Mississippi and Alabama

             

            On Wednesday, January 5, we went to Flat Island Preserve for some hiking. The trails were great, with lovely views of trees hanging over the path.  We packed a picnic lunch and ate on the kayak launch, the swamp all around us.  We got in several miles of hiking that day, and the weather was great: not too hot, and not too cold.  

The boardwalk to the kayak launch

           Thursday was grocery day, so we went out to Trader Joes and Whole Foods, some of our favorite grocery stores.  While at Trader Joes, one of the workers told us about Sprouts, a store sort of like a smaller Whole Foods.  We checked it out, and were pleased at the vegan options they offered.  When we got back home, we unpacked the groceries and then our friends the Hendricks came over for a little while.  Their mom brought Mia and I adorable dresses and a new shirt for me, and brought my parents lots of other stuff.  It was a very nice and thoughtful thing to do, and we were really grateful.   

Headed to get groceries!

Most of our grocery haul 

       Friday and Saturday were at-home days, and I did schoolwork, yoga, and typed my new book.  It's a rewriting of Rapunzel, and I was really happy with how it went; it was a blast writing it.  Mia is the sole reader of my stories, and she gave this one a big thumbs up.  We prepared for our long trip to Mississippi; my mom cooked pasta salad and chickpea curry, we did laundry, and Mia and I made sure our room was packed up well.

Geometry 

Clean sheets are the best

            We were up before seven on Sunday, but since Mia and I had packed up most of our stuff the night before, we didn't have much we needed to get done.  My mom toasted English muffins for breakfast, and we were pulling out of Three Flags ahead of schedule.  The trip went great, and our trip through the Panhandle of Florida was cool, since we'd never been there before.  The hills and pines were very different from coastal Florida, but I liked the scenery.  I did schoolwork, read a new book I'd gotten from a campground library, and watched TV on my laptop.  We only stopped three times for fuel or lunch or bathroom breaks, and got across the border before 2 pm in Alabama time (we didn't plan for the time change from Eastern to Central time).  Mine and Mia's room rode perfectly, with not a single thing out of place, and we barely unpacked, since the last couple hours to Mississippi tomorrow were still to come. 

        

            The Hendricks had told us about Bucees, a huge travel station that was part gas station, part food court, and part store.  There was a Bucees only five minutes from our Alabama campground, so we drove there that night and were pleased at what we found.  There was lots of food offered, from cinnamon rolls and muffins to sandwiches and cinnamon sugared nuts (we bought some cashews that were tasty and reminded us of the nuts we used to buy at Disney).  There was a big coffee bar with lots of syrups and creamers, so my parents got some coffee to drink as we meandered around the travel stop.  Mia and I had fun looking at the many toys and books, and my mom and I checked out the T-shirts too.  The prices were very reasonable, and it was clean, with nice employees.  Thankfully there are more in Texas, and we hoped to check out some more when we headed there after Mississippi. 

            The next morning, we finished our journey to Mississippi.  The new campground was in Pass Christian, and our site was great: by the river, across from the playground, and right beside the Hendricks' site.  The weather was chilly, so we only played outside a little; plus we were busy exploring the surrounding area.  Monday afternoon, we went to the local library, but on the way there we rode right along the Gulf of Mexico, with white sand beaches and big, old houses across the street.  It was so pretty, as was the sunset that my mom had to take pictures of.  

            On Tuesday, we went to Ocean Springs and Biloxi, two towns not too far from Pass Christian.  Ocean Springs was a very nice little town with personality.  We stopped in a couple of shops--a soap store and a tea and oil shop-- and then we went to Tatonut, a donut company.  I chose the Devil's Food Cake donut, which was amazing. The donuts were rich but not too sweet, and they had a more natural taste than preservative-filled donuts like Krispy Kreme.  I definitely recommend this place, it was unique, delicious, and reasonably priced.  

This lovely fountain is my new phone wallpaper

            We booked a tour of a historic house in Biloxi the same day.  This house was designed by Louis Sullivan, the 'father of skyscrapers'. It had a lovely rose garden outside, with beautiful wood paneling and dozens of windows inside.  It overlooked the Gulf, making for an awesome view.  Our tour guide was very good at what he did, and we got free pictures at the end of the tour (Mia and I hung them in our room on our bunk bed walls).  

            Wednesday was a mini road trip day, and we got tons done.  We made our first stop at Cat Island Coffee House, a quaint cafe/bookstore.  A spiraling staircase led from the main floor where you could purchase bakery goods and coffee, to the loft, where books were on display and tables and chairs were set up for customers.  It was a really cool building that I loved.  We went to the Pass Christian Historical Society building next, and learned about Katrina and the damage it had done to Pass Christian.  Beautiful historic homes were destroyed by the powerful winds and tidal waves.  It was sad to see the before and after pictures from Katrina.  Though the storm happened over fifteen years ago and many places have rebounded, the damage from Katrina is still evident in Pass Christian.  We went to a city park and had a Nerf gun battle with the Hendricks boys before lunch, and then we split up for a few hours.  We visited the world's biggest rocking chair and had a fun time posing for photos, then joined the Hendricks at the train museum.  It was small but cute, and there was tons of Lego stuff to see, much to Mia's delight.  

            I'd been waiting to visit New Orleans, and Thursday was our decided day to go.  We were a little over an hour from the city, and we reached it around 10 am.  We started out by visiting the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.  They were doing construction on the inside so we didn't see everything, but it was still beautiful.  After that we went for a snack at Cafe du Monde.  People were playing jazz music right outside of the restaurant as we ate beignets, and the history, music, and taste of New Orleans was so present in that moment.  I loved it.  We visited the French Market too, where vendors were selling food, jewelry, home decor, and pictures.  Later in the day we came back there for vegan gumbo and vegan "crab cake" po' boys, which were amazing.  We walked along the Mississippi River, which actually didn't look as muddy as I'd thought it would.  It was a fun day, but I knew the city wasn't what it used to be.  A local told how many businesses didn't survive the Covid shutdowns and that brought a lot of homeless to the area.  Some parts of the city were really nice, and others not so much.  Nevertheless, we had a good day. 

The New Orleans architecture was lovely; these were the buildings across from the parking lot where we parked

St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest cathedral still in continuous use in the United States

The jazz players outside of Cafe du Monde

A lot of the powdered sugar fell off of my beignet, so I just ate it on the side

More architecture

My mom and the Hendricks' mom got a free beauty demonstration at the Royal Bee salon

Mia and I got free honey sticks

The Louisiana Supreme Court

A bagpipe player in the French Quarter

My first taste of (vegan) gumbo! I loved it

Crab cake po' boy was mega delicious 

            Friday was our down day.  I got some schoolwork done and we played with the Hendricks on the playground.  The weather was really nice and sunny that day too, though not as warm as Florida.  It was a very relaxed day, and I enjoyed it.  The next day we went shopping.  My dad and I needed new shoes, and my mom and I wanted to get out from the camper and chilly weather.  We spent the whole day out, and went to Burkes, Ross, TJ Maxx, Shoe Department, and more.  I found some cute black shoes and my mom picked out a Western-patterned sweater.  That night my mom cooked Beyond Meat burgers, which is one of my favorite meals.  It was rainy that night, which made it extra cozy.  

Typing my blog by the fireplace

        Monday was another moving day.  We would be saying goodbye to the Hendricks for a week and heading to Lake Conroe for seven nights.  The new campground was big, and we had some RV friends we'd met in Orlando that were there at the same time as us.  The three girls were 11, 8, and 5, and we had fun playing with them during our time in Lake Conroe.  In the next post I'll write about our first few weeks in Texas, so be sure to check it out!