Sweet Home Alabama--Day 3

We are staying at the Martin Lake RV Resort. Although this place has a Biloxi address it is actually just north of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. It is a very nice park with most of the amenities that a good RV park should have. The only real problem is their WiFi connection. They have a completed system of using the individuals own computer MAC address as the access code for their system. I have been totally unable to connect to their system since we’ve been here. There is a close, unsecured WiFi signal that I’ve been able to lock onto but it has a very weak signal and periodically drops my connection. The signal is not strong enough to attempt to make blog entries. So, I’ve been doing them in Microsoft Word and will upload them to my blog when we get to Gulf Shores and a good signal.

We did some local sightseeing again today. One of the few places that were not totally destroyed by Katrina is the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. This is located right on the main highway through Biloxi and is directly in front of the Gulf. The house did receive massive damage from Katrina but they have been able to restore it and to save almost all of its furnishings. The home is called Beauvoir (pronounced BOV-WAH). Although this home was completed in 1852 it did not come into the Davis’ possession until 1877. Mr. Davis chose this place to spend his later years and to write his memoirs, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. He lived here until his death. In 1903, at the insistence of Mrs. Davis, the home became the property of the Mississippi Division of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans and was used as a retirement home for Confederate Veterans, their wives and servants. It served in this capacity until 1957. Under the terms of the sale of the property it was, in addition to being the Confederate Veterans Home, to be maintained as a memorial to the only person to serve as President of the Confederate States of America. Today it is still maintained by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans. On the back side of the property is a Confederate Soldiers Cemetary with the almost 800 graves being from the many former soldiers and their wives who had lived at the home over the years. There is also a Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier there.

This evening we went to McElroy’s Seafood Restaurant, in Ocean Springs, for a splendid dinner. Afterward we went to Biloxi to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. This place had just been completed and was due to open for business the week that Katrina hit the area. When we were here in 2007 they were almost complete with the rebuilding and were planning to open it soon. It is a beautiful facility right on the beach in the middle of Biloxi. We spent a little time in the casino and donated a very few dollars to the local economy before heading back to the coach.

Although the weather man had predicted rain and it was overcast most of the day we only got a few drops and we drove around today. We never had more than a few sprinkles. As we were driving back this evening we did see a lot of lightening to the north of us. Now it is around 11:00pm and is pouring down. The rain is hitting the fiberglass roof of the coach so hard that it is impossible to hear the TV. Hopefully this will pass on through tonight since we must unhook and move out of here in the morning. Next stop, Gulf Shores.