The Beach Trip

Due to generally crappy weather, I didn't put up the pool for Toby's trip home, and he was aching for the water. Late yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a chance, so we got in the car and headed to Waveland, Mississippi, location of the beach nearest to our house. Waveland was also Ground Zero for the Hurricane Katrina storm surge. I had been along U.S. Hwy. 90 through Waveland and Bay St. Louis, but this was my first drive along the beach there. "Holy crap!" is an understatement, even an entire year after the storm. Waveland/Bay St. Louis used to be blue collar towns with white-collar enclaves right along the shore. Some of the houses along Beach Blvd. were quite lovely, though not quite as nice as the mansions that were obliterated in nearby Pass Christian. Anyhyow, there are only a few structures (perhaps 2 or 3) left from before, and none of the signs or landmarks that I used previously to navigate through the town and to the beach. For a half-mile or mile back from the shore, it's a maze of weeded-up lots and slabs, though many of the trees remain. There are even a few M*A*S*H-type tents set up, one of which is the local produce market.

Fortunately, Toby was oblivious to the utter devastation, and he had a wonderful time splashing around in the surf. The powers-that-be in Mississippi have done a yeoman's job restoring that beach, which is manmade and man-maintained to begin with. Also, the Gulfport/Biloxi casinos are reopening, which should pump some money into that area. It's nice to have the beach option back in the picture when the kids are home.