, but have long since been cleared away. The few structures near the water are all of the "on-stilts" style, which is now required by code within a certain distance of the water. There are none of the small shops selling beach wear, trinkets, etc. that you usually see near a beach. It is surprising that there is such a low level of activity this long after the disaster. But if you want to see a beautiful beach without the crowds of people, this is a good are and will continue to be for the next several years.

We head back to the hotel for a rest. It is too windy to hit the pool, so we just relax in the room and address the most important concern of the day: where to eat dinner. After the refreshing rest, we drive to a local hot-spot that should be fun, only to find it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We settle for the Harbor View Cafe, which is quite good. We have some more seafood, and are getting used to the high quality of such food that we get in just about every place we eat.

We head back to the hotel and reflect that the neighborhood seems very under-utilized. It seems that this whole area took the eye of Katrina. It is a humbling thought as we retire for the evening.