Wrapping up Buccaneer … and Leaving the Gnats Behind

Tuesday, 16 April
Shields RV Park — NCBC Gulfport, Mississippi
Temps: Lo 68F / Hi 81F (20C / 27C)

We made the move from Waveland to Gulfport yesterday.  Before I get to the now, however, I want to wrap up our last two days at Buccaneer State Park.

Saturday, 13 April

Another beautiful blue-sky day with sunshine.  At 73F (23C) the temp was comfortable; and humidity was non-existent … an excellent day for a walk across the 2.1 mile (3.4 km) long St Louis Bay Bridge, which connects Bay St Louis to Pass Christian.  Of course, what goes across must come back, so we doubled up on the miles.  It was a pleasant walk, with only a slight grade nearing the halfway point where the bridge arcs over the water to allow passage for tall vessels.  Vehicle traffic was light, and except for the occasional biker, walker, or jogger, we had the pedestrian path that runs along the gulf side of the bridge to ourselves … which added to our pleasure, of course.

There are two of these pylons at either end of the bridge;
all with the same etched artwork by Marty Wilson.

The bridge, which carries US Route 90 over the bay, was heavily damaged by Katrina.  The new bridge was built by placing a new deck on the piers that survived the storm surge.  Here are before and after photos from the web.

Since neither Bay St Louis, nor Pass Christian, have soaring skylines; there wasn’t much to photograph as far as views were concerned.  But the decorative copper bas-relief plaques embedded every 1/10th of a mile afforded opportunities to click the shutter.

On the Pass Christian side of the bridge, we walked over to the nearby park to rest for a bit and nibble on some snacks before making the return trek to Bay St Louis.  Pleasantly tired, we spent the rest of the day doing not much of anything.

Sunday, 14 April

Around 1:00a, we woke up to loud claps of thunder and raindrops beating down on the roof.  Lightning in the distance lit up the sky.  Neither the weather radio, nor the weather channel on TV — or the weather sites on the internet, for that matter — had any alerts or warnings posted.  An hour later all was quiet, and we went back to sleep.

Screenshot of the radar as the worst of the storm was passing over us.

The rain beating a tattoo on the roof woke us up around 6:00a.  Still no watches or warnings, but this time it was obvious that the storm passing overhead with loud booms and lightning was going to be longer-lasting.  And so started our last day at Buccaneer State Park.  It was noon by the time the liquid stuff falling from the sky dried up and the sun peeked through the skies.

Wanting to do one last beach walk, we headed out after lunch.  We were surprised to see that the surf and wind damage from this thunderstorm was considerable, with large chunks of the beach washed away in a couple of spots … something we had not seen when the two previous storms came through the area.  There was also a considerable amount of sand washed onto the road, and the pedestrian/biking path was covered with sand as well.  Cleaning up after storms — no matter the size — must be a fulltime job around here.  It seems to me that a higher wall along the road would help, but that doesn’t seem to be part of the plans.  All we’ve heard on the local news reports is that they are putting up netting, and attempting to rebuild the sand dunes by planting grasses.  (Sorry; no photos as I didn’t take my camera with me.)

I believe the red waxy substance covering this dead sea turtle is a signal to the
clean-up crew that it has been counted and the carcass can be removed.
[photographed on 12 April]

As a P.S. to the dead turtles I reported.  I received acknowledgement today (16 April) that my reports had been received and that both events were documented.  The second email I received on the subject came from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and included a hotline number for reporting strandings —
1-888-SOS-DOLPHIN (1-888-767-3657).  The hotline is answered 24-7 and is good for both dolphin and sea turtle strandings.  I hope you will make note of it.

Monday, 15 April

We had a short drive to make the move from Waveland to Gulfport.  Had it not been for the gnats, we probably would have found ways to delay our departure, but we’d had enough of them.  At 9:30a we were on our way under overcast skies that threatened rain at any moment.  Although the speed limit on Beach Boulevard is 25 mph (40 kph), we opted to go that route to enjoy a scenic 6-mile (9½ km) drive to the St Louis Bay Bridge, which carries US-90 over the water and onward to Gulfport.  There wasn’t much to see, I’m afraid, as thick fog hid the scenery from our eyes.  But we did drive by the beach where our dead sea turtle was lying just in time to see it being removed by the clean-up crew.

24 easy miles (38 km) puts us at our campground in Gulfport, Mississippi.

