More exploring

We headed out to explore our home base – Biloxi. As we have driven back and forth along Highway 90, we have seen a vast number of signs that have the look of historical markers, so we decided to grab the pooch and check them out. We were stunned as we walked from sign to sign and learned that the signs were there to remind folk of magnificent old structures that graced the Gulf Coast before Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Even the church where Jefferson Davis worshipped, which had stood since before the Civil War, was washed away due to Katrina.

I knew that Katrina was bad, but didn’t really realize how much of the South was impacted. After walking by over a dozen historical markers designating important structures lost to Katrina, we started thinking about all the less important structures that were lost but probably not commemorated with a marker. It wasn’t until we got to a marine park in Gulfport that we got some idea as to the devastation power of Katrina. As you can see, the high-water mark for the tidal surges for Katrina would leave the Woman 16 feet underwater!

Not far from the series of historical markers noting the devastation of Katrina we discovered the Hurricane Camille Memorial. Camille hit the area in 1969. While not as bad as Katrina, at the time it was the 2^nd most powerful tropical cyclone to strike the US. 259 folks died in the US from Camille, but this Memorial helps draw a more somber message. On this marble we counted 6 members of the Williams family whose bodies were never found. Sadly, we also saw that 11 members of the Williams family died. Dang.

After all the coastal hurricane misery we decided we needed something a bit lighter. We ended up deciding to go a lot lighter. We headed to a 50-year-old family owned furniture factory that claimed to have made the world’s largest rocking chair. While we can’t actually verify that this is the world’s largest rocking chair, after the Woman got close up, we are believers.

Keeping to the theme we started we headed to the Edgewater Mall. Only about a mile from Colectiva II, we have been using it on rainy days to get in some steps. Little did we know that as we walked the aisles of the mall that we would stumble upon the world’s largest puzzle. At about $400, I am not sure that I need to take a shot at this challenge. At 42,000 pieces, I am not sure that we could even build this inside Colectiva II.

Talk to you soon.