We had a good visit for a few days with family. It's nice to visit family, but I'm beginning to wonder just what those boys are doing when they're out in the field. We've gone out there for the last three years so Bruce and his cousin can go deer hunting. So far, guess how many deer they've gotten. That's right. A solid ZERO. It's not that there aren't any deer. I've seen plenty. In fact, this trip, I had to dodge a pretty solid buck while driving down the road just in front of their house. When his cousin's wife and I were heading out, we had to dodge a doe and her twin fawns. Of course the boys wouldn't have taken the fawns and wouldn't have taken the doe out of season, but there were plenty of bucks around. That's okay, though. I had a good time with the family, and Bruce seemed to have a good time with whatever he and his cousin were doing when they told us they were hunting!
But, the weather caught up with us again, and after about a week visiting, we woke early to sleet and freezing rain. So, we high-tailed it out, heading further south. This time, once we got into Mississippi, it did actually start warming up, and that sleet turned into rain, all the way to Biloxi. Bruce likes to gamble, and he used to enjoy gambling in Tunica. We went there a couple of years ago and were highly disappointed. His preferred hotel hasn't been kept up, and there aren't many people on the tables anymore. Not to mention, they took lobster off the buffet! So, his favorite place now is Treasure Bay in Biloxi. I generally have a good time on the beach or hanging around the lighthouse and the carvings in the median. But, most of the time, it looked like this:
It was chilly enough that I felt sorry for the marathon runners on Beach Boulevard. The room was nice - even nicer since it was comped, and I could definitely use the down time. I leisurely did my exercises, slept in and loads of other fun stuff, including take a few trips downstairs and playing a bit myself. We came out about even on the gambling, so it was basically a free stay. They also comped us the buffet, which was nice, and I did get plenty of crab legs! One of our nights there, we went to the a new oyster bar on the beach. Still too cold to eat outside, but it was great to get some oysters on the half shell, and the etoufee wasn't bad, either. Even better was when the cook came out and brought me the pearl that came out of my oysters when he was opening them. He didn't want me to break a tooth on it. It's just a tiny chip, but it's the first time I ever had a pearl in my oyster - as far as I know! Who knows. Maybe more of my oysters have had pearls, and the cook kept them! No way to tell. I can tell you that at Bacchus Oyster Bar on Beach Boulevard in Biloxi, MS, they bring you the pearls they find in your oysters!
For several years, I have intended to tour the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, but they always required an appointment, which I never managed to be able to get with the limited time I was in town and the lack of prior planning in most of our travels. They take in animals that have been harmed in the wild (such as sea turtles) and rehabilitate them for release. Some of the animals they have cannot be rehabilitated and cannot be released. Recently, they have built facilities that are more accessible to the public and have opened for visitors without appointments. Obviously, the animals that can be released aren't on display because they shouldn't be acclimated to human contact. There weren't a lot of people there, so the docents or other workers had plenty of time to talk, and we heard some cute stories of some of the animals. For instance, the dolphins like to play with visitors. It was a game they played before, but staff quit falling for it. Visitors are new, so they're fresh meat. The dolphins will hang out at one area of the pool, close to where the people walk by, making movements that encourage the people to get close. Once you're close, they make a great big splash! They think it's loads of fun, and before the dolphin show, the guy sitting in front of us was their latest victim. Fortunately, the docent in the small animal tanks (starfish, crabs, other small fish, coral growth tanks, etc.) had warned us of this. It was a small, but well-maintained facility, and they say that the income from expanding the visitors areas and gift shop will be a major funding benefit for the rescue and rehabilitation efforts. The cost of the new build-out has almost been recouped, so they are almost at the point of applying those profits almost exclusively to the rescue and rehab efforts. I know many of my friends are against animals for amusement, but many of these places do more good than they do harm. Here are a few shots of Ocean Adventures Marine Park, the public access area of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Inc.
The next day, we set out for our journey westward. We stopped at a Whataburger, because I hadn't had Whataburger for decades. Apparently, they no longer sell fries by the pound, like they did in Texas in the 1980s, but they have something even better! SPICY KETCHUP!! Some would say I don't get out much, but I found spicy ketchup to be something special that I had never experienced before!
It was dark by the time we got to Houston, so no pictures. We stopped for the night in Katy, just on the west side of Houston.