The marine fog did not impair visibility on the road and by 10:30a we were pulling into Shields RV Park onboard NCBC Gulfport.  (Onboard, by the way, seems to be a common way of referring to all things located on naval bases; makes me chuckle every time I see the terminology as it reminds me of being onboard a ship.)  A few short minutes later we were getting settled into a corner site reserved for short-timers … those staying less than 14 days.  We’ll be here for just seven days for the weekly rate of $120.  (A warning to those who are eligible to stay at military campgrounds: you’ll hear trains tootin’ and chuggin’ at all times of the day and night if you decide to stay here.)

Site 10 is a 50A FHU pull-through just inside the entrance to Shields RV Park.

NCBC stands for Naval Construction Battalion Center.  This is the home of the Atlantic Fleet Seabees [from CB … above], whose unofficial motto is “The difficult we do at once; the impossible take a bit longer.”  Serving since 1942, they are the ones that build bases, roadways, airstrips … and much more.  Their work has taken them all over the world, including Antarctica, where they built and expanded scientific research bases in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.  They are also called upon to support disaster recovery efforts world-wide, and were heavily involved in rebuilding the Gulf Coast area following Hurricane Katrina.

Wearing a sailor’s cap, the mascot of the Fighting Seabees “brandishes a pipe wrench
in one hand, a hammer in another, and a machine gun in two other hands.”

When we arrived in Gulfport, our plan was to make the most of our short travel day with a long walk on the wide expanse of beach just a few miles away.  Since the weather remained overcast and wasn’t inviting, we switched to an alternate plan — a drive to Keesler AFB in Biloxi to replenish the larder.  NCBC Gulfport does have a commissary, but we had an ulterior motive or two for going to Keesler.  First, Mui wanted a quick trip down memory lane since this was where he received his technical training after completing basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas back in 1982-83.  Second, we wanted to check out the FamCamp for a possible future stay.  Nice enough campground, I suppose, but we didn’t much care for the ambiance … too many long-term residents, both students and snowbirders.

We returned home to the sad news of the Boston Marathon bombings.  What a stupid, senseless act of terror.  What on earth did the perpetrators accomplish by killing three young people — one of whom was just 8 years old.  I hope people will mourn the dead, keep the wounded in their thoughts, and go on with daily life as usual.  Giving terrorists — homegrown or otherwise — the satisfaction of disrupting our lives is to hand them a victory.  Something Mui and I are not willing to do!

Back to Today … Tuesday, 16 April

The sky was still overcast and dull when the Star Spangled Banner blared over the PA system at 8:00a.  For those not familiar with life on a military base, this is a daily occurrence and follows shortly after Reveille.  No problem, we’d been up for several hours already and were ready to get down to chores.  For Mui that meant washing the rig and the toad, both of which had considerable sand/salt spray from yesterday’s short drive down Beach Road.

Just as he was getting started, the campground manager stopped by to tell us that they were going to have to cut the power to our site so that repairs could be made to the power pedestal on the site behind us.  He offered to move us to a different site, but we needed to exercise the generator anyway, so we decided to stay put and sort-of-boondock for a couple of hours.

Surprisingly little noise filtered inside the Phaeton as the work went on outside.

By 1:00p, Mui was done with his chores.  His timing coincided with the sun finally making an appearance.  After he got cleaned up and we had a light lunch, we drove over to the beach for a long walk.  Although it was quite hot in the sun, a nice breeze coming off the water kept us comfortable.

Before leaving for the beach, we had a message from Judy (of Travels with Emma) wondering where we were as she was overnighting near Biloxi.  I quickly sent her a response and asked if she wanted to get together for dinner somewhere.  Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out … next time, Judy.

Since Mui had his heart set on dinner out, we proceeded with our plans sans Judy.  The information packet the campground manager gave us when we arrived yesterday listed a few restaurants, so we checked them out on TripAdvisor and settled on the Blow Fly Inn.  Yuck!  What a name, right?  The restaurant’s website tells the story of how the name originated:

The Blow Fly Inn was started as a happenstance operation (originally nicknamed Hickory’s BBQ) in 1961 by Albert & Mary Malone.  As the story goes, Al’s good friend Mac (who had a restaurant in the vicinity) was constantly being asked “Where’s Al’s Place?”  Well, one day after too many inquiries, Mac gave in to his frustrations and replied, “Yeah, I’ll tell you—Go to Pass Rd., take a right and follow the string of blow flies.”  Before long Hickory’s was better known as the “Blow Fly Inn.”

Featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives,” this casual restaurant serves good food; and has a very nice setting overlooking Bayou Bernard.  That there were no gnats — or blow flies — to keep us from enjoying our meal at one of the tables on the deck was a bonus ;-)

The peaceful scenery adds to our dining pleasure.

