Jack and Kat's Excellent Adventure(s): Ocean Springs, and more...

Oct. 4, 2016

Today started off great. We got a coupon for one free breakfast buffet at the hotel, which has a huge assortment of food for breakfast. So, we're standing in line waiting to get a table and this guy in front of us says he has this prepaid card with $60 on it and it is a one time use card. So, he says, "I'll be glad to buy you breakfast, and you don't have to sit with me. I just hate to waste the money on the card for one meal." So, we said OK, we'll use our coupon tomorrow. We shared a table with the guy, who is from Picayune, MS and had a nice conversation. I asked if he was a car guy, and he said no, he was there for a Blackjack tournament. We finished breakfast and told him I hope his good deed brought him luck. We then continued on the Ocean Springs.

Downtown Ocean Springs, MS

Rat rod seen in Ocean Springs

Nice rod seen in Ocean Springs

Ocean Springs in about the eastern most Cruisn' the Coast venue. It's downtown is lined with huge oak trees and many shops and restaurants. We parked and walked around and ended up making a contribution to the local economy! One of the local artists makes sculpture out of junk and in one store there was a large sculpture of a rat rod, It was very detailed and very well done. If it wasn't so big, and didn't cost $7500, I would have gotten it!

Yesterday, and on the drive over this morning, I thought the car sounded funny. Its running fine, but sounds "different". So, before leaving Ocean Springs, I checked out under the car to see if anything obvious was amiss. That's when I noticed that the front tailpipe support had broken loose leaving a small hole in the pipe and the bracket rattling against the pipe. Thus, the different sound! I feel certain that this is due to the trip through Jackson. I'll see if I can find a muffler shop for a quick repair, or just drive it like that to Nashville. It should run fine, the only problem would be if the only other support breaks!

We returned to the hotel, then walked to Mary Mahoney's in downtown Biloxi for lunch. This is in a very old building, that was built 30 years before the birth of America. It has been a restaurant since 1964 and is still run by the same family. And, it is the home of The Patriarch, the largest oak tree on the coast, or in the southeast, or something like that. It is reportedly 2000 years old! The restaurant is very elegant, and many celebrities have eaten here (and they have plaques and pictures on the walls to prove it). This is also home to the second weird urinal I've seen on the trip. It looks like a stainless steel trough filled with ice! I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pee in it or get ice for my glass from it, so I used the toilet instead!

Mary Mahoney's (with The Patriarch)

Weird urinal #2

After lunch we walked around Biloxi then went back to the hotel to rest before tonight's attraction - a flame throwing competition! We figured we'd see what kind of insanity this entailed - we will be watching, not participating!

This afternoon we drive over to Gulfport to witness something new to us - a flame throwing competition! The premise is simple - guys start their engines and get as much raw gas as they can into the exhaust pipe and then ignite it, sending flames out of the exhaust pipe. They are judged and the "best" flame thrower wins a prize! This is automotive insanity, but some of them were pretty good! And, yes. there was a firetruck on hand! After that excitement, we cruised back down the coast highway on a beautiful night and stopped at Ajax for dinner. This is a nice seafood bar where we ate on their nice deck and watched cars cruising down the road. Then a nice drive back to the hotel. The Biloxi Block Party is tomorrow.