Mississippi Gulf Coast (by kerouac2)

[Deleted]

Often when you grow up somewhere that is not of the caliber of the places that you see on television and in books, you aren't really sure if it is beautiful or not, even if you really like it yourself. Actually, I found most of my area pretty ugly when I was little, but one thing that I knew was very pretty was the view along US 90 which follows the beach.

Most of the spectacular mansions were destroyed in 1969 or in 2005 and very few of them have been rebuilt, but the oak trees along the highway generally manage to endure. When I was a kid, they were all dripping with Spanish moss, but since Hurricane Katrina stripped even all the leaves off all the trees in 2005, obviously it also stripped off all of the Spanish moss. The moss will be back some day, but it grows quite slowly, so it will be many years.

Even mighty oak trees are sometimes vanquished by the storm, but I saw that they have done something really excellent along the coast. Instead of removing the dead trees, they have turned them into sculptures. Unfortunately I only got one photo, but there were dozens of these all along the coast -- sometimes carved out of the dead palmettos as well -- and many of them are quite exceptional.

After every storm, one of the first things checked is whether the Friendship Oak has survived.

It is on the university campus and is the most famous tree on the coast. My brother's high school graduation ceremony was held under the Friendship Oak, which meant a group of 300-400 people. However, that was 45 years ago, and I saw that it could no longer be done, because now the tree has decided to rest its branches on the ground. This undoubtedly is the reason that it managed to survive Katrina.

Here it is in the distance.



And now considerably closer.

The stairs and platform mentioned on the plaque no longer exist, of course, and I doubt that they will be replaced.

[Deleted]

In one little part of the town of Pass Christian and also in an area of Biloxi, the coastline is slightly elevated and a few of the stately coastline homes survived Katrina. I would say that they represent about 5% of the houses that used to be there -- everything else was swept clean.

For the empty spots, you just have to use your imagination.

















Developers know how to make some money, though. This complex will last until the next storm.

[lola]

5%. Yow. Nature doing some major reclaiming. (or: there goes the neighborhood.) (or: you really can't go home again.)

Wonderful oak tree. Do you know what kind of oak?

[bixaorellana]

*sigh* I wonder if the house with the gorgeous deep blue Spanish tiled roof is gone as well. Probably.

That was like riding the coast road again -- thanks!

Lola, I'm pretty sure those are live oaks, as I think they're the only kind that rest their limbs on the ground that way. Casimira probably knows for sure. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana

[mossie]

Fascinating. That wood carving out of the dead palmetto is wonderful

[Deleted]

One town that is really intriguing along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is Waveland. It was ground zero of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and it left absolutely zero buildings standing on the coast line. These were mostly splendid wealthy houses on stilts, because they all dated from after Hurricane Camille in 1969, when everything had been destroyed a first time. I don't know if there is any way that the people who build these houses can get insurance, but they seem to have enough money to rebuild each time no matter what. While there were still plenty of empty lots along Saint Louis Bay, there were a lot more new houses than in most other places.

These people seems to have an unshakable faith in pilings -- the higher the better -- to keep their homes safe from the water. Since normally it is the water that destroys the houses before the wind can blow them to pieces, they figure that if they can build the new house higher than the high water line of the last storm, somehow they will survive.

[mich64]

The area children as well as tourists must be so tempted to climb the limbs of the Friendship tree. A magnificent oak tree.

I agree with Mossie, the wood carvings are outstanding and what a wonderful tribute to those fallen trees.

Waveland must be a pretty intoxicating place for people to invest in real estate that will undoubtedly be damaged in years to come. I have watched a few documentaries on the rebuilding of the communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and while the technology being applied is indeed impressive, I believe it will be a continual learning ground for Engineers. But, if you have the money to rebuild, it looks like a beautiful place to live.

[htmb]

Nice photos of the newer homes along the coast, Kerouac. You can bet those houses are difficult to insure and their rates are sky high.

