Down The Road A Piece ... in a 5th wheel: Rainy Monday - Time for a Road Trip to Mississippi

In looking at the forecast over the weekend we noticed that the weather on Monday was going to suck with rain starting in the morning and lasting all day. So for all of you trivia fans we decided it was time for a road trip to the birth place of the one and only creator of the song "Margaritaville" Jimmy Buffet. Yes, we went to Pascagoula, Mississippi. We are not huge Jimmy Buffett fans or anything but we did want to see the fine city of Pascagoula, Mississippi. We left around 8:30 and it took around two hours to get there. We thought about taking the Mobile Bay ferry to cut some time off of the trip but decided we would go around Mobile Bay to get there but would take the ferry coming back home. Pascagoula is a nice small town with it's largest employer being Ingalls Ship Building. The local people we ask about Jimmy Buffett had no idea the location where he was born so we didn't pursue it. We walked a little around Beach Park on the gulf and ate at The Sisters for lunch which alone was more than worth the trip. Where else could I eat fried green tomatoes in November. The story about how we found out about this restaurant is a little sad but here goes. We were walking the dogs around Beach Park in Pascagoula and I noticed a elderly gentleman sitting in the parking lot in his truck not far from where we were parked. So as we usually do we went over and ask him about a good local place to eat. He recommended The Sisters and went on to describe Mondays menu and then told us about Wednesdays menu that included his favorite pork chops. He gave us directions and we said our good byes. After dealing with some issues finding the place Janet told one of the "Sisters" owners about the mans recommendation. She ask us to describe him and all Janet could say was he was elderly and was missing his right thumb. That was enough for her to tell us who the man was. She said last Thursday he lost his best friend from childhood of a sudden and unexpected heart attack. The restaurant usually donates leftover food to local charities each day but last Friday they took the food to the deceased man's family. She told us she is worried about the man we met in the park parking lot since the two were inseparable. You just never know what other people are dealing with when you talk to them. The food at The Sisters was fantastic. The fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and jalapeno corn bread was just what you would expect from two southern girls who were great cooks.

After leaving the restaurant we had some time to kill before catching the Fort Morgan ferry on Dauphin Island. We first stopped off at a Mississippi liquor store to stock up since Alabama has the ABC state stores which are very expensive compared to Indiana. Well we ran into the greatest little Vietnamese lady you could imagine who was reading the Bible written in Vietnamese. She and Janet are talking about reading their daily devotionals as I was loading up a card board box full of 100 proof Hot Damn, 99 Black Berry, Tanqueray Gin and a gallon of Vodka. We were almost out of liquor at the 5th wheel and this little lady was a very good sales woman when I could get her to stop talking to Janet about Bible verses long enough to sell me some alcohol. Well we were finally able to get 100 proof Hot Damn. I was thinking about taking the regular Hot Damn and mixing it with some Barcardi 151 to get the proof up. Now I know where I can get it.

Leaving the liquor store we were still about one half hour ahead of schedule to catch the ferry so we stopped back at Bayou La Batre, Alabama where I wanted to see the fishing part of the town in a little more depth. They catch and process a lot of the shrimp and oysters eaten in much of the U.S. in this little town.

Wouldn't you know it we get to the ferry with about 10 minutes to spare and they cancelled the ferry for the afternoon due to high winds. Even though the sign leading to the island said the ferry is still running today. Oh well, this meant we had to go around Mobile Bay to get back to Gulf Shores. We're just glad we had the dogs with us since we were gone about 10 hours today. Hope you like the pictures.

Jack

In Gulf Shores this is what you see when you drive by the local Walmart. You wouldn't even know it was there if you weren't looking for it.

Driving by Mobile Alabama on a rainy dreary Monday morning

You see these "low country" houses everywhere down here.

Another thing they make in Pascagoula Mississippi is oil rigs

We left Gulf Shores and it was 74 degrees. We get to Pascagoula and it was 59 degrees. Huli is trying out her middle east look with a dirty sheet we had in the truck for laundry tomorrow.

This house was owned by Ingalls the ship builder at one time.

Who would a thunk it. The best marriage is Liquor stores and Body Shops. This is the liquor store the Sisters sent us to. I would go back just to talk to the little old Vietnamese woman who runs it. Janet can talk bible scripture with her while I bother her to give me prices on the liquor she has. She gave us some good deals,

There are literally hundreds of little fishing boats like this one parked in inlets along the coast. I wanted to talk to some of the fisherman but didn't see anybody around any of the boats.