Trip to Biloxi MS

We finally got down south at Thanksgiving and have all sorts of updates, most of it pretty grim. Spent most of the time in New Orleans, but went over to Biloxi for the day. The trip was quite memorable. As we drove east from New Orleans, on the highway thru the 9th ward, thru NO east, across the rebuilt one sided Twin Spans, into Slidell, into Mississippi, into Gulfport, there was devastation as far as the eye can see. Gulfport was certainly a post-apocalyptic war zone, complete with razor wire across the railroad tracks and bored looking troops guarding entry towards the beach. During a pass through downtown Gulfport I felt like I was on a movie set, with the glass blown out empty buildings a carefully created set. Traveling down Pass Road into Biloxi finally we reached some regular looking commerce, and were able to cross the tracks and cut over to the beach road. We also saw the first signs of rebuilding, where a couple of roofs were being laid amid the sea of blue tarps. Many buildings in the first blocks from the beach are simply wiped off the map. Here is a formerly 3 story apartment building right on the beach. Word has it that several tenants rushed out onto the stairwell and swam inland as the building collapsed behind it. No known deaths at this location, a true miracle. At least Biloxi has a hint of life to it, which is more than I can say for most places we visited.