"Honey, it's a beautiful day. Let's cruise onward to Gulfport" said the Admiral. Well, it was a glorious day, and she caught me off guard. So, after a little stammering, I said "Sure, Why not? We've never been to Gulfport". ...and so it happened. Thus, so much for another day off as we went 15.5 miles west to Gulfport, Mississippi. The picture at the right shows our audience as we headed out through the breakwater at the marina. They (i.e. the sea gulls) seemed indifferent at best as we departed so maybe that was a sign of some sort (?).
The weather was perfect with a cloudless sky and a light 7 mph breeze out of the east. We had a leisurely cruise of about 2.5 hours (dock to dock) at less than our normal cruising speed in order to enjoy the beautiful weather. One of the first sights was the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort. There are several marinas here, including the one in the foreground, that were never repaired after hurricane Katrina in 2005, but other wise, the place is quite attractive from the water.
A short distance later, we passed the historic Biloxi lighthouse. The plantation style building to the right of the lighthouse in the picture at the right is the Chamber of Commerce Visitor's Information Center. The lighthouse is one of the few remaining cast iron lighthouses from the 19th century. It was cast in sections in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and shipped down the river system by barge. During the Civil War, it was dismantled and buried in the sand so that the "enemy" could not use it... Today, it sits in the median of a beautiful four lane divided boulevard that runs along the shoreline.
The main shipping channel into Gulfport splits into two channels just off the shore. The one to the west is for the barges and ocean going ships while we took the smaller, eastern channel to the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor. The breakwater was lined with fishermen, which often included whole families. The marina is behind a bend to the right in the channel. The old downtown is between the marina and the tallest building toward the left in the picture. To the right (east) is a marvelous, wide sand beach that stretches all of the way back to Biloxi.
We had not visited Gulfport when we started the Great Loop, but the marina is all quite new, i.e. definitely post-Katrina. After the usual pump out at the fuel dock, we docked successfully just in time for my "nap". Now that's timing.
Later, we headed out to walk into downtown and tour around a bit before finding "food". The picture at the right shows a huge mural inside of, you guessed it, the Half Shell Oyster House. I did not have oysters, but I did have excellent broiled shrimp and grilled flounder.
The trip today was short, but it served a greater overall purpose. Our next destination is New Orleans, which is now "only" 72.6 miles away rather than the 88.1 miles that it was before today's trip. Today's trip also shortened the amount of time that we will spend truly in the Gulf Of Mexico before we enter the more sheltered, inland portion of the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway where we will be until we get back to Galveston, TX.
Well, once again it was early to bed, but tomorrow we will do some exploring around the marina.
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