Gulf Island National Seashore and Fort Massachussets

Twelve miles off the shore of Mississippi's coast in the Gulf of Mexico sits a small piece of land named Ship Island that is part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.
Ship Island Excursions provides a ferry service to the island twice daily from the Gulfport Yacht Harbor. The Gulf Islander delivered me right to the dock in a little less than an hour. The trip was enjoyable and a pod of dolphins came to play in the wake of the ferry. Most of the travelers on the Gulf Islander were prepared for sunbathing and picnics, some had come to visit Fort Massachusetts. There were a few serious fishermen and one women with long lens camera equipment who was planning to photograph birds in the afternoon light.

Fort Massachusetts from the dock.

The ferry docked on the North side of West Ship Island. A stingray was surfing the shallow waters of a sandbar as we were getting off the boat.   A boardwalk joins the dock and leads across the island to the south side where the best beaches are located. It is a pleasant walk and goes right past the fort.

Ship Island was originally settled by French explorers in 1699. They valued its deep port and the protection that the island provided from Gulf storms. Ship island served as a base of operations for those explorers settling French Louisiana, land which now makes up the center of our country.
Ship Island has seen action over its years as a port.
During the War of 1812 British ships gathered here before their unsuccessful bid  to capture New Orleans.
That war showed the country's borders to be vulnerable to attack and as a result the US War Department made plans to expand coastal defenses with brick forts known as Third System Forts. One of those forts Fort Massachusetts was to be built on ship island.
During the American Civil War Admiral David Farragut used Ship Island as a supply base as they captured the port cities of New Orleans and Mobile. The brick walls of Fort Massachusetts were only waist high at that point and didn't provide much protection. Ship island was held by Union forces and Confederate forces at different points in the Civil War.

Interior of Fort Massachusetts

Fort Massachusetts was completed in 1866 but never fully fortified. Events at Fort Pulaski during the Civil War proved that the forts defenses were no match for rifled guns whose higher velocity ordnance easily penetrated those thick brick walls.  Fort Massachusetts and other Third order forts that dotted the coast of the United States were made obsolete before their construction was completed.
It is small in comparison to other 3rd order forts that we have visited. There are no parade grounds at the center as we saw in Fort Pulaski and Fort Jefferson, no quarters or storage areas like at Fort Pickens and Fort Hancock.
A park ranger was on site to tell the story of the fort and to answer questions about its construction. It is amazing to me that such imposing structures with such precise details were completed with hand tools, levels and plumb bobs.

Gulf Islander waiting to bring us home

The beaches of West Ship Island are wild and beautiful. No manicuring is done here so you will find driftwood the size of logs, bits of shell and fishing equipment and the occasional plastic bottle dropped from someones boat. 

The beaches on West Ship Island had a combination of light and dark sands.

I expected the sand to be white as seen on other Gulf coast beaches. It was dark like the sand at Caspersen Beach near Venice Florida, and made interesting patterns as the water washed over it. I enjoyed a long leisurely walk along the south side of West Ship Island and was happy to spend some time breathing in the sea air. We are heading inland now and won't breath the ocean air until we arrive in Astoria Oregon in late Summer.

Resting with the fishermen on the way back to the marina.

Mississippi's Gulf Coast: Katrina Sculptures

Sailfish

Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of Mississippi on August 29th, 2005 changing the landscape and the lives of thousands of people.
Left in the wake of the storm were live oak trees that had stood for hundreds of years but had not survived the winds and 24 foot storm surge.
Wood artists Marlin Miller,  Dayle Lewis, and Dayton Scoggins saw possibilities in this standing deadwood.

Seahorse

Turtle

They turned the broken branches and bark stripped trunks into works of art that celebrate the resilience of the waterfront and the people who live there.
The sculptures are spread over 40 miles along US 90.
Fred and I made it our mission to find as many of them as we could.
Most of the art is based on sea creatures with dolphins appearing in many of them. We also saw a sailfish, turtles, and a sea horse. There was one stretch of US-90 near the University of Southern Mississippi that featured birds. There were eagles, hawks, and herons.
Our favorite was the Angel Tree in Bay St. Louis. The Angel Tree has a story. This tree saved the lives of 3 people and a dog that clung to its branches in desperation after their house was destroyed.

Soaring Eagles across from the University of Mississippi in Long Beach

Herons in Biloxi

Waterfront hawks in Biloxi

The Angel Tree in Bay St. Lewis.

Waterfowl at the Visitor Center 

The sculptures are easy to spot but not always easy to get to. Many of them are on the median of US-90. Its a good thing there are two of us. Fred put a lot of miles on the truck circling back to pick me up.
It was a great day and a fun treasure hunt. We even found a wonderful waterside restaurant in Bay St. Louis near the Angel Tree. We sat for a while at The Blind Tiger listening to live music and talking about the sculptures we had seen.

Mississippi's Gulf Coast: Beauvoir and the Biloxi Lighthouse

Beauvoir the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Our trip to Mississippi had to include a visit to Beauvoir, the last home of the only President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis.
This part of Mississippi sustained such damage by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that we weren't sure what we would find. I had seen this stately old home once before on a Girl Scout trip and Fred had spent some time at here in the Air Force but that was a long time ago.

