Springtime is close

Something in the air feels like spring is just about here. As always for this part of the country, it's not because of the calendar. I think it has more to do with the weather fluctuations of the last month or so. Earlier this week we were in the mid 20's here on the northshore. Today's high was in the mid 70's.

The animals hint of the change in seasons, too. As I was leaving work about 4 yesterday afternoon, I noticed about a dozen hawks soaring around the tall building at the spaceship factory.
click on pictures for full-size versions



Wondering what kind of wildlife would bring the hawks to this 832 acres of mostly asphalt and buildings, I grabbed my camera and started clicking. It wasn't till I got home and downloaded the pictures that I noticed poor pigeons sitting near the top of the building.



Dem hawks were hungry!!

Hoping to get more shots of these beautiful predators, I took Highway 90 East to get back home. No dice. Seems like all those hawks were busy dining on squab.

But I did see some interesting shots along the way. I really hadn't been out in this neck of the woods in quite a while so I was curious to witness what progress had been taking place.



Venetian Isles was slammed by Katrina. On the 1,285th day since Katrina (thanks for counting, Maitri) building is still happening in this outpost of the Big Easy

It seems as if the newer homes are bigger and stronger than the Pre-K domiciles.



Unfortunately, the Venetian Isles Fire Department is STILL operating out of a mobile home. Maybe Venetian Isle rep Joseph Cao can finally do something about this atrocity.





Across the Chef Pass bridge is the fishing village of Lake St. Catherine, which was virtually wiped out from Katrina due to its geography.






It's taken almost four years, but homes are starting to really spring up out here. The first few miles is still pretty much barren of homes, but this is where I spotted trees full of happily squawking red wing blackbirds.



Right next to the tree of birds was this shot of an old fishing net wrapped around a tree. Not sure if it's from Katrina, Gustav or Ike.



Further down the road I passed the church where Father Red(Arthur Ginart) spent his last hours guarding his church.


notice the marsh grass from Gustav/Ike still on the church's steps

Late on the night before Katrina, a volunteer firefighter went down to the St Nicholas of Myra church to convince him to leave, but he wouldn't. "God will be my shepherd," he said.

In the corner of Highway 90 where Jayne Mansfield was killed I spotted this little guy sunning himself. Such a cutie.



Here's a sampling of the houses I saw along this route. I want to take more when the traffic allows.











More to come.....................................................

A mystery solved

About a year after Katrina blew through here, I first noticed this sight in the community of Northshore on my daily commute to the spaceship factory.





I never could figure out how or why it was there until earlier this week when I read an article in the local newspaper


Sticking out of a pond in front of a large green building is the tail section of a small plane, looking as if the plane took a nosedive and got stuck in the mud at the bottom of the pond.

No, it’s not a plane accident, it is actually a work of art created by local contractor Bruce Sauer.

Sauer is a pilot and owns the Beechcraft Serria four-seater plane that sits in the middle of the pond. He built the building and pond in 2001 and his company used to work out of it, but now he leases it to Superior Construction Co.

Sauer bought the plane about 1989, and he flew it all over the place. But then his wife, Missy, who did not like to fly, asked him not to fly so much.

So, Sauer parked the airplane at the Lakefront Airport in New Orleans, and there it sat for several years.

Then Hurricane Katrina blew into town, and destroyed the plane. Sauer didn’t have any insurance on the aircraft, and he discovered that it wasn’t worth it to sell the plane for scrap metal.

“So I decided to make some pond art out of it,” Sauer said.

The building that sits behind the plane-in-a-pond rode thru Katrina as if it were a thunderstorm. It's well-built.

Northshore Saturday

Having a WHOLE day off recently is rare for me, so when I decided to take Saturday off, Hubby and I ventured out looking for stuff to buy at the local Farmers' Markets.

Our first stop was Slidell's Camellia City Market, where I purchased the "official" poster of the Market, created by Vivian Hava, Northshore High School Freshman.






Actually we were on a mission: We were looking for the dynamite Mediterranean food from Nur's Kitchen. A take-out-only restaurant, Nur's Kitchen used to be at all of the local Farmer's Markets, but we didn't see their food in Slidell, so we ventured on to the Mandeville Farmers' Market. There we found some delicious BBQ Sauce and a praline type brownie, but no Nur's. One more market on the northshore: the Covington Farmers' Market. No Mediterranean food there, either. But they DID have a good crowd and lots of produce and homemade goods to choose from. We decided to take a walk down to the Columbia Street Landing and visit shops along the way.



One of my favorite shops on Columbia Street is Art on Columbia , a gallery and store where you can buy wares from local artists. I purchased a very nice item for my fireplace mantle (love that overtime $$).

Columbia Street is full of boutiques, galleries and PLENTY of lawyer shops. One of my favorite sites is the old General Store.



