A weekend in Mississippi

Well, this past weekend we spent three nights in the extreme southwestern corner of the state of Mississippi. I didn't really know what to expect when we left early on Friday morning. I have been to a lot of state parks in Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee over the years, but never one in Mississippi. I didn't have much experience with Mississippi. Cindy, on the other hand, had many happy memories of childhood weekends spent at Percy Quin State Park outside of McComb, Mississippi. Back in the 60's, the Sicards often went swimming and sailed little sailboats on the lake during the Summer months. All of her family and her aunts and uncles and cousins were present and it was a very pleasant memory for her.

Now let us zip forward to 2007. Mississippi is a very poor state and still suffers from the problems created by the hurricanes of 2005. Apparently Percy Quin was used as a place of refuge from the devastation of the storms of 2005.

But the real problem is the relative poverty of the state of Mississippi and the amount of money the state can afford to give to keeping up its state parks. When we arrived at our cabin, we found it unbelievably dirty, filled with vermin, and very limited in its amenities. The park literature talked about two beaches, but no beaches were to be found and the places where the beaches had been located originally had big signs warning of alligators in the water.

Don't get me wrong. It appears that the park is very well used. The cabins were mostly in use all the time we were there. The lodge rooms seemed to be well used as well. And that is nothing compared to the spaces where rvs and other campers were using space. Truly, the place was seeng significant use while we were there.

And there were many fishermen out over the weekend. We saw men in bass boats and pregnant mothers with their daughters creeping around the lake trying to find the fish below the surface. It appeared that a lot of campers and day users were out using the lake. Then you have to add all the golfers on the golf course. From this it appears that the park was very well used, both overnight and day use.

And yet the cabins were filthy. Ours particularly. As I said earlier, our cabin was very dirty and filled with mice and roaches. I was so happy to get home so I could take a shower in our own shower.

Having said that, the reunion itself was a lot of fun, if somewhat disorganized. Despite the lack of planning, it appeared that every part of the family took time to contribute to the suppers and the fun. We hosted a party on Saturday night at our cabin. That may seem strange considering what I said previously; however, we held the party outdoors and no one had to go inside. I certainly hope no one had to go inside our cabin with out their shoes.

The physical beauty of the state park itself was great. We all enjoyed the sunsets over the lake in the evenings. It just seemed that it could be better managed.

Now having said all that, let me relate something we encountered this morning. Because of the length of our trip from Georgia to Mississippi, we decided to go home a different way than the way we had travelled to get to Mississippi. When we travelled to Mississippi, we drove up to Atlanta, then west on I-20 to Jackson and south on I-55 to McComb and on to the park. When we came back home, we went south on I-55 to Hammond, then east on I-12 and I-10 towards Mobile, then north on I-65 and I-85 to GA 18 back to Zebulon and north on US 19 home to Griffin.

That being our chosen route, when we were travelling east on I-10 past Gulfport, Mississippi, we decided to travel into town onto to US 90 (the old Spanish trail) east toward Biloxi. We were looking for a seafood restaurant for lunch. The problem was that there was still so much devastation left on the gulfcoast from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. So little has been completed to replace the beautiful houses and other commercial buildings that were destroyed on the coast. We saw the remains of Beauvior, Jefferson Davis's final home. They were working to fix it up but so much had to be done to get it back to what it had been when Cindy and I went there back in the 80's.

You couldn't even really find anything to speak of on the coast. We drove onto Biloxi and finally found a downtown area which looked like it might hold a restaurant. As we drove around and around looking for anything that might be open, we finally found a little seafood restaurant down a little street in the downtown area. There was even a parking space right in front. It was perfect. We went back to a booth in the back and sat down and looked in the menu. Shrimp and oyster poboys and Barq's rootbeer on the menu. It was really perfect. We ordered and the waitress brought us poboys and hushpuppies. Delightful! Cindy ate predominately in silence. She was sad because of all the continuing devastation, but everything else was great. Beyond the food, the little restaurant in downtown Biloxi became a symbol of the resiliancy of the area. The place was packed with new employees of the Hard Rock Cafe Resort on the beachfront several blocks to the south. They seemed to be a smile amongst the frowns of the downtown area. I hope they do well and the whole area revives stronger than before.

We all know they are still at risk. Another hurricane could come back and take them out again. But the fact that they were in business, serving the workers of the new local businesses, really gave a sense of hope to an otherwise depressing drive down the Old Spanish Trail.

Between my inlaws, the red beans and rice, the cajun casserole and the shrimp poboys at the Biloxi Schooner Seafood restaurant, it was a great time. Taking a shower when I got home from Mississippi was a small price to pay.