We stopped at the Visitor Center on Beach Blvd to get some information about hurricane recovery. We wanted to know how Biloxi, Gulf Port and Beauvoir had fared. My Mom Ella served as a Red Cross volunteer for many years. She was in this area working for several months after Katrina and had told us of how little was left.

Beach Blvd is US-90 that runs right along the gulf coast in Biloxi.

The cast iron Biloxi Lighthouse

In front of the Visitor Center on the median between the divided 4 lane highway stands the Biloxi Lighthouse. We were told that after hurricane Katrina the 64 foot cast iron structure was the only thing standing on that portion of the waterfront. One of the most iconic photographs of the post Katrina recovery effort is one of the lighthouse draped in an American flag.
You may climb the Biloxi Lighthouse but only at 9 AM. The docent at the Visitor Center assured us that no one wanted to be inside the brick lined cast iron tower once the sun got hot.
We believed him.
The Biloxi lighthouse was placed into service in 1848 and was tended by keepers until its automation in 1960. Notably most of the keepers of the light were women. One of them Maria Younghans tended it for 51 years.

We headed west to Beauvoir a few miles West of the lighthouse. Interestingly the construction of the Biloxi Lighthouse and Beauvoir were completed the same year, 1848.

Beauvoir meaning "beautiful view" was named for it's expansive and unobstructed views of the Gulf of Mexico.  Mr. Davis had been staying in Hayes Cottage on the grounds while writing his book The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. He later made arrangements to acquire the plantation.
Beauvior was his only post war home. It later became a museum and housed his Presidential Library.

Jefferson Davis' funeral carriage. Note the crossed swords and rifles.

The Confederate museum lost many of it's exhibits to Hurricaine Katrina. There was a major archaeological undertaking in the hurricaines wake to identify and restore the museums artifacts  It is estimated that 35% of the library collections were lost. Many items were damaged and some are still awaiting repair like the antique piano on the museums upper level that was totally submerged in salt water.

We learned that Beauvior had survived hurricane Katrina due to it's superior construction. The structure was saved by it's 6 large brick fireplaces, 3 inch thick heart of pine floors and a slate roof with sealed edges designed to be pushed down by the wind instead of being lifted.
It's porches were destroyed and part of the roof was gone but other buildings on the property were completely demolished. The Presidential Library, Hayes Cottage, and the detached kitchen have been rebuilt.

Beauvoir is built in the Antebellum raised cottage style

Beauvoir is an impressive home. It's antebellum architecture is described as "raised cottage" but it is like no cottage I have ever seen.

Front gate of Beauvoir overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.

The front of the house faces the Gulf of Mexico and is wrapped in a wide porch that provides plenty of room for sitting and enjoying the view. The 8 foot tall doors and windows on front and sides open completely to let in the sea breezes. That breeze also blows under the house cooling the floors.
You enter into a wide central reception hall. The formal living room, a library, one bedroom and a parlor can be entered from the hall. There are 2 wings in the back. The left wing has 2 bedrooms and the right a butlers pantry and 2 dining rooms, one designated for children.

Beauvoirs wide porches and tall windows allow maximum airflow.

You must access the rooms in the wings from the back porch.
The most impressive thing to me about Beauvoir is the painting. Walls, ceilings and woodwork are all painted in the trompe l'oeil manner meaning "fool the eye". The original paintings of the home were completely restored after Katrina. The home survived the 180 mph winds but nothing could protect it from the black mold that followed a 24 foot storm surge.

These ornate looking moldings are all paint.

Frescoed ceilings and faux window surrounds beautifully restored.

Walls and ceilings are ornate and beautiful. The door which are made of cyprus have been given details of solid oak, and fireplace mantels are paint rather than marble.
Several of these details were discovered during the restoration effort.

Solid Cyprus doors painted to look like oak.

The docent that led our tour was knowledgeable and answered our questions with southern charm.
He reminded us to visit the farm animals stroll through the rose gardens before leaving.

One of many blooms in the rose garden.

Biloxi Lighthouse
1050 Beach Blvd
Biloxi, Mississippi

Beauvoir
2244 Beach Blvd
Biloxi, Mississippi

The Friendship Oak Gulfport, Mississippi

Friendship Oak

There is a grand old oak tree in Long Beach Mississippi.
It stands on the front lawn of the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park campus, overlooking the Gilf of Mexico.
The campus is graced with many live oaks but this is the mother tree, the largest of them all.

She is older than the United States having sprouted from the earth in approximately 1487.
Before Christopher Columbus.
Before Ponce deLeon.
Before the lost colony of Roanoke Island.
Before any European explorers had walked the land.
She has witnessed our development as a nation, our growth, our progress, our wars and our mistakes.

The Friendship Oak was last  officially measured in 2011 standing 59 feet high with a trunk diameter of 5 feet 9 inches. The circumference of the trunk is 19 feet 9 1/2 inches. It's foliage spreads out 155 feet providing 16,000 square feet of shelter.