The name of the restaurant may leave a lot to be desired, but the food doesn’t.

Mui ordered a seafood Caesar salad that was filled with copious amounts of lump crab meat, shrimp, and grilled fish.  I ordered the fresh fish of the day — flounder.  Somehow, I thought it was going to be served grilled, but it came fried instead.  Served over a bed of penne pasta and a remoulade type sauce with bits of crawfish and shrimp in it, the dish turned out to be incredibly yummy.  And, while the flounder may have been fried, it wasn’t the tiniest bit greasy.  Under the crisply fried batter, the fish was flaky and moist — some of the best I’ve had anywhere.  I had just started eating when the waitress showed up with another piece of fish, saying that I was supposed to have two pieces.  Half the pasta and that second piece of fish will be lunch tomorrow.

We wrapped up our meal with the Blow Fly Inn’s signature dessert — a tasty banana pudding.

A two-thumbs up dinner!

We left the Blow Fly Inn before sunset and drove back to the base via the Beach Road.  Our hopes for a colorful sunset were quickly dashed, we returned home without further dalliance.

Short though our time in Gulfport is, I have a few outings under consideration.  Several depend on the weather, however, so we’ll see how things shake out.

Stormy Day … Good Time for a Recap

Thursday, 11 April
Buccaneer State Park — Waveland, Mississippi
Temps: Lo 50F / Hi 80F (10C / 27C)

Tomorrow is actually “Today, 11 April.”  I grabbed the screenshot from The Weather Channel website yesterday.

Had there been a birthday cake today with the requisite number of candles on it, I would have had more than enough help blowing out all of them ;-)

We had plenty of warning about the storm that was heading our way, but considering its size, and the fact that it was cutting a wide swath as it moved from west to east, there wasn’t much we could do to get out of its way.  One way or another, we were going to feel its effects.

So we made sure our weather radio was programmed; backed up our computers; verified the contents of our go-bag; brought out the waterproof pants and jackets in case we needed to sprint across the road to the safety of the bathhouse; took down our screen shelter and put away the outside furniture; and hunkered down here in our tiny corner of southern Mississippi to ride out the storm.

We didn’t lose the “half lime” (as christened by our friend, MBZ) to the storm.
I took the photo yesterday after we removed the upright poles.
It was easy enough to deflate and pack after we removed the roof poles.

(Photos in this post are from our beach walks these past days.)

After a 1½-mile (2.4 km) walk on the beach, we returned home mid-morning.  Going about projects around the condo on wheels, we tuned the TV to a local channel and began our storm vigil.  About an hour later, a tornado watch was posted until 3:00p.  Severe thunderstorm warning banners started to run across the screen shortly after noon.  At the same time, the winds picked up, but nothing strong enough to rock us.

The remnants of the casino barge that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina stand in
testament to the strong storms that wreak havoc in this area.  It was in the wake of Katrina
that the gaming laws in the state were changed to allow land-based casinos in Mississippi.

Even though we’re on the coast in Hancock County, when a tornado warning was posted for the northwestern portion of the county, our personal antennae went into high alert.  Luckily the warning was short-lived and nothing came of it.  A knock on the door at 1:30p had our hearts racing, but it was only the campground manager making his rounds to ensure everyone was keeping an eye on the weather … whew!

The Garfield Ladner Memorial Pier (aka the Waveland Pier), damaged during
Hurricane Isaac in 2012, is closed to visitors until repairs can be completed.

The downpour started around 2:00p.  The pitter-patter of raindrops quickly turned into a deluge.  The winds gusted a bit, but still nothing strong enough to rock the coach … certainly nothing like the wake-effect winds that followed last week’s storm and caught everyone unawares.  By 3:30p, the storm was east of us, the only rocking of the coach coming from the spin cycle of the washing machine ;-)  Rumblings of thunder in the distance were a reminder not to let our guard down, but for all intents and purposes, we were out of the woods except for ongoing rains.  From what we’ve seen on news reports, the worst of the storms passed to our far north; and for that we are grateful.  Our thoughts are with those who bore the brunt of them.

West of the Waveland Pier is this Veteran’s Memorial (left) and a stretch of beach,
which is where we’ve been enjoying quiet walks in the mornings.

The storm is today’s news, but what have we been up to in the days leading up to the storm … in the days since I last posted about our battle with the gnats.

First off, we spoke to the people who manage Buccaneer about the gnats.  Apparently these pesky pests live in the sand.  They come out when the temps are between 70-80F (21-25C).  During that time, the only thing that seems to keep them at bay is air movement.

Now you see it … the young gull’s breakfast, that is …

… now you don’t … at least not much more than the tail of the fish!

