Shepard State Park - Gautier, Mississippi

We arrived at Shepard State Park with time to go exploring and out to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  Shepard S.P. is a small park compared to most others we've been to so far (~30 sites in all).  The campsite however was very spacious:

The park has an 18 hole frisbee golf course.  It's not St John beaches Ronnie but it would still be fun to whoop up on you here (too)!

We didn't see much for wildlife here except a couple cardinals & a woodpecker (too quick for the camera) and if you look closely you'll see this little guy who sprinted in front of the truck at night but then stopped to pose:


It's a rabbit!

Spring really has sprung down here.  Everywhere you go the flowers (mostly Azaleas) are blooming:

including all around the campground:

Unfortunately it's no-see-um season here now too - I'm told it gets worse with mosquitoes in the summer.  One day we drove through the next town over Pascagoula to see the Navy ships being built at Northrup Grumman:

Chevron's refinery is also a huge employer on the Pascagoula shoreline:

At the advice of Mike (our campground Ranger) we checked out the fried pickles at Huck's Cove nearby.  Big portions, they took a little getting used to but were pretty good (I think he just wanted the left overs):

Another day we drove to Dauphin Island in Alabama, scoped out the beaches there (not impressed) and then took the ferry across Mobile Bay to Gulf Shores:

While crossing the bay you could see oil rigs in the bay and just off shore - we passed close by a couple of them:

Ocean Springs (city next door to Gautier) has a nice little downtown area with bars and restaurants and a beach area that's as good as they get in MS:

If you're in the area, you have to go to The Shed (nationally renowned) for BBQ - awesome food but it truly is a shed on steroids:

Not sure how to describe the inside of the shed:

We drove about 30 miles along the beach from Biloxi to Long Beach.  You could still see devastation from Katrina which we learned is where the brunt of the hurricane force winds hit.  Along the beach in Biloxi you can't miss the iron lighthouse in the middle of the road.  At one point in history this was the only lighthouse that remained standing after a hurricane came through:

Without realizing it we also passed by Beauvoir (the last house of Jefferson Davis).  I later went back and checked it out:

Aside from the main house there were 2 guest houses on either side.  $400M in restoration after Katrina and:

While here, Suze flew back home again to work with her clients.  While she was gone, I biked the Gulf Islands National Seashore Park.  Another beautiful park to bike:

My buddy Ranger Mike suggested I hit the Mule Pull/rodeo in a nearby Vancleave as he was doing Deputy Sheriff duty there.  Great show - especially the young kids riding sheep until they fell off.  My camera battery died so I wasn't able to capture all the good stuff - what a riot though!  Did get this video of a bull rider:

Later in the week I found this guy stuck in an empty dumpster.  I put a board in the dumpster so he could climb out.  Found out later that this happens often:

Ranger Mike offered to show me Biloxi (only a 30 minute ride from the campground) one night.  On the way, we detoured to drive through the the Fountain Bleue community which was a wealthy community devastated by Katrina.  Beach front lot after lot looked like this:

Only a few had rebuilt due to in-surance and perhaps sticker shock (this is the sign on the lot above)?

In Biloxi, the Hard Rock Casino's guitar stands out for a distance:

I'm Not into gambling (because I always lose) but if you were, there are many casinos all within a few blocks of the beach.  Aside from being treating by Mike to a comped buffet, this night was my 1st time ever leaving a casino ahead.  Special thanks to Ranger/Sheriff/EMT Mike for all the tips and advice on where to go, what to do and casino night (but I blame him for the 5 lbs I packed on here this week)!  Very well run campground - Mike goes over and above to satisfy campers here!!!

Headed out of Mississippi for Gulf Shores Alabama for a few days, Mobile for a couple more days (pick up Suze) and then we start heading north.  More to come . . .