As predicted we had a pretty low key morning hanging around the campsite. I really appreciated having this time with Megan before she starts her new job on Monday. I expect she's going to be pretty busy and not have much to hang out with her mama. Our destination restaurant for our final meal was Willie Mae's Scotch House which is famous for its fried chicken. Willie Mae is in her 90's and the fried chicken is rumored to be stuff that legends are made from. We drove thru a residential section of a really depressed part of town where most of the houses looked as if they've never recovered from Katrina. Unfortunately, when we arrived the restaurant was closed up, with no explanation. Another person who had arrived as well told us about Little Dizzy's and said it also had great fried chicken. We were a little disappointed to find that it was in downtown New Orleans and didn't have nearly the character of Willie's Mae's ramshackle little home. We were even more disappointed in the fried chicken after eating it. Meh...I could do better. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience to try out all the different spots in The Big Easy and quite a gastronomical 3 day affair! We took Megan to the airport about 3, said our goodbyes, and once more were just the two of us traveling down the highway. We decided rather than stay another night in New Orleans, we would just continue to follow the coast until we were tired. We were really curious to explore the beaches of the Gulf Coast. We traveled along the coastal road hugging the Gulf of Mexico and were surprised at how empty it was, but were pleased to see pristine sugar white beaches. This area was where the eye of Katrina came thru and six years later not much has been rebuilt. We stopped to pick up some roadside peaches and the vendor said the place looks completely different and will never be the same. As you drive along there are miles and miles of beach front property for sale. The upside is that you feel as if you have the place to yourself. We decided to stop at one of the beaches and get our feet wet. Well, after Mr. Ned put his feet in the water, he looked at me and said, "Wanna go for a swim"? The great thing about being on vacation is that there's always time for a swim! We switched into our suits in the van and then swam in the Gulf for the first time. The water was the perfect temperature, a little greener than we expected and a heck of a lot shallower. p.s. There were no tar balls. We went out about 50 yards or so and the water never got deeper than about 2 1/2 feet. We also noted that it wasn't very salty. It still felt pretty darn good to swim and play around in the water. When we got back to the van we were able to take advantage of our mini shower...really mini shower. Sure does feel good tho to clean off the sand before getting in the car. As we continued to drive down the coast we were amazed at the lack of people. Here it was a Saturday afternoon around 4 or 5 o'clock and we practically had the place to ourselves. Weird. We found a state park in Gautier, Mississippi that was pretty empty, much to our delight. Even tho we are close to the coast, this little campground is in a thick woods and the insects sound like the jungle ride in Disneyland! There's a persistent buzz and the air is thick with humidity and no-see-ums. We ain't in Kansas any more. See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
