Jen’s Journal – January 30, 2020

Day 215: Laurel Walmart, MS

Sunny and mild.

We found diesel fuel at the lowest price of our entire trip this morning in Gulfport: $2.29. Strange, everybody else was higher.

Highway 90 on the Gulf Coast runs predominately right along the water, with homes and businesses on the opposite side of the road. The west side of Gulfport has many open lots along the road, where Katrina ripped out the homes and businesses, and reubuilding has not happened yet. This was noticeable after driving through Bay St Louis and Pass Christian, which are largely rebuilt.

Driving along, we noticed a sign for the Gulf National Seashore, and pulled in. There is a beautiful visitor center there with a video and many displays, so we spent some time and had a picnic lunch there. This national seashore continues on to Florida. We had been to the Perdido Key portion in 2018 and hope to go back soon.

We found a Harvest Host location in Moss Point near Biloxi called Gulf Coast Gator Ranch. They provide airboat tours through the swamp, and Tom was excited to go on an airboat ride. It was also something our friend Cody in New Orleans highly recommended.

There were four passengers and one captain on the airboat. We had to wear ear muffs, and I soon learned why. This boat was screaming loud. Captain had to shout at us, and that was when the boat was not moving and we took off our earmuffs to listen. He did some very fast moves through the swamp and some tight turns which caused splashing on us. I looked at Tom and he was all smiles, having so much fun, that I had to laugh. What a boys’ idea of a boat ride!

We did see a few alligators in the wild, and probably 30 or so at the gator ranch. It was a fun day.