Skip to main content
Home
Blue Boat Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Travels
    • Arizona
    • Battle Creek (1997)
    • Ben's Bike for Balance (2002)
    • Europe 2016
    • Grand Canyon trip, June 2008
    • Hawaii (2003)
    • Italy
    • Japan (1993)
    • Las Vegas, June 2008
    • Mexico (1990s)
    • New Mexico (2000)
    • Savannah trip (2012)
    • Wheeled Migration (2004-05)
  • About the House
    • The Best Laid Plots
    • 10 lessons learned from rewiring our house
    • Electricity Consumption
    • In Sickness and in Health
    • We're moving to Nebraska!
  • Autoharp
  • Gardening
User account menu
  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Wheeled Migration (2004-05)

Jan 31: Alabama

By Ben, 31 January, 2005

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on January 31, 2005]

I was all set to go to church Sunday morning in Gulfport, but I underestimated how long it would take to find the place. Rather than arrive late, I decided to head on down the road. By the time the service ended, I was already in Biloxi!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The clouds were gone by 11 and stayed gone all day, and there was no wind, so although the temperature was cool it wasn't chilly. Biloxi is a big casino town, with lots of tourist attractions along the beach. I saw two of a species I had thought long extinct: cement waterslides! I guess the liability laws must be different in Mississippi. I also saw something I haven't seen since ... Indiana? ... a farm stand selling fresh produce! I'm close enough to Florida now that vine-ripened tomatoes and other goodies can be trucked in overnight.

I stopped at Gulf Islands National Seashore and enjoyed the visitor center but decided not to camp there. Instead I rode on to Sheppard State Park, a few miles west of Pascagoula. On the highway I saw a familiar sight: a bicyclist pulling a two-wheeled trailer of camping gear with a big orange flag on the back! We called "hey" to each other, but the highway median prevented us from having a conversation.

I continue to be amazed that every campground does things differently from every other. Sheppard State Park locks its shower rooms and only gives keys to those who ask to pay a deposit. I didn't ask, so I didn't get a shower! Fortunately the day had been cool enough that I didn't need one very badly.

I rode into Pascagoula first thing this morning (Monday) and went straight to the First Baptist Church. A member of the office staff patiently confirmed that yes, it is the church featured [as the "First Self-Righteous Church!"] in the Ray Stevens song and video, "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival," but no, the event did not actually occur. She said that it's not just tourists; some of the residents also think that song is the only memorable thing about the town!

I spent nearly an hour at the Pascagoula library getting phone numbers for campgrounds, but when I stepped outside and called them, only one allowed tents, and it was in Mobile, another 30 miles away. I decided to give it a shot. Outside Pascagoula, I saw another trailer with another orange flag. This one was a Burley trailer designed to carry a child, but its owner was using it to pick up aluminum cans from the roadside. I told him the story about how my trailer is made from recycled aluminum collected on trailers just like it.

I had been warned that a big stretch of US-90 was under construction, so I detoured to a parallel road... or would have, had the street signs not been all wonky near the state line. Instead I wound up on a less parallel road about 5 miles farther north than I would have liked, but it got me into town. The day was gray, and it began to rain on and off as I approached Mobile. I stopped for directions at a gas station, and the woman there really went the extra mile. She called ahead to the campground for directions, suggested a route for me, and gave me a free cup of coffee. The route she suggested was hair-raising at rush hour; I hate to imagine the other one that she said was less safe!

The owner of the campground gave me a key to the "office," a mobile (manufactured) home complete with kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. It didn't occur to me that the little water heater wouldn't be up to the task of filling my bath and the washing machine at the same time, so I had a cold bath, but it was better than none at all!

I enjoyed my three days in Mississippi! I'm aware that I really only saw the coast, which was a lot like Florida, having been part of Florida historically. I'm looking forward to getting to the Florida coast in a few days. See you there! --Ben

  • Printer-friendly version
  • Log in to post comments

Tags

  • Wheeled Migration
  • to Gautier / Sheppard SP, MS
  • to Mobile

Book traversal links for Jan 31: Alabama

  • to Gulfport, MS
  • Up
  • to Gautier / Sheppard SP, MS

Comments

Book navigation

  • Aug 2: T minus 7 days
  • Aug 14: First five days
  • Aug 16: Q & A
  • Aug 17: Past few days
  • Aug 23: Appleton Update
  • Aug 25: Reflections on Wisconsin
  • Aug 29: Michigan
  • Sep 2: Ann Arbor
  • Sep 4: Ann Arbor update
  • Sep 7: Ohio!
  • Sep 10: Turning Point
  • Sep 16: Cincinnati
  • Sep 18: On Losing One's Bearings
  • Sep 22: Indy Adventures
  • Sep 26: Peoria
  • Sep 29: Iowa
  • Oct 6: Sandhill Farm and Dancing Rabbit
  • Oct 6: Abundance and Fairfield
  • Oct 10: St. Louis & Stories
  • Oct 13: Journeys and Destinations
  • Oct 17: Katy Trail State Park
  • Oct 23: Carry On, My Wayward Son
  • Nov 1: Bartlesville and such
  • Nov 3: Gear
  • Nov 9: On the road again...
  • Nov. 14: Texas!
  • Nov 16: Dallas Metro
  • Nov 20: Rain and Such
  • Nov 23: Austin! End of the road (for now)
  • Nov 30: Enchanted Rock State Park
  • Dec 13: Quotes from Pre-Tour Reading
  • Dec 23: Health Update
  • Jan 4: Departure Preparations
  • Jan 7: Austin Winter Weather
  • Jan 15: A Week in East Texas
  • Jan 16: Louisiana!
  • Jan 20: Winter in Acadiana
  • Jan 22: Baton Rouge
  • Jan 26: New Orleans
  • Jan 29: Mississippi (the state)
  • Jan 31: Alabama
    • to Gautier / Sheppard SP, MS
    • to Mobile
  • Feb 3: Florida
  • Feb. 9: Panama City, Minus the Plan and Canal
  • Feb. 13: Tallahassee
  • Feb 18: Ocala - southmost point!
  • Feb. 23: St. Augustine
  • Feb. 26: Nor'easter
  • Mar. 4: Savannah
  • Mar 7: Savannah Explorations
  • Mar. 11: Charleston
  • Mar. 15: Myrtle Beach
  • March 19: North Carolina
  • Mar. 27: Virginia
  • April 2: Washington, DC
  • April 8: Adventures in DC
  • April 14: Philadelphia
  • April 29: Pennsylvaniadventures
  • May 3: New Jersey
  • May 11: Adventures in New Jersey
  • May 20: Hudson Valley
  • May 31: Adventures in Montreal
  • June 12: "Northern Ontario"
  • June 12: Reflections and Q&A
  • June 18: Da U.P. and northern Wisconsin
  • June 24: Journey's End
RSS feed

Footer message

All content of this site is copyright © Ben and Jessie Stallings. Please do not use without permission.

"Blue Boat Home" is the name of a UU hymn by Peter Mayer, about how we are all travelers on the Earth. We have his permission and blessing to use the name for this site.