The Escape/Part 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast/Part 1

 

April the 8th, 2022

Our next undisclosed super secret location is Buccaneer State Park in Waveland, MS. This is our third time here and it ranks highly in the top ten.

With miles and miles of beaches like this, how could you not love this? Do you see any people on the beach? That's how it is in most spots. But I am ahead of myself. 

We left Memphis April 8th. One of the most important dates in history. We were glad to get out of Memphis. I think the truck needs new shocks all the way around. Worst city streets ever. It was a fairly long drive but we made it because there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The Gulf of Mexico and glorious beach time. After our snowy weather we deserved it.

We got to the campground and quickly got set up. We were in for a big treat. It was my birthday and we were going to a beach bar called Shaggy's in Pass Christian for dinner. Every time we are in the area we have to go to Shaggy's. Here I am enjoying a birthday beer.

Amazing how I don't look a day over 58 there. Then the food came. This is the shrimping capital of the world so how could we not have shrimp? Lisa and I had the same thing. Grilled shrimp with jalapeno hush puppies and seasoned house fries. We had an appetizer called Beach Balls. Deep fried mashed potato balls  with bacon bits and cheese inside. It's the only time Lisa didn't ask if a defibrillator comes with it. LOL.

Since we have been so busy and this day was a travel day, Lisa was not able to bake me a cake. Or get me a card or even a present or flowers or balloons, clowns and a pony.  Oh well. It's not like I noticed. The new gun I get when I get home will surely make up for it. We did go to Wallyworld to buy an angel food cake which she frosted with here very own little hands. We didn't have a candle so I just used a lighter for that effect. It was a great birthday.

The next day we just planned on some beach time. Slow down and relax. It was a little cool that day but it was sunny. We found a nice lonely spot on the beach so that Lisa could sit and soak up the sun. I had treasure to find. 

I went up and down the beach for 2 hours. It's amazing what you find buried in the sand. That first day I did not find any buried treasure but I did find all kinds of other things.

I know it looks like a lot of junk and it is. As is with many types of hunting, the hunt is half the fun. I set my metal detector to find all kinds of metal, not just coins. If I had just set it for coins I would have been frustrated because I did that for 2 hours and the only coin I found was a penny. It's more of a service I am providing. Removing garbage from the beach. There's still a lot of nails and bolts left over from Katrina in 2005. So it was a good day. The reason I think there is not a lot of money in the sand is because the beaches are huge and not a lot of people so finding something is going to be rare. That's okay with me.

The next day we slept in and then went to a beach bar for lunch. We saw this one as we were driving by yesterday. Danny B's. Lisa had shrimp tacos and I had of course the shrimp platter.

We were sitting outside enjoying the sun and eating. Lisa noticed behind me there were these water filled tanks and something was splashing around in them. At first we thought it was lobsters but did not see those on the menu. On closer examination they turned out to be live crayfish. That's how fresh the food was. Lisa was intrigued now. She started to google how to eat them because she wanted to try them some time.

After lunch we went to the beach again. we found another vacant spot. Lisa read and I treasure hunted.

It was a warmer day today. The sun was shining and the breeze was coming off of the water. After our second day on the beach, we started to get sun burnt. The start of a good base. My treasure was just as interesting as the first.

I got those screws off of the beach hopefully before someone stepped on them barefoot. I found a little hotwheels car that the grandkids will love. No cash this time but I hope to get out a few more times on this trip. That's it for day 2.

Day 3 promised to be cloudy and rainy so we decided to drive up the coast to check things out. We drove from Waveland all the way to Biloxi. The road goes along the coast so it really is a nice drive. I think it was 40 to 50 miles and it went farther than that. We stopped at Sharkheads for a little souvenir shopping.

It was a nice beach store with everything you could ever need for a day at the beach. The real big news of the day was that Lisa finally got to order her crayfish. We went to another beach bar called The Blind Tiger in Biloxi.

Here is Lisa with 3 pounds of crayfish. She must have been hungry. She was trying to eat them according to the way google had told her and she was struggling. When the waitress came by she asked her how it was done. The waitress grabbed one and went step by step through the procedure. Armed with the new knowledge she attacked those little critters with a vengeance. Here's a video of how to eat them.

The dead head bucket.

Lisa almost finished it. The reason why you get so many crayfish is that there is not a lot of meat in those tails. I think there is more meat in a shrimp tail than crayfish. I give her credit for doing that. Lisa peeled me one to try so I did have one. It was not bad but you have to get over the look of them. Bucket list item crossed off. 

Our fourth and final day in Waveland was also cloudy. We ran to Wallyworld to get a few things and also to fill up with diesel. On our way back to the camp ground we found a seafood market. Lisa picked up a couple of pounds of crayfish to bring home so that everyone can have some. Now we just have to get some gulf shrimp.

"Gladys! Quit playing with those crayfish and lets roll!"