[Deleted]

What is interesting is to compare how different countries handle the same sort of situation. While France does not get hurricanes (yet), it does sometimes get some extremely severe winter storms that have destroyed or flooded coastal homes.

Every time this happens, the flood statistics are closely examined, and it is determined what should be designated as a floodable zone. Any such zone is "non-constructable" and nothing else can be built there. The government compensates the owners for their loss (always a source of controversy) and the land is returned to nature -- buildings are demolished, slabs and streets are removed.

If often turns out that a lot of the flooded houses were already built illegally or through a local mayor (corrupt or sometimes just stupid) authorizing construction even though it is a known flood zone.

In the US, it doesn't appear that there is any authority to take back the land and make the area safe. The same people keep rebuilding or -- worse -- sell the land to ignorant people who build something. Insurance is either unavailable or at incredible rates. I think it's a real shame, because instead of leaving these ugly slabs and unkempt lots for decades, the authorities could buy back the land, clean it up and turn it into a park -- or else tennis courts or playgrounds and things like that whose devastation is less tragic when it finally happens.

[lola]

Well put, Kerouac. Land use rights are a contentious issue in the U.S. and tend to tilt towards whatever the numbskull who "owns" it wants to do.

[Deleted]

I was reading in a Gallup poll from last year that Mississippi is the most religious state of the United States with 59% of the population classifying themselves as "very religious." Most of the people are Protestants with Baptists being the largest group (36.01%) and Catholics represent only 3.82% of the population. However, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast there are more Catholics than in the rest of the state -- 16.44%, which isn't too far from the national average of 19.43%.

In any case, I was raised a Catholic because my biological father came from a very religious family of Swiss origin and my much more secular mother did not resist, although when I think back about certain things, I am rather amazed. For example, when my father built a large bookcase covering two walls of the living room, the corner niche was reserved for a large and hideous statue of the Virgin Mary. I think it is one of the few things that my father took with him after the divorce.

Anyway, I was baptised and spent much more time than is reasonable in the original Saint Thomas church in Long Beach. It was destroyed by Camille in 1969.

Saint Thomas was rebuilt in a much more aggressive bunker style after that storm, but it turned out that it was no match for Katrina anyway.

However, on this trip, I discovered that Saint Thomas church is back again, the new version having been inaugurated in 2011. I'm sure that the the structure is quite solid, but the glass doors facing the front (Gulf of Mexico side) are naturally an invitation for a future disaster. Nevertheless the parish seems to be thriving because the new church seats 750 and seemed to me to be rather luxurious.

In a nearby cemetery, I saw that the new Catholics are perhaps not the same ones as in my youth.

[lagatta]

Yes, Vietnamese Catholics, but quite probably some Catholics from Latin American countries as well? The modern church seems to have more of a Latin feel. I like it a lot better than the second church.

I believe it is the most religious state, the poorest, and the state with the highest obesity rate... But this part does seem distinct from most of what we see of "Old Miss". (I have never been there; I've been down the US East Coast, but no farther west through the Deep South).

[Deleted]

I survived a surprising storm caused by a squall line suddenly crossing the coast. Winds went as high as 80 mph for about an hour -- that's above hurricane force.

When it ended, the highway was covered with sand.







This is the old Ocean Spring bridge from the 1940's, now used as a fishing pier in the bay of Biloxi.



The new bridge on the right was built after Katrina since the bridge in operation then was destroyed.





just a random institution of the Deep South - I have never set foot in one!



This would be more to my liking.

I took a walk along Howard Avenue in Biloxi from my hotel at the Grand Casino. Howard Avenue is the spine of the business district, but the end near the casino was completely removed by Hurricane Katrina and is clearly not coming back any time soon.

Yes, there's my hotel. I was on the top floor, just in case the water rose.















no problem parking at any of the missing businesses

I continued to what was left of the downtown...

[Deleted]

Approaching the central area, there were some buildings that had survived along the street. There might be something to the fable of the three little pigs and what kind of house can survive a lot of huffing and puffing.

