Three State Tango

Our journey today was all about getting closer to somewhere else. We left the Dolphin Motel in Fort Walton Beach, Florida and continued on US 98 along the Gulf coast.

Our GPS took us through Pensacola and onto I-10. Our pace picked up and a few miles further we crossed the Alabama River into the state of the same name.

The scenery abruptly changed. Suddenly there was just undeveloped land - no houses, no businesses, no strip malls - just trees.

Under and over freeways.

Alabama has only a narrow strip of land on the Gulf coast. Smack in the middle is the city of Mobile which we barely had to slow for as we stayed on I-10.

We soon crossed into Mississippi and turned off the Interstate and onto US 90.

This took us back to the coast through Pascagoula and into Ocean Springs. We stopped for lunch at a McElroy's on the bayou. Most people were dressed in their Sunday best.

This was very close to Biloxi where we had originally planned to stay the night. However, it was barely midday and we were feeling pretty good with the progress we had made, so we decided to continue on.

The road followed the beachfront for miles as we passed through Gulfport and past a string of motels and grand homes.

The gulf waters and white sand looked so inviting, but there were few people  on the hot beach. There was no shelter from the sun except those provided by the high rise resorts. We thought this might be due to the lack of parking spaces along the beachfront, and in places, a 3 ft high concrete dividing wall down the middle of the road for a considerable distance that prevented people from crossing the road.

Ten miles further down the road we decided to check into the nearest motel. Our GPS told us the nearest motels were 7 miles north on I-10. There did not seem to be any to our west for more than 20 miles, and with the only alternative being to backtrack along the beach front for 15 or so miles, we decided to head north.

The temperature was in the high 90s and we were ready to get out of the sun. Our route led to a closed road, and it took us some time to find a way around it. There was no detour signposted, and our GPS didn't understand the road was closed and kept insisting we go back to the route I had chosen. By the time we reached a motel we were quite tired, the temperature was in the very high 90's and it was nearly 4 pm.

We crashed (as usual after a hot day) for a couple of hours. There was no supermarket within a reasonable distance, so we headed for a chain diner for a meal. Somehow they screwed up our order, and we had to wait nearly an hour to get our meals. Chris was livid and wasn't going to leave a tip for the waitress. Fortunately for her, Wanda has a soft heart.
.