Mississippi Gulf Coast
Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach
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As you drive through Biloxi, you'll experience the brief feeling that you've somehow wandered into Las Vegas.  High-rise casino hotels sprout up on the Gulf side of the road, along with huge video signs just like you'd find on the strip.  I didn't stop to gain a close-up appreciation for all this development, and as you can see, I shot these pictures out of the car window as I drove by the Beau Rivage, one of the largest casino complexes in Biloxi.

As you drive through this area, you begin to see the subtle signs that a not-so-subtle storm blew through here a few years ago.  Much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  Even though the eye of the storm targeted New Orleans, the flooding from the storm's surge spread out for many miles, and washed away a lot of homes and businesses.

The casinos have recovered nicely, but the damage from the 2005 storm season is obvious elsewhere.  In Biloxi, and further west, you'll notice old oak trees that seem to be missing many of their limbs, plots of land that are inexplicably empty, and concrete stilts and foundations with nothing on top of them.  Signs still advertise slab removal services.  Even so, it's tough to realize what it must have been like along US 90 when Katrina made landfall (and what it will be like once again, whenever the next storm hits).

I thought Biloxi's lighthouse might be interesting, but it wasn't.  The lighthouse sits in the median of US 90, making it virtually inaccessible.  And even if you could reach it, there wouldn't be much of a point, since it's fenced off and locked shut.

Headed west, US 90 stays near the water, with numerous places to access a long and undeveloped beach on the south side of the road.

Gulfport

As you head further west, the hurricane damage becomes more apparent.  In fact, you can't help but notice an out-of-place steeple and bell tower sitting on the ground near downtown Gulfport, Mississippi.  The First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport was heavily damaged by Katrina's storm surge (as was almost every other building in town).  Remarkably, the steeple survived, and the church vows to use it when it rebuilds.

The steeple sits next to the Mississippi Sound Historical Museum, which is now boarded up and closed, thanks to Hurricane Katrina.  The museum is located in a former Carnegie library, and had opened just a few months before Katrina hit.

The old Markham Hotel fared pretty well during Katrina, compared to what other businesses suffered. Most of the damage seems to be near the roof, on the side.  Since the storm, the building has sat vacant, and no one can seem to decide what to do with it, or find the money to make it happen.

Throughout the rest of town, storm damage is still obvious.  Here, it looks as if Katrina, or the renovations that followed, uncovered some of the building's original signage.

Here's the time-lapse, dash-cam video of my drive from Biloxi to Gulfport:

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