We made it to the Landing, and enjoyed the quiet sitting by the Bogue Falaya





Getting hungry, we decided to look for food (seems like we're always looking for food, doesn't it?) So we walked towards the old Courthouse on Boston Street. Up New Hamshire Street we saw this hilarious site



This guy was trying to see if his brake lights were working. We assured him they were.

Further up New Hamshire, we spied some new construction and what looked to be a park, so we decided to check it out. Turns out we discovered the newest Trailhead for the Tammany Trace.



Newly opened last April (where've I been??), this Trailhead marks the end of the Tammany Trace's 40 mile trek.





I didn't bother reading the plaque, but I discovered a huge statue of Ronald Reagan keeping watch over the park





We noticed that this Trailhead didn't yet have full time rangers yet, so we decided to do some snooping around to see what else was there.

Then we noticed this flyer



So we tried the door, which opened, and wandered into the model train room. What a treat.









Hubby works for Amtrak, so he got a hoot out of this.



This display is so intricate. The owner of the trains paid so much attention to detail in this setup. I even spied a hooker hanging out by the auto shop!!

I asked the owner how long his Model Railroad display was going to be there and he said forever. So if you love Model trains, or have kids that do, I suggest you head to Covington to see this. You won't be disappointed.

We never did do lunch in Covington. We ended up at Fazzio's in Mandeville



They make the BEST tartar sauce in the world!

Bottle Tree

click on image for full size version



I first saw a bottle tree last year at some Mississippi Gulf Coast festival. I think it has a very interesting history

Think I'll get me one this year.

Bay St. Louis Lives

I left work about 11 last Friday and Hubby and I decided to search for a good burger in one of your favorite cities, Bay St. Louis, Ms. Last month we found one at the Buttercup Cafe near the gulf.

Click on images for full-sized versions

This time around we wanted to try a restaurant suggested by a friend who works in BSL called The Mockingbird Cafe.






Located about a block from the Buttercup, the Mockingbird is located in a very old structure that has been restored beautifully inside. The Mockingbird is also home to The Serious Bakery and all of their sandwiches are made with the bread from this bakery. The best bread I've ever eaten. Our sandwiches were very good and when our bellies were full, we decided to make use of the Bay St. Louis map we picked up at the 'Bird and check out some of the shops in the area.

Our next stop was The Shops at Century Hall. Century Hall was originally built by Woodmen of the World . Incredibly restored, this building houses some ecclectic shops such as Seams like yesterday (antiques, furniture, glassware, hand sewn items) Ke International (South American imports,hats, ornaments) Bohemian Sky (vintage/retro recycled apparel, incense oils, etc) and Paper Moon & Eclipse Gallery (cards, gifts and gallery of local artists). What an awesome place! Everyone in the Shops was super friendly and helpful and more than willing to give us the history on items. My favorite part was the gallery.








It was sunny and open and the art - all mixed media - was hilarious. I learned that the owner's daughter had done these pieces.

In Ke International we met a great lady that mentioned that the wooden angels we spotted on the front porch were likenesses of a tree that was carved after Katrina.



The tree that inspired this carving is right near the Bay and our hostess told us that this tree is where seven people and a dog spent Hurricane Katrina and lived to tell of it. According to her, Bay St. Louis experienced a 34 foot wall of water, as the town was pretty damned near the storm's eye. She told us where to find the tree, so after purchasing some pretty earrings and a great photograph, we headed out to find the tree.



We found the tree about three blocks from the shop. An old live oak, that tree still stands facing the gulf





We found it on this street (in case you're ever looking for it)



We still had a few hours of the afternoon left, so we decided to trek back to the Tourism Center in Bay St. Louis to see if it was open. We've been trying to find out the date of the Bridge Fest, so this was a good place to start. NOT.

Located in the Train Depot, the BSL Visitor Center is chock full of info about this sweet little town.



The hostess there was awesome. When we got there she was taking care of a busload of seniors from Meridian, offering them popcorn and coffee, giving them ditty bags full of local info. When she spotted us she asked us if we'd signed the register and then realized that we weren't with the tour bus (which made me feel good, because I didn't think I looked 78 years old). We asked her about Bridge Fest and she offered to find the date and started tearing thru brochures looking for the date. She then offered to look it up online, but was side tracked by another busload of seniors.

Well, we still didn't find out the date of the festival, but we had a good time looking for it.



Outside we decided to see what else was going on, so we strolled on over to the Alice Mosely Museum. Mz Mosely was a folk artist and lived in BSL in a sweet little cottage that's been restored (EVERYTHING's been restored in Bay St. Louis). Although her type of art is not my cup of tea, it was interesting touring her home and observing her art.



Bay St. Louis is undergoing major infrastructure repair due to that 34 foot wall of water, so the streets around the Train Depot are mostly unpaved and very dusty. Walking back to the truck, we noticed a beautiful green area that is slated to become a park



It's gonna be nice.

It was an enjoyable afternoon, far from the madness of Mardi Gras. I think this shot mirrors the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast



Beat up by Katrina, it lives. Happy to be alive and continuing to grow.