From AL to Nola- A Brief Summary

It’s been a while since the last proper blog update, mostly due to the fact that I’ve been trundling along the Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana coast and haven’t stopped anywhere with internet in that time. I’m writing this now from a room at the Empress Hotel in downtown New Orleans, a slightly scruffy but oh-so-comfortable place a few blocks from the French Quarter (in all fairness, anything not 100 degrees, soaked in sweat and mosquito-infested classes as comfortable at this point).

I’d originally intended to eat lunch in New Orleans and be gone by evening, but yesterday’s 74 mile day coupled with a sleepless, sweaty, perfectly still and mosquito-infested night on the edge of the marshes took its toll and left me feeling decidedly non-ambitious today.  I’m spending the afternoon and evening here and will be eating well, icing my knees at every opportunity, and sleeping. 

Oh, and sharing pictures- I’ll just make this post a mini-photodump and try to explain things in the captions since I’m a little tired and hungry to be writing a narrative at this point. I’ll write more about specific things later if anyone asks for it.

My camp in Spanish Fort- This is actually only a half mile off the interstate and two hundred yards off 90

On the far side of Mobile, I found this delightful little swimming hole and spent several hours relaxing during the hottest hours

Debby was still throwing out some serious winds

90- not always an interesting road

The entrance to my campsite in MS

This is the closest thing I got to a photo of the actual campsite- mosquitoes were bad enough to dissuade photography

The next day I followed 90 down onto the coast. This art museum was one of the few things worth photographing in Biloxi

Pass Christian MS is a charming little town- this is the main harbor as far as I can tell

... and I found this about 1/4 mile further on. The water is about two feet deep right there.

Miss Vickie has clearly seen better days. I could swear I've seen this boat in Orange Beach before!

 I should pause at this point to explain the circumstances behind this beached boat. Apparently its owner ran it aground during high tide and surf conditions over the weekend, and abandoned it on the beach, selling the entire boat to one of the responding officers for a dollar. The lucky buyer- who introduced himself as Britt then got together some of his officer buddies and when I found them they were attempting to save the boat. The boat had been (they were told) swamped by heavy surf, so multiple bilge pumps were running in an attempt to empty it. The boat wasn't emptying though, and we soon found out why.

Oysters and mud: never a good thing to find in your bilge

Apparently in all its bashing about the keel had broken loose from the hull, opening a massive gash and  making Miss Vickie a total loss. When I left Britt and the other officers, they were discussing selling the sails and rigging on eBay, and wondering how much they could get for scraping the rest of the boat. 

So long Miss Vickie. I'm sure you were a good boat until your clueless former owner ran you aground. :(

I walked up from the beach to find my first flat of the trip, which turned out to be due to a faulty tube.

A short while later, I was back on my way. I feel like I've ridden over a lot of bridges lately, and this was one of the largest.

My first New Orleans sign!

I ate lunch at a little Mexican place recommended by Britt. Whoever said money cannot buy happiness is wrong. It costs $8.75 and arrives sizzling hot.

For long sections, old 90 parallels the main highway and is almost completely unused. It is also, almost without exception, completely boring to ride upon.

After over 20 miles of empty road and right as I was running low on water, I chanced upon this little place near the Louisiana border.

I'm not sure what these flowers are, but they were really pretty and blanketed sections of the roadside in Louisiana.

As the day was drawing to a close, I found this grove of live oaks on a strip of land between the marsh and the road.

 

I camped here. Doesn't it look nice? It wasn't. This was where I discovered that mosquitoes can bite THROUGH the hammock fabric.

Bugbitten and bleary-eyed, I rode on in the morning until I found this place, where I stopped to resupply on water and gatorade and eat some breakfast

After crossing this bridge, I was sure 'nuff in New Orleans

... and now I'm here, sitting on that bed writing this post.