Pascagoula Builds Ships!
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Pascagoula is the far eastern edge of the Mississippi coast, and it was my plan to visit each of the coastal cities before we move on, so this morning we headed out to see the coast from Ocean Springs to Pascagoula. We are staying at Waveland on the Louisiana (west) side of Mississippi so Pascagoula is a 55 mile drive. Of course we never go straight anywhere! We meandered up the coastline and stopped in Biloxi For lunch at Shaggy's Beach Grill. I wanted some Gulf shrimp, and Joan wanted anything else.
After a fabulous lunch we set out for some coffee at Starbucks, and coffee in hand, we set off on a walking tour of historic Biloxi homes and buildings. The map was provided by the welcome center and the tour took about an hour. The first stop was the Katrina memorial which is a stone monument with the names of the victims inscribed on it. It was also a graphic representation of how high the water rose- the top of the monument.
The library is long gone, but this mural survived. It was a community collaboration put together in 1999 for the Biloxi Tricentennial.
There were many fine buildings on the walking tour, too many to show here. The Redding House shown below had to be our favorite.
The Redding house was built in 1908 for Charles Redding a prominent Biloxi business man.
Last time we were in Biloxi, we drove right by this lighthouse, and I wondered how the hell could there be a real litehouse in between the lanes of State Highway 90- but it turns out that it is real and has withstood every storm since it was erected in 1848. This lighthouse is 48 feet from the base to the lantern room and made entirely of cast iron over a brick interior.
We found out that Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, established in 1938, is a leading shipbuilder for the US Navy, employing over 10,000 workers, they are the largest private employer in Mississippi. HII has built many US Navy submarines and ships, Oil Drilling Rigs, and even cruise ships.
The security was tight enough that they wouldn't let us run around with our camera- so you'll have to be happy with this long distance snap.
In case you were wondering how the city got it's name- we Googled it, and it comes from the native American word meaning "bread eaters".
After a driving tour of Pascagoula, we zoomed back to Waveland and our home, via Interstate 10, arriving at 6PM, giving me just a few minutes to pack up the bicycles and get ready for travel before dark arrived, and with it, the rain. The rain is expected on and off all night and into mid morning tomorrow.
Since we have traveled the Mississippi coast extensively in the car, we will break with tradition and travel the freeway to Alabama tomorrow, then jump off the freeway to take state hwy 59 to Gulf Shores for the night.
Jeff and Joan
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