May 31, 2019, Final Post, "I Like Pig Butts and I Cannot Lie."

May 31, 2019, Final Post, "I Like Pig Butts and I Cannot Lie."  Our stay along the Gulf coast has ended.  We start home in the morning.  We will have dinner with my brother and Kathy Sunday evening.  We will have lunch with Bill and Marie Monday.  Aside from those two major events, we hope for an uneventful trip home.  The rivers are out between here and home, so we really don't know what to expect.  But, I think we will be okay.  Our car has tires filled with air, so it should float.   

I have included a collage of pictures taken over the last three days.  We have biked along busy Highway 90.  We were between the highway and the beach.  Near the end of the bike ride, we had lunch at Slap Ya Mamma's, a campy BBQ restaurant on the beach.  The beach fell short of compensating for the noisy traffic on the highway.  We walked the same route yesterday, only we didn't go as far as we did on the bikes.  On the way home, we stopped at the Treasure Bay Casino and Hotel.  The only money we lost was at the all-you-can-eat buffet.  Well, actually the casino lost money.  the receptionist took one look at me and offered me $20 to go next door to the Waffle House to eat.  I declined and I am pretty sure I did some damage to the casino's bottom line.  

And, no, we did not wager.  Annie - despite what I said in an earlier post - and I are not enthusiastic gamblers.  I like to wager on sure things, like the buffet,  The buffet didn't have a chance when stacked against my gluttony. I don't like to bet when the odds are stacked against me.  That's how casinos stay in business, you know.  If you bet 100 times, the casino is going to win the majority of those bets.  That's just the way it's set up.  

Back to Slap Ya Mamma's, the lunch we had was good, but didn't compare to the BBQ we have back home.  The servers did wear some attention grabbing shirts.  One bore the slogan, "Butts, Butts and More Butts."  Another said, "I love pig butts and I cannot lie."  That, of course, was a take off on the song performed by Ross and Rachel in one of the Friends TV episodes back in the 1990s.  

So, we'll leave in the morning.  This has been one of our most relaxing trips.  One event a day was sufficient.  We've had trips where we went home to catch up on our rest.  Not this time.  We've read, watched cable news - something new every day, sometimes two or three new things each day - sat on our patio, walked, biked and ate.  The eating part was my personal favorite.  We like to eat foods indigenous to the area.  So, we ate a lot of seafood.  I am seafooded out for a while.  

We don't know what we will do in the fall.  Last year, we stayed in the state and saw as much color as we have in New England.  In any event. as we finish this one, I'd like to thank you for dropping in from time to time.  While I do this for Annie and me - otherwise, we'd forget where we were on seasonal trips - I also do them so you can keep up with us, a feat that challenges no one.  Until the next time.

Goodbye.   

May 27, 2019. Beauvoir and Jefferson Davis Museum.

May 27, 2019.  Beauvoir and Jefferson Davis Museum.  Jefferson Davis was a graduate of West Point, plantation owner, son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, hero of the Mexican War, U.S Representative, Secretary of the Army and U.S. Senator.  He was also the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.  He was reviled by many on both sides during the Civil War.  Following the war, he was indicted for treason and spent two years in prison before the charges were voluntarily dismissed on the orders of President Andrew Johnson.  From 1865 until his death in 1889, he was impoverished, modestly successful, then finally comfortable in the last decade prior to his death.  He regained his reputation in the South and was admired in that region.  He wrote his two-volume memoirs in which he steadfastly defended his actions and those of other State's Rights advocates.  He and other "Lost Cause" proponents argued that slavery had little to do with the war, that it was caused by northern aggression to eliminate the noble southern culture.  

Beauvoir means "lovely view."  The house was built in 1848 and came into Davis' ownership in the late 1870s.  He had lived on the grounds for several years, working on his memoirs in an adjacent cottage.  Davis, his wife Varina and daughter, also named Varina, but called Winnie, lived there until 1889 when Davis died.  Varina and Winnie continued to live there while Varina wrote a book about her husband.  Both then moved to New York and Varina sold the house and grounds to the state of Mississippi for use as a Confederate soldiers home.  

The original museum and surrounding buildings were destroyed by Katrina in 2005.  The house was severely damaged but withstood the hurricane.  A new museum has now been built.  Unfortunately, many of the artifacts in the original museum were damaged, destroyed or washed away by Katrina, too.  

The museum pales in comparison to the Presidential Libraries.  The most interesting artifact is the coat worn by Davis during his capture.  As Grant sacked Richmond in April, 1865, Davis and his cabinet fled south, hoping to escape to Cuba.  Northern newspapers mocked Davis, claiming that he dressed as a woman to avoid capture.  The coat could be mistaken for a dress or nightgown, but it appears to be a coat to me.  There is also a pedal Singer sewing machine in the museum.  I don't know the year of manufacture, but the cabinet could have been made at the Singer cabinet factory in Trumann.  

Depicted above is a vintage painting of Beauvoir, a couple of current pictures, the small dining room, Davis' bedroom and Varina's bedroom , the cottage where Davis worked on his memoirs, the museum and library.  The sitting room of the library was very small.  That may be misleading because the building itself is pretty big.  Without intending to be negative, I was disappointed in the contents of the museum.  I am sure that is a result of Katrina and that the curators are working hard to restore it to its prior condition.  