It was a great experience to sit in the shade of the tree.  To put my hand on its trunk and feel a part of something so precious. The friendship oak has limbs that have stretched so far out to the side that their weight has pulled them back to the ground where they rest and then continue.
If you are near Long Beach Mississippi I recommend that you come and sit for a while. Breathe the air filtered by it's leaves and enjoy the shade.
It's good for your soul.

Friendship Oak
University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park Campus
730 East Beach Blvd
Long Beach,
Mississippi

New Orleans

Barge on the Mississippi from the Algiers Ferry.

Pensacola behind us we headed west through southern Alabama and Mississippi on I-10 right into New Orleans. That bridge was fun in a big rig!

We stayed in Belle Chasse at the Naval Air Station so had to cross the bridge, and pass through a tunnel to get there. It was our first experience in NOLA and we quickly learned that everything relates to the water. The Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain and , the levee's. It was quite and education. 

It;s hard to believe the amount of power these tugs have to move those barges against the current.

Belle Chasse is on the West Bank. We could have driven into New Orleans but it was more fun to take the 15 minute ferry ride across the Mississippi from Algiers. It dropped us off right at Canal Street near the Aquarium and the Casino. It was an easy walk to the French Quarter and the Business district where you can pick up street cars to more remote locations.

Of course we stopped for coffee!

We walked right up Decatur street to Cafe DuMonde for cafe au lait and beignets that we carried down to Jean Lafitte National Historic Park to breakfast. We were sitting in the sunshine watching the horse drawn carriages and local artists when a military band marched by. It happened that there was a ceremony taking place to commemorate The Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812). The battle itself was to be reenacted the following day at Chalmette Battlefield complete with cannons and campfires.

Wrought Iron railings and balconies everywhere.

We loved the architectural details but the artfully exposed brick was a little much

 Our bellies full we started to walk Chartes and Royal and honky-tonk Bourbon and all the short Saint named streets in between. We admired gardens and were happy to see roses and pansies blooming. We looked up to see wrought iron railings and balconies full of greenery.

French Quarter Antique Store

 The buildings were small with beautiful architectural details. We stopped to listen to buskers and even met our grandsons favorite transformer Bumblebee!

Gas lights

Pat O'Brien Hurricaines

Fred had visited New Orleans 45 years ago when he had just gotten out of Air Force basic training. One of his favorite and most talked about memories was visiting Pat O'Brien's for Hurricanes, their signature rum filled cocktail served in a Hurricane lantern shaped glass. We stopped at Pat O'Brien's and each enjoyed one while spending an hour of conversation in their enclosed garden with live jazz drifting over from the restaurant.

My brother in law Eric had talked of his visits to Orleans and shared how much he liked Aunt Sally's Pralines. Fred loves his sweets so we wandered over to St. Charles Avenue to visit the store and sample some of those pecan filled delicacies.

On our second day in New Orleans we had a long wait for the ferry. The water was rising and the Mississippi was running very fast. There were murmurs of closing early and we were warned to make our return trip before dark so not to get stranded in the city. The water levels were nearing flood stage and the Corp of Engineers was planning to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway to divert water into lake Pontchartrain the next day.

Interactive dog tags were part of the museum experience.

Our goal on that second day was to visit the National World War II Museum. We started our Museum tour by watching Beyond All Boundaries  a 4D movie experience of the war that changed the world. The museum produced film narrated by executive producer Tom Hanks was a moving experience and a great introduction to the exhibits. When we bought our tickets to enter we each received a dog tag shaped like a credit card. We activated the dog tags at a computer terminal on board the train that started the tour. Fred and I were then able to follow our soldier through then museum and listen to his story at terminals in the exhibits that represented the battle theaters he was involved in. My soldier/pilot was Jimmy Stewart. 

Fred in the Museum's welcome Center

The museums exhibits are extensive and fill five pavilions. Our favorite was the immersive experience of Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters.  

Road to Berlin had us walking through actual battle settings like bombed out villages and falling down walls and caved in rooftops. The glimpses of the lives torn apart was heart breaking. The sounds were realistic and the air conditioning on high to emulate cold winter conditions as we walked past snow covered jeeps and encampments. There were many video screens playing actual news reel footage of the time period. My favorite part of the exhibit were the kiosks with personal information about a particular combatant or support person. They made history come alive.  We were pleased to realize that so much personal history of the war had been preserved through an Oral History project that recorded interviews with combatants. 

Road to Tokyo had us travel a different path through Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia where soldiers fought a war in an environment totally foreign to all they knew, struggling against tropical diseases like Malaria, Typhus and Dysentery.

One of the Personal Stories along the way

We highly recommend the Museum Experience. If you are fortunate enough to travel to New Orleans put it on your must see list.

This building on the way to mothers need some windows.

We made it back to the ferry before dark after a quick stop at Mother's to pick up sandwiches to go. Our return trip was uneventful and the Ferdi Specials were delicious.

To see more photos of New Orleans visit our Flickr Album.