Leavin’ Louisiana in the Broad Daylight

It’s just an ordinary story about the way things go, around and around nobody knows, that the highway goes on forever…. (Rodney Crowell)

We left Louisiana in the broad daylight, around noon actually. Our aim was to stay along the Gulf Coast, so we headed out on I-10E and veered off it back onto our good old friend, Highway 90, which took us closer to the Gulf. We turned again, and ended up at Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi, just west of Gulfport, MS. I swear, the state parks we’ve seen have been the biggest surprise on this whole trip. They are well kept, organized, plentiful, and in beautiful places.

It was foggy and drizzly, but it was also serene and quiet. We made our way the next day hugging the coast, a much slower but very nice drive.

John was looking for some fishing or casino action, so we ended up spending the morning at Davis Bayou which is a part of the very expansive Gulf Islands National Seashore, quite near Biloxi, MS. We’ve been getting distracted easily lately.

We were unable to get a campsite there, but we spent a couple hours hiking around the trails, looking at turtles and alligators, and had a nice lunch.

We then went back a short way to Biloxi to a couple of the casinos, and found John a $3 craps table while I played some penny slots. Got that out of our system, and headed back on the road to find a place to stay.

We subscribed to an app (Harvest Hosts) that shows us farms, wineries, cultural attractions, etc., that offer a free place to park the rig for a night, with the expectation that you patronize the business. Sooooo, one of those places was not too far away, and we stopped for the night at the Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Swamp Boat Tours 😁 (note: Gator is short for Alligator).

We were a little late for the swamp boat tour, so we got situated for the night, met a nice couple who have been full-timers for 2 years, and have a YouTube channel with lots of interesting and informative videos. You can find them by searching Getaway Couple. Full-timing is a thing- many folks sell their residences and downsize all their worldly possessions and hit the road in their rolling homes to explore the country. We’ve met a number of other travelers who are doing the same thing, and although most we’ve met are retired, increasingly there are young ones who can work from the road (e-nomads) and this is their life.

In the morning, we were the first ones to go for a swamp boat ride, and our guide, Sam, didn’t disappoint. We saw about 5 alligators, from very young to very old, who were swimming or sunning in the morning light out on the beautiful swamp. He said this was a good day. He also gave us a fun ride through the swamp, going fast and spinning brodies. We had a great time and were done by 9 am, so after buying a couple souvenirs, we set off.

After Hurricane Katrina, which hit this place hard, many of the ranch-raised gators escaped and were retrieved (I think Sam said the ranch gators were chipped). One very old and large guy, Big Daddy, has eluded attempts to be caught and is still at large out there in the swamp. These guys can get to the ripe old age of 70-80 years old, and I believe Sam told us that Big Daddy was one of the old ones and around 15’ long.

This was our last stay in Mississippi, as the Alabama border was close by and next thing you know, we saw the sign “Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama”.