Best way to experience the South!
Time to relive my last full day in Biloxi. Since my gambling was less than successful, what better time to do some exploring of the South? My plan was to drive east and see what I encountered - possibly going all the way to Mobile so I could check Alabama off my list too.
During my previous drive to the west, I kept seeing Waffle Houses.... 4 of them in a 20 mile stretch. They have more Waffle Houses than we have Walgreens! So I knew I had to do Sunday breakfast at the Waffle House, and the one in Ocean Springs was the first I came across on my eastward trek.
My mouth was watering... I remembered reading about the Waffle House on a local news anchor's blog, and was ready to check it out myself. According to Vinny, it's a classic, so it must be good, right? Let me tell you, you've not experienced the deep South until you've gone to a Waffle House on a Sunday morning.
As soon as I walked in, I knew it wasn't Denny's or Country Kitchen. The combined smell of grease and cigarette smoke made me lose a little of my appetite, but I bore on. It reminded me of some houses I've visited over the years - often in poorer homes, where there has been years of grease & smoke built-up. There were only a few booths - all full - but I wanted a counter seat anyway. Gotta do it right, right? I chose a spot on the corner, and quickly noticed that each counter seat had its own ash try with a mixture of old butts in it. I was also obviously not a regular there, as many of the folks seemed to be. No greetings, but lots of looks.
The man sitting two seats away was a definite heart attack waiting to happen. He was a very large, round man - so round that even his arms and shoulders formed the giant ball that he was. I noticed his breakfast consisted of a chili omelet, accompanied by a big bowl of chili covered in cheese, and a pork chop smothered in jalapenos on the side. Call the paramedics! The teenage waitress clearly knew him well, as she stopped to eat bites of his pork chop off his plate frequently. There was quite an ongoing conversation about his work hours being much worse than hers... after all he'd been up for hours already and hauled a couple loads of firewood. Eventually his wife came to join him, but moved on to a new conversation with the couple at the other end. This was definitely a social club that I was not part of.
Eventually my own breakfast showed up, minus the bacon. My waitress made it clear to the cooks that she had it written on the slip... and they better get it done soon! In the meantime I started in on my own omelet and hash browns. The butter base on the plate made me a little leery - my doc would NOT have liked my choices. As I bit in though, I wondered if it really was butter... or lard. There was a distinct taste of lard, or maybe it was the taste of stuff made on a griddle that hadn't been cleaned in ages. It reminded me of Mom's fried foods growing up - using the bacon grease in the old cast-iron skillet and rarely washing it unless she cooked something with a sauce or something that burned. (That's how a cast-iron skillet gets "seasoned.") Growing up, I was used to that. My stomach isn't so cast-iron itself any more. About halfway through, the bacon arrived - very crisp and not much lean among the burned fat. Ahhh... that's the taste right there! Now I recognized it for sure. I couldn't eat much more than half of my breakfast (and for those of you who know me, that's saying something) but I was definitely no longer hungry.
Yes, I was truly in the South. And I began to understand why Mississippi is always listed as the fattest state in the nation. But hey, I wanted to try the Waffle House, and I'm still glad I did.
Off down the road I went. I stopped at a State Park on the Bayou, but the hiking trail only took me about 10 minutes to finish. No working off the cholesterol laden breakfast there. Further down state highway 90 I drove. After a while, I realized that I'd pretty much just keep seeing strip mall after strip mall. There were a few interesting things to note, e.g. the flocked Christmas tree stand with the pink flocked tree out front. I mean really... flocked trees are bad enough, but pink? PINK?? Maybe its a southern thing.
About this time, my stomach was really starting to revolt against the breakfast, so I decided it would be wise to head back to my hotel. Alabama would have to wait for another trip. On the way back, one more strange site.... a really smashed up car in the middle of the median (looked like it had been compressed from all sides) with a sign in front that read "Are your children buckled in?" Really? Am I the only one creeped out by this?
OK, so Mississippi won't be on my list of places I want to move. But I did have a great experience later that afternoon. After taking a little time to make sure all of my breakfast had worked through (fairly quickly, at that...) I decided to walk the bridge from Biloxi to Ocean Springs. It is the coolest bridge! The original one was destroyed by Katrina, but it's been rebuilt bigger and better. You can google Yahoo Images to find Biloxi Bay Bridge or here's a link to see it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29371377@N04/3020014496/
It was clearly a regular route for walkers and joggers, and I stopped one woman to ask how long it was. 1.7 miles each way, so a perfect 3.4 mile walk for me. They had a pretty wide walkway that was well-separated from the six lanes of highway. It was also perfect for my usual treadmill routine. A steady and increasing incline to the very high center, then downhill to the other end and reversed coming back. I worked up quite a good sweat, despite the incredibly strong winds off the Gulf. I'm sure I didn't work off much more than the hashbrowns from the Waffle House, but at least I felt better!
