June 4, 2009. Jackson, Ms. The Coast.

For Sale signs are all along the road, on both sides of Highway 90, which runs right along the coast. This is the part of the Mississippi coast hit by Hurricane Katrina. You can see the driveways leading to nothing except a slab of concrete where you know the whole area was covered with homes and buildings. All the debris has gone and many buildings both large and small have been rebuilt but that land in the first tier looking toward the water is for sale. There seems to be few takers. Many homes on the second street are still in need of renovation, but the large trees and the distance back from the Gulf saved the structures from being totally demolished. After the storm, all the large hotels and casinos and houses that were right by the water were just gone. They sailed away in the wind and the rain and the storm surge. I have read about it, but until you see it, everything seems not real. Now I see and feel the destruction. I also see the huge task that was accomplished with the rebuilding. Mississippi has done the best job of rebuilding and restoring the mess left after Katrina, compared with the other areas destroyed.

Today we drove with Andrew to Ocean Springs, a charming spot on the Gulf coast. The little spot is booming with lovely residential neighborhoods and a downtown alive with specialty shops. As often the case, the new businesses are built along the big highway, Interstate 10, but the old town has been preserved and restored and has many full time residents, probably retired folks. The climate is pleasant with a breeze along the shore cooling things a bit, and the population is growing. While Andrew was at his meeting, Ken and I walked around a golf course. We came very close to an alligator, all eight feet of him just stretched out beside the pond. Goodness. Also two great blue herons were sitting close to us, and a large turtle and a green heron. Seeing those big birds are so impressive when they fly right by you, just ten or twelve feet in front of your own eyes. I know how wide their wing span is when flying, but knowing and seeing is two different things. Now I feel the width of the wings flying past and I am doubly impressed.

I really don't much like the gulf coast. I loved Galveston but this part of the coast is too built up for me. I have no interest in further exploration of the Mississippi coast.