This side street looks like it was spared by a miracle.





And then I arrived in the remaining nugget of the city.



















some spaces still available!





another place that has wisely buried its electric wires















A new bus station seems to have been built.













That's all there was to downtown, so I walked towards the beach and the big thing that protected part of the city in 2005.



The Beau Rivage is the fanciest place on the coast.



I took a couple shots of the hotel lobby, which was totally submerged by Katrina.

[Deleted]

This is the most famous restaurant in Biloxi and is rebuilt each time as fast as it is destroyed.



The Beau Rivage has a flashier neighbour, currently doubling in size.



The Hard Rock is making up for lost time, because it was hit by Katrina one week before its grand opening.



This large condo is abandoned -- I have no idea if it will be repaired or demolished some day.





an optimistic restaurant



the military monument

The building on the far right below is the hotel building of a casino destroyed in 2005. Even though the building is in almost perfect condition, I read in the local newspaper that it has been abandoned by the owner. The city was lamenting the fact that the original property tax value of the building was $80 million but it was revised over the years and reached a mere $700,000 last year, and this year the building has a negative value -- now the city will receive no taxes for it.

This is the monument to hurricane victims.







a rare rebuilt coastal house



The small island off the coast used to be lush, but it is being reclaimed by the Gulf a little more with each storm.



I walked farther from my hotel than I had planned...



What a bunch of wimps! The yacht club used to be located proudly in the small craft harbour.



This is the new art museum, designed by Frank Gehry.







It looks horrible to me but maybe it is nice inside. But this ridiculous useless staircase... no!





another one of those benches



Back in my hotel room, I looked down on a building that had survived due to the Grand being right in front of it.







The IP (formerly the Imperial Palace) is the biggest hotel casino.



A lot of the big money has moved to the 'back bay' area.





My time on the coast had come to an end and the next morning I crossed the Bay Saint Louis bridge going west.

[mossie]

That is a very comprehensive tour and instructive. Just shows how destructive your weather can be. The memorial with the bent flagpole is really poignant.
The building that struck me as a thorough waste of money was the "arts centre", made me recall what I used to say to site agents when I arrived on site and had to get them out of a muddle. "This road/building wasn't designed, it just happened".

[fumobici]

Sometimes Gehry hits the mark and sometimes not. This looks heavily budget constrained, which is probably not his thing.

Thanks K2 for this impressive report, I'm quite certain I'll never see any of this first hand.

[Deleted]

If I recall correctly, construction of the museum had started before Katrina but then was not completed until a few years later. It is highly likely that the windowless bunker style may have been a later adaptation of the buildings.

[tod2]

GREAT report Kerouac! I have to go through it several times - once is definitely not enough.
So many things to comment on that seem familiar but of course are not as I have never been to Biloxi, but.....I have been to Miami and the Keys so the houses look kind of familiar in the design and architecture.
I noticed the city emblem is the Fleur des Lis? right? or maybe that white flower that looks a lot like a gardenia? A bank which sort of resembles a Flat Iron Building,
another bank which I am familiar with and has an old time name, the Imperial Palace Hotel which looks a bit like one in Singapore, the O'Keefe Museum- I was at school with a boy with that surname, Mahoney's ( another Irish name), the Hotel Beau Rivage chain is also found in Mauritius, or was it Seychelles?. So many lovely buildings - and then the eeriness of the vacant grassy patches with sometimes a little of the foundations still showing......

Kerouac, did you go back and find your old house? If you've mentioned this please forgive my oversight!

[Deleted]

The magnolia is the state flower of Mississippi, tod2.

I did drive by my childhood home once, but it is meaningless to me now since everything has changed -- the plants in the yard, the brickwork on the walls, the transformation of the garage into more rooms... It's as though a completely different house is there now, so it brings up absolutely no nostalgia.

[tod2]

Thanks Kerouac - magnolia it is! Sorry your old house has changed so much but then that's just what happens when new families move in and out.