2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 3

Theodore, Al to Meridian, MS.  401.5 Miles.

In an unusual beginning to the day, we were woke up around 11:30 to the sound of someone entering our hotel room.  No, not trying to enter, actually entering.  The hotel staff had rented out our room to a second guest.  Luckily the security lock was on.  The individual trying to enter was very embarrassed and apologetic.  He said he was going to go talk to the front desk about the situation since he could have been shot.  Obviously my reputation proceeds.  Mistakes happen and hopefully it hasn't come to all that.

After sleeping the rest of the night, we got up the next morning and had a quick bite to eat.  Weather forecasts looked awful to the north so there was no reason to hurry.  We decided to head up to tour the USS Alabama and USS Drum near Mobile.  We left in plenty of time to get up there and walk around a bit. There happen to also be a Mopar car show going on there.

We entered at 8:00 promptly at opening and toured the battleship.  I normally don't like the slow pace of guided tours, but initially the ship was a little daunting to self-tour due to the size.  After getting the overall layout of the ship, I was really glad for the self-guided tour.  The ship was really well-done as a museum although I wish it came with an overall map.  Afterwards, we went through the airplane hanger which had several planes including an SR-71 Blackbird and a MIG29.  Not being a plane guy, I'm not sure what they all were.
The USS Drum was also available for self-tour.  Having toured the Cobia in Manitowoc, WI, it was pretty similar, but I'm endlessly fascinated by the submarine combat in WWII.  Both the USS Alabama and the Drum are well worth a visit.  The guides say to plan on two hours, it could have been longer.  The lack of other patrons made the early part of the day very nice.

From Mobile, we headed south again for a last look at Theodore and onto US90, crossing into Mississippi for the first time on my motorcycle.

We stayed on 2-lane roads across all of Mississippi's gulf coast.  Temperatures were warm but not hot, with enough breeze to be comfortable without sand blowing everywhere.  The gulf coast of Mississippi is great.  Miles and miles of white sand beaches with lots of parking.  Several casinos dot the area and there were many festivals going on along the length.  The fair-type food smell was intoxicating in a few locations.  I wouldn't want to do the drive on July 4th weekend, but it was great at the end of April.

It was interesting to see how many homes and buildings are protected, lifted, damaged or gone from hurricanes.  I wasn't quite sure why some were lifted so much farther of the ground than others.  Perhaps age since being built?  Or insurance level?  I was curious if the many vacant lots were from Hurricane Katrina.  Many dead trees lining the road had been turned into sculpture.

After the touristy gulf shores, we crossed into bayou country of swamps and many small rivers.  We crossed the border into Louisiana around noon making 40 states traveled through over the years, including every state west of the Mississippi River.  There were no signs marking the state line, but the road was a little remote at this point.  Perhaps Louisiana just isn't very proud of itself since there was no Louisiana sign (in the opposite direction) as we crossed back into Mississippi later in the day.  The remote road was dotted with people fishing, industrial areas focused on gulf industries.
Eventually, we met back up with civilization near New Orleans.  We thought about going into New Orleans, but traffic was crazy and drivers showing a lack of concern.
We headed north across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.  I had read there was a toll and was surprised there were no toll booths.  As best as I can figure out, there is supposed to be a cost to drive it, but they only collect when headed south.  Odd - sounds similar to the Tacoma Narrows in Washington State.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is one of the longest "bridges" in the world and is almost 24 miles long.  It was a little freaky at first, but I was glad we went across it.  Traffic was surprisingly light.
After crossing we stopped in Mandeville.  In 2010 we were going to come to the gulf coast and stay at a cottage near Lake Pontchartrain, but that was when we ended up buying the new house, cancelling any vacation plans.  The area looked really nice.  We may have to come back to do this at some time in the future.
We ate at Gene's Po-Boy Shack. It was a phenomenal lunch and with a little less chaos than we would have had in New Orleans.

At lunch, we decided it was too early to stop so there was no reason to stay in Slidell as we had originally intended.  There are some options for other interesting things on the way home and it will be good to leave some extra room in case of really bad weather.  We headed north to stay in Meridian, MS for the night.  The trip was uneventful except for the last 20 miles where it rained - moderately heavy at times.  It was warm enough and we were close to stopping so we didn't use rain gear.

Dinner was a steak at a chain restaurant - adequate, but no comparison to some of the local seafood.