At first Dan thought they were all heading to a three day car auction in Biloxi that he had read about. But then he wondered why if you were going to auction your car for the highest price possible, would you drive it to the auction; getting it dirty or risk a breakdown or damage? Then we note many RVs camped along the road in empty lots & parking lots, & numerous people sitting along the road under there shade umbrellas/tents watching the cars. Turns out this week is the annual “Cruisin’ the Coast”, the world’s largest block party! In fact, four people had signs with the numbers one thru nine on them & were rating the cars as they went buy. Our RV got rated as a 1:)!
Now we were really worried that we would find no room at any of the local RV parks, since as usual we were arriving without reservations. But thankfully there were several empty spots at the Keesler Air Force Base Family Camp! After setting up camp it was off to the Boomtown Casino, where we learned that our “player” cards were over a year old & new player cards were needed. Although a bit of a hassle, the new cards came with some freebies. End result was Corrie’s winnings covered Dan’s losses ($20): & we split a “free” $10 dinner & got a casino t-shirt that is actually not too bad. Then it was quick check of the Strip (aka US 90) to see if anybody was cruisin’? Hundreds of the expected 7000 cars were on the strip & we realized that getting around Biloxi during the weekend was going to be difficult!
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/12/08-13dec12-biloxi-ms-destn-fl-more-tire.html
http://vicariauction.com
http://www.cruisinthecoast.com/
Thursday morning we headed to the Biloxi Visitor Center that we visited on our last visit here. As we said during that visit - this is an excellent center with great displays of Biloxi’s history. We had already decided that we were going to take today “easy” & not do much. So for lunch Dan decided we would go to The Shed, a BBQ joint that has been mentioned on several “food” shows on TV. Turns out there are two locations for The Shed, & we didn’t go to the original; even though the BBQ was good, Dan still wants to go to the original. From there we walked the beach & checked out some of the “RV camps” along US90. Then it was back to the RV for maintenance on two roof fans & laundry.
http://theshedbbq.com/
Friday, 11OCT, we got RV washed first thing in the morning. Then we visited the Ohr-O’keefe Museum of Art; something we kept meaning to do on previous visits to Biloxi. Note – this museum has no art by Georgia o’Keefe; the O’Keefe in the museum’s name was a major donor. The museum’s main focus is on George E. Ohr (aka The Mad Potter of Biloxi), who actively made unique pottery in Biloxi from 1883 to 1910. After a fire destroyed his studio in 1894, Ohr began to experiment with innovative new forms that were far more experimental than the pottery typical to the day. As usually happens when someone is “different” than the accepted norm, his work was not appreciated or bought during his lifetime. After his death his family stored all his pottery in the attic. It wasn’t until the 1970s that his work was rediscovered & he is now recognized as an early leader of the American modernist movement.
Construction of the museum started in 2004, but during hurricane Katrina one of the floating casinos broke loose & destroyed all the partially constructed buildings. There is one section of the museum still being built & all construction should be done in 2014. In addition to Ohr’s works the museum also had displays by several African American artists (Theodore Brooks, Charles St Julien, Martin Green, Charles Smith & Willie White); paintings by Frank Janca; Shearwater Pottery; a photographic history of Ship Island’s African American Regiment during the Civil War; & the house & life story of Pleasant Reed a former slave who built his own house in Biloxi after the Civil War.
Then it was off to the Edgewater Mall for a Greek lunch. One section of the mall’s parking lot was set aside to display hundred’s of cars participating in Cruisin’ the Coast. So while Corrie stayed inside the A/C comfort of the mall, Dan had a walk about & viewing the cars listening to live music.
Saturday we headed to a flea market in Pass Christian. The flea market was actually selling things you expect to find at yard sales & flea markets; not touristy items like t-shirts, macramé, jewelry, cosmetics, posters, etc. Later in the day we headed to the Exchange & Commissary on Keesler AFB (everything on base looks pretty new since Katrina?).
http://www.marymahoneys.com/
After a delicious dinner it was off to the Palace Casino. The Palace was originally named the Imperial Palace, than it was called the IP, now it is just the Palace once again new player cards needed. They also make a big deal about them being the only smoke free casino in Biloxi; but unfortunately they do not enforce their policy!
Sunday we decided not to depart & stayed one more day to avoid the Cruisin’ traffic departing Biloxi. Pretty much everyone was gone by early afternoon. When we returned to the RV that night after one more visit to a casino we discovered that Gumbo had managed to chew his way out of his kennel, destroying the kennel in the process!!!
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