Well, we refused to be held hostage to the little buggers.  From Walmart, we bought a couple of inexpensive box fans and set them up in the screen shelter to create our own cross-breeze to keep the pesky so-and-so’s at bay.  That has worked out quite well and we’ve managed to spend many hours enjoying our great outdoors living space.

Brown pelicans in breeding plumage on a concrete piling in the water channel
that runs behind the Silver Slipper Casino.

Laughing Gull debating a dip in the Mississippi Sound.

A pair of royal terns, one of which surprised me by flapping its wings as I clicked the shutter.
Hence the clipped wing … sorry!

As luck would have it, our “Battle of the Gnats” also got some help from Mother Nature.  We had beautiful blue-sky days until Wednesday, with a light breeze coming off the ocean … which helped to keep the gnat population down.  Thus, we were able to enjoy morning walks on the area beaches and around the campground loops each and everyday.

This Google Maps satellite image of the area shows the location of our campground
in relation to the beaches along the Mississippi Sound; what tiny bit of beach remains
near Buccaneer SP is circled on the map.   The dotted red line on the bottom left is
the area around the Silver Slipper Casino; the dotted line past the campground icon
is the beach east and west of the Waveland Pier.

Snowy Egret at the small wedge of beach just outside Buccaneer State Park.

We’ve managed to put in about 10,000 steps (approx. 3 miles [4.8 km] with my stride) each day to keep our exercise regimen going.  On the days we went out with the trikes, the step equivalency gave us at least another 7,000 to 14,000 steps (2-4 miles [3-6.5 km]).  Not bad at all!

I’m charmed by this Laughing Gull.  For some reason it reminds me of a young woman,
her lips painted red, a sly smile on her face.  Don’t ask me why!

This shot-into-the sun photograph of gulls perched on the remnants of
a pier just begged for a B&W processing.

Yesterday, we decided to check out the Pirate’s Alley Nature Trail here at Buccaneer.  We didn’t get far — there was too much brush and whatnot blocking the path.  We got the sense that it has been a while since any maintenance was done on the trail.  Meant to ask the campground manager about it, but it’s a moot point now.  After today’s rains, it will be a while before the ground dries out.  We’ll be gone by then.

Willets at breakfast!

We’ve also been enjoying — from a distance — the birds that are flying and chirping all around the campground.  We’ve seen kildeer, mockingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, and red bellied woodpeckers to name a few.  One male cardinal has been doing its best to shoo-away a would-be rival by flying head-first into our bedroom slide.  What he doesn’t seem to comprehend is that the rival is his own reflection!!!  Unfortunately, my best efforts to photograph the birds that are flitting about have been for naught; they are wary of the slightest movement or sound, and fly off to hide in the brush that our site backs onto.

Left: Wisteria on one of the back roads near Buccaneer.

Right: This kildeer makes a daily pilgrimage through our site.
It finally stood still long enough for me to click the shutter.

With today’s storm behind us — really, ahead of us and heading further east — the forecast for the next couple of days looks good.  We plan to make the most of them, although setting up our screen shelter and enjoying our outdoors space is out of the question since the ground is much too wet.  Oh well; we’ll find other things to do.

Battling Gnats at Buccaneer

Saturday, 6 April
Buccaneer State Park — Waveland, Mississippi
Temps: Lo 58F / Hi 73F (14C / 23C)

Can’t believe that New Orleans is almost a week in the past.  Time sure does fly!

We left NOLA Monday morning (April 1) for the short 72.6-mile (116 km) drive to our next campground — Buccaneer State Park in Waveland, Mississippi.  The two-hour drive was uneventful.  Based on reviews we’d read that the GPS would want to route us over a rather high railroad hump, we were prepared with an alternate route that took us all the way down Lakeshore Drive to South Beach Boulevard.  Though our trucker’s GPS sounded alerts along the way, knowing other big rigs had driven the same route gave us the confidence to keep going.  In the end, absolutely nothing along that route was problematic for our size or weight.

A short, easy drive takes us to our next temporary home.
(Inset shows our travels since embarking on this gypsy life style on December 1.)

Arriving at the gatehouse at 11:30a, check-in was a breeze.  This is a rather large park with several camping loops.  After wandering around to see if there was an alternate site we might prefer, we concluded that the site we had pre-booked online was one of the nicest and there was no need to change it.  By 12:30p, we were settled into Site 68.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the area in August 2005, winds clocked at over 140 mph (224 kph) and a storm surge of nearly 30 feet (9 m) pretty much destroyed Buccaneer.

