Day 4 started really early. Like 1 AM in the morning early. The night before, I had pulled into a Walmart parking lot in Waveland, MS. Seeing so many RV's clustered in a given area, I assumed I'd get a good night's sleep. I was wrong.
It seems some people in Waveland have taken up the hobby of using their loud vehicles as an alarm clock. I mean what else do you do on a Monday morning at 1 AM? I got an idea! Let's take our cars with no mufflers and rev them up next to the RV's at Walmart. While we're at it, we'll crank the radio as loud as it goes! We'll just stand in a big group and make a bunch of noise.
It didn't take me long to have enough of that and hit the road seeking somewhere quieter to sleep.
I made it to Pass Christian, MS. I pulled into another Walmart where a bunch of RVs were congregated. One thing I noticed about the South is there are way more RVs in Walmart parking lots.
The people of Pass Christian must have better hobbies than acting as an alarm clock. I was able to sleep soundly the rest of the night.
Shortly after waking up, I quickly brushed my teeth and then looked for coffee shops. I figured I'd head to Long Beach, MS and check it out.
I walked around Long Beach and was super impressed. The downtown was so clean and looked great! The weather was perfect, and it cheered me up immensely taking in such a nice looking town.
After a short stroll, I went to the coffee house I planned to go to, Bankhouse Coffee.
I did a little work and got my caffeine fix for the day. I checked the weather and saw it was going to be a beautiful day.
I got in the car and drove to Long Beach Harbor. This would be my first view of the Gulf of Mexico on my trip!
I soaked in the great weather and relaxed a bit with the nice views of the Gulf of Mexico. I knew I had to keep going, so I hit the road. While driving, I noticed a lot of vacant land for sale. I knew some areas were completely decimated by Hurricane Katrina. I wonder if this land was from that, some other storm, or if people just refused to build there.
I noticed there were a lot of places to pull off the road and park. My drive to this point had mainly been next to beaches. All the pull off spots had things like benches and garbage cans. The areas were clean and not crowded. In many ways, I was completely impressed and was starting to really like Mississippi!
Soon I was in the casinoland of Biloxi.
My drive took me by more beaches and some very long bridges. The water was never very far out of sight!
My drive through Mississippi didn't last long. I was soon in Sweet Home Alabama!
Surprisingly, I saw a Whataburger. Whataburger is definitely a Texas staple. It's such a Texas staple literally to the point it's where I celebrated my engagement.
My next planned destination was Orange Beach. I took in the scenery on the way there.
Ironically, Sweet Home Alabama came on the radio.
I was planning to not take toll roads at all in the trip, but a wrong turn got me on a toll road in Alabama. I had to do a little more driving and eventually got to my destination. It was this shopping sort of village called The Wharf. Inside The Wharf, I checked out a hot sauce shop called Pepper Palace.
After my short visit, I hit the road to keep heading east. I knew I was getting close to the Florida line and hadn't stopped to see the Gulf Coast from Alabama. A place called Cotton Bayou caught my attention.
I had a short visit to Cotton Bayou, and then I was on the road for my next stop. My uncle recommended I check out a bar called Flora-Bama, so I stopped in there.
I wish I could have stayed at Flora-Bama longer, but I knew I had to hit the road. I got in the car and headed into my third state for the day.
When I was at Cotton Bayou, I ran into some people there. They asked me why I was taking pictures. They thought it was the first time I saw the Gulf of Mexico. I told them about my blog, and they recommended a place called Joe Patti's Seafood.
I was up for some seafood, so I went to check it out. Joe Patti's ended up being closed, so I hit the road again. Initially, in my travel plans, I was planning to take all the back roads but found I was running behind schedule. I then proceeded to the interstate. I drove until I found a rest stop. There was a cat there that entertained me as it wandered through the rest stop.
