We left Louisiana headed toward Florida. A quick overnight in the Gulfport/Biloxi Mississippi area gave us another ocean view.
Nice white beaches with tufts of beach grass.
The gulls are thick on the beaches and used to being fed. They almost dive bomb you looking for food.
Loved the signs in the area. They are designed to help tourists locate restaurants and attractions on the Coast. I know they are a shrimp but I am happier thinking of them as crawfish.
Gulfport and Biloxi were massively destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. You would never know it now. Lots of touristy places along the beach.
There are pretty houses large and small with lots of porch sitting.
Too bad it wasn't dinnertime when we passed this by. Bet it was good!
Not sure about the food here but isn't this the neatest building? Looking out over the water the view must be wonderful.
Our journey continued through Alabama. Water water everywhere there too.
Mobile seemed like a bustling city.
I10 goes through the George Wallace Tunnel under the Mobile River. Even though it is not quite 3/4 mile in length for some reason it seemed longer to me.
Not long and we were in Florida. Gypsy was happy in her spot in Rocky Bayou State Park near Niceville.
The park we were in is quite close to Fort Walton Beach. We had lived in Fort Walton Beach in 1967.....49 years ago. I was excited to see if we could find the place where we had lived.
The closest we could find was between here and the Motel next door. Probably right in the parking lot. The place was old when we lived there so it definitely should have been torn down. That was probably the only way to rid it of the roaches.
We might as well have been somewhere we had never been before.
NOTHING was the same.
There was not a building anywhere near these gorgeous white sands beaches. The road went right along the beach and you could just pull off and walk to the beach.
Access to the beach now is pretty limited in the panhandle. Luckily there are designated spots and State Parks.
All those buildings cannot change the white, powdered sugar sands.
And it can't change the amazing color changing water.
While we may lament all the changes it didn't stop us from enjoying that soft, soft sand.
Looking at all the touristy stuff was fun.
Yes, the magic of the beach was still there. Just different.
Even though we weren't able to recreate the past we had an enjoyable time learning about the present.
We took time to explore the park we were staying in. This was our view across from Gypsy. That is Rocky Bayou.
There are three nature trails to enjoy that wind through the trees and beside the ever present saw palmetto.
This is Puddin Head Stream. I would love to know where it got its name.
The turtles were basking in the sun.
These grey-green clusters on the forest floor are deer moss. It is a very slow growing lichen and large mats may take decades to develop. If the weather has been dry it feels brittle and crunchy but if there has been rain it is as soft as a cotton ball.
Despite the abundance of saw palmetto when it is backlit by the sun it is really pretty.
Having a nice time in the Florida woods and really liked the sign on one of the Nature Trails. Glad we are here again even with all the changes.