Although the park had to once again close down briefly after Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the post-Katrina comeback is quite remarkable.  All but the beach front campsites have been re-built, and construction on many of the amenities are nearing completion.  In the time we’ve been here, we have not been bothered by any noise from the construction work.

Our site — #68 (FHU for $24/night) — is at the end of the Long John Silver loop.  Contrary to the map to the right, most of the sites here are widely spaced; especially around the outer edges of the loops.  Being at the end of our loop, we have an over-sized living area.  On the hook-up side, there’s quite a bit of space between us and our neighbor.  Unlike the Jean Lafitte, Barataria Bay, and Pirate’s Cove loops, which filled up yesterday with weekenders, most of our loop remains empty, thus adding to the sense of privacy.  I should say that there’s plenty of train noise from the tracks that run right outside the park.  We’re not bothered by trains, so not an issue as far as we’re concerned.

Site 68 is at the end of the Long John Silver Loop.
(You can see how far away Our only neighbor was [left on Thursday].)

Looking from the rear of the site towards the main road and the bathhouse beyond.

Despite the weekenders coming in yesterday, our loop looks no different
than this scene, which I took on Monday when we arrived.

Looks great, right!  Sounds great, too.  Well, it was when we went to put up our screen shelter on Monday that we realized there was, in fact, a problem.

Hah!  Screen shelter my you know what!  All was well while we were putting up the shelter — because we were moving around.  No sooner were we seated, however, that the gnats started eating us alive.  These weren’t the kind of gnats that just hover in a cloud.  No, they were biting gnats!  Nothing was going to keep them at bay, so we went back inside, hoping the situation would improve on Tuesday.  No such luck.  Mui even went to Lowe’s for citronella candles, hoping they would help.  They did — for about two minutes.  Changing into long pants and long sleeves, we toughed it out for a while, but eventually we retired indoors.

By Tuesday night, this is what Mui’s legs looked like; his arms are no different!
If I didn’t know any different, I’d think he had come down with the measles.
We know he’s allergic to mosquito bites, but apparently he doesn’t tolerate gnats either.

We debated moving to the beach-front campground operated by the Silver Slipper Casino.  Even triked over to get information about availability and prices.  But when we spoke to the people staying at the campground, they had plenty of gnat stories of their own to tell.  So we decided to stay put.  (As a side note: Buccaneer has a strict no refunds policy … although at one point we were willing to leave anyway.)

The storm that came through on Wednesday gave us a legitimate reason to stay indoors — and hope the gnats would be drowned out.  The latter didn’t happen, I’m afraid.  The heavy rains started around 1:00a and continued through noon.  All that was fine and dandy … and expected.  What followed — strong winds gusting up to 35-40 mph (55-65 kph) — wasn’t expected.  Even the national weather service was caught by surprise by the winds that came out of nowhere — some kind of a wake effect that no one was expecting.  Nothing to do but hunker down and watch our screen shelter get decimated.

No photo of the decimated shelter, but here’s the new one Mui bought Friday.
We put it up today to run through the instructions, and I even managed a
couple of hours out there before the gnats started to gnaw on me.

We’ve been using our forced-indoors time the past several days to continue planning our self-drive trip around Iceland this fall.  With an itinerary in place, we’re now looking at where we will be staying as we make our way around the island.  All this planning work is part of the reason we wanted a sort-of-out-of-the-way campground following our hectic days in NOLA, so at least that part of our stay has been on track.

devastation wreaked on the piers in the area are in evidence along beach boulevard.

Despite the gnats, we’ve not been totally incarcerated here.  We’ve snuck out for a couple of long walks in the cool morning hours to get some exercise before the gnats come out.  I’ve not been able to check out the “Pirate’s Alley Nature Trail” yet, but that’s because the ground is soft and muddy after Wednesday’s storm.  Perhaps it will dry up before we leave.

More storm devastation.

We’ve also taken our trikes out for 6-10 mile (10-16 km) rides on Beach Boulevard, heading in the direction of the Silver Slipper Casino one day; and the opposite direction on another day.  Much of the ride is on the paved road, but traffic is light, and for a portion of the road, there is a newly-built bike/walk path.  Evidence of the damage done to the beach by storms past is visible everywhere along our route.  Sad, really.

Today, after putting up the new screen shelter, there was a light breeze that kept the gnats away long enough for us to sit outside for a bit and even have lunch.  Our respite was brief, but it was a welcome change of pace.  I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that the light breezes continue.  In the meantime, a breeze-generating trike ride is in order.

… Later

Had to come back and add the beach photos and this shot of a laughing gull before posting to the blog …

the end!