Today, we biked and ate lunch out.  More about that next time.  

Goodnight.  

May 25, 2019. Settled in Gulfport/Biloxi, MS.

May 25, 2019.  Settled in Gulfport/Biloxi, MS.  We left Seagrove about 7:00 AM yesterday and drove the 220 miles to Gulfport, MS.  I took a picture of the sitting area of the condo.  There are pictures of Mobile, AL and along Beach Drive in Biloxi.  After a stop for lunch, we arrived here about 1:30 PM.  This condo is in a complex called Ocean View.  However, our unit is stuck behind a fifteen story high rise.  The only way we can see the Gulf is to walk around the high rise.  But, the beach is just across the street, a three minute walk from our unit.

This unit is very nicely decorated.  The owner says it was done by a professional interior decorator who used Restoration Hardware furnishings.  There are several impressive statues here, including the horse, the dog, the Romanesque bust and the armored knight who stands guard by the bed.  Why we need a knight in our bedroom eludes me.  Maybe the knight is there to keep us safe during the night.  See what I did there?

We went to a Walmart Market for provisions.  I wonder why they don't call the store Walmarket?  It is a larger than usual grocery store, a fairly recent innovation for the world's retailer.  This afternoon, we strolled down the boardwalk along the beach.  There is a casino two blocks from our place.  When we passed it, Annie began to list in its direction.  I tugged on her elbow and redirected her down the street.  I am not sure how long I can keep her away from the slots.  I'll do my best.  

Oh, the balloons - I mentioned to the owner that Annie and I were approaching our 51st anniversary.  He very thoughtfully left the balloons attached to two bags of chocolate covered truffles outside our door.  Annie and I shared them.  Believe it or not, she had as many as I did.  

I have referred to our location as Gulfport/Biloxi.  That's because we are in between those two communities.  The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library is located several blocks from here.  We have visited all the other presidential libraries so we ought to see this one as well.  Of course, he was not President of the United States.  He was President of the Confederate States of  America.  

Goodnight.  

May 22, 2019. Seaside, the Beach, J. T. Thomas and Carrot, the Feral Cat.

 

May 22, 2019.  Seaside, the Beach, J. T. Thomas and Carrot, the Feral Cat.  I have included several more pictures from Seaside.  There are several architectural structures which appeal to the eye.  They also appeal to the camera.  I have told you this before, but you may have forgotten.  Seaside is where the movie, Truman staring Jim Carrey, was filmed.  

We have been walking on the beach at sunset.  The beach isn't as crowded and the indirect light of the sun is less harsh.  There is always a picture begging to be taken.  Even Annie Farkley took one tonight.  

We have noticed the same, well-tanned, man on the beach each time we have walked.  He appears to be in his late 50s.  We have speculated about him.  He sets up what looks like a homeless camp with three chairs, an umbrella, a sleeping bag and a critter cage.  Tonight we discovered that his name is J. T Thomas.  He says he is on the beach 365 days every year.  

I struck up a conversation with him as we were leaving the beach.  He is a 1980s graduate of Auburn.  His degree is in Chemistry.  He has never used his degree.  

While at Auburn, he was the school mascot, Aubie.  He worked as Peter Pan at Disney World and was the first mascot for the Charlotte Hornets, an NBA team.  He worked with Jim Henson and the Muppets for several years.  Now, he lives in Seagrove year-round.  He mows a few yards and does light landscaping work for meal money.  Carrot is a feral cat that he feeds.  Carrot allows J. T. to hold him and sleeps on one of J. T.'s chairs under the umbrella during the day.   All this he told us.  It is such a good story that I repeat it to you.  I honestly don't know how much is true, maybe it all is.  According to Google, there was a mascot at Auburn named J.T. Thomas.  

Tomorrow is our last day in Seagrove.  The next missive will come to you from Gulfport, MS.  We will be there until June 1.  It is no coincidence that June 1 is also the first day of the hurricane season.  Annie doesn't like storms, you know.  

"Nothing Is Sweeter Than Family."  I saw it, I liked it, I agree with it and I photographed it just for you.  

Goodnight.  

May 20, 2019 - Nothing Much Going On.

May 20, 2019 - Nothing Much Going On.  The last two days have been quiet and still.  The weather has been nearly perfect, clear skies and temperatures in the mid 80s.  We've walked around the villas, the beach and had lunch at the Old Florida Fish House.  We've swam in the pool, read on the patio and watched Larry the Lizard change colors and blow up his pink chin.  Google says he does that to frighten off predators or as part of a mating ritual.  

We are winding down our stay here at Seagrove.  We leave Friday for Gulfport, Mississippi.  We will be there eight days.  I understand our condo there is next to a casino.  I will have my hands full keeping Annie out of that sin palace.  She gets a spark in her eye, a roll of nickels and settles in on a stool in front of a slot machine.  Woe to he who gets between her nickels and that one-armed bandit.  

It is storming tonight back home.  Today is May 20.  It has been 62 years exactly since the Ruskin Heights tornado.  It was an F5, half a mile wide, which was on the ground for an hour and a half, killed nearly half a hundred and injured half a thousand people.  From our perch a thousand miles from home, we hope you are all safe.  

Goodnight.