Overall, I really did have a good trip and I'm glad I have now been to the Gulf. There's no real overwhelming need to go back, but then again Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Casino is being built and scheduled to open in 2010. That may be worth the trip back.....
During my previous drive to the west, I kept seeing Waffle Houses.... 4 of them in a 20 mile stretch. They have more Waffle Houses than we have Walgreens! So I knew I had to do Sunday breakfast at the Waffle House, and the one in Ocean Springs was the first I came across on my eastward trek.
My mouth was watering... I remembered reading about the Waffle House on a local news anchor's blog, and was ready to check it out myself. According to Vinny, it's a classic, so it must be good, right? Let me tell you, you've not experienced the deep South until you've gone to a Waffle House on a Sunday morning.
As soon as I walked in, I knew it wasn't Denny's or Country Kitchen. The combined smell of grease and cigarette smoke made me lose a little of my appetite, but I bore on. It reminded me of some houses I've visited over the years - often in poorer homes, where there has been years of grease & smoke built-up. There were only a few booths - all full - but I wanted a counter seat anyway. Gotta do it right, right? I chose a spot on the corner, and quickly noticed that each counter seat had its own ash try with a mixture of old butts in it. I was also obviously not a regular there, as many of the folks seemed to be. No greetings, but lots of looks.
The man sitting two seats away was a definite heart attack waiting to happen. He was a very large, round man - so round that even his arms and shoulders formed the giant ball that he was. I noticed his breakfast consisted of a chili omelet, accompanied by a big bowl of chili covered in cheese, and a pork chop smothered in jalapenos on the side. Call the paramedics! The teenage waitress clearly knew him well, as she stopped to eat bites of his pork chop off his plate frequently. There was quite an ongoing conversation about his work hours being much worse than hers... after all he'd been up for hours already and hauled a couple loads of firewood. Eventually his wife came to join him, but moved on to a new conversation with the couple at the other end. This was definitely a social club that I was not part of.
Eventually my own breakfast showed up, minus the bacon. My waitress made it clear to the cooks that she had it written on the slip... and they better get it done soon! In the meantime I started in on my own omelet and hash browns. The butter base on the plate made me a little leery - my doc would NOT have liked my choices. As I bit in though, I wondered if it really was butter... or lard. There was a distinct taste of lard, or maybe it was the taste of stuff made on a griddle that hadn't been cleaned in ages. It reminded me of Mom's fried foods growing up - using the bacon grease in the old cast-iron skillet and rarely washing it unless she cooked something with a sauce or something that burned. (That's how a cast-iron skillet gets "seasoned.") Growing up, I was used to that. My stomach isn't so cast-iron itself any more. About halfway through, the bacon arrived - very crisp and not much lean among the burned fat. Ahhh... that's the taste right there! Now I recognized it for sure. I couldn't eat much more than half of my breakfast (and for those of you who know me, that's saying something) but I was definitely no longer hungry.
Yes, I was truly in the South. And I began to understand why Mississippi is always listed as the fattest state in the nation. But hey, I wanted to try the Waffle House, and I'm still glad I did.
Off down the road I went. I stopped at a State Park on the Bayou, but the hiking trail only took me about 10 minutes to finish. No working off the cholesterol laden breakfast there. Further down state highway 90 I drove. After a while, I realized that I'd pretty much just keep seeing strip mall after strip mall. There were a few interesting things to note, e.g. the flocked Christmas tree stand with the pink flocked tree out front. I mean really... flocked trees are bad enough, but pink? PINK?? Maybe its a southern thing.
About this time, my stomach was really starting to revolt against the breakfast, so I decided it would be wise to head back to my hotel. Alabama would have to wait for another trip. On the way back, one more strange site.... a really smashed up car in the middle of the median (looked like it had been compressed from all sides) with a sign in front that read "Are your children buckled in?" Really? Am I the only one creeped out by this?
OK, so Mississippi won't be on my list of places I want to move. But I did have a great experience later that afternoon. After taking a little time to make sure all of my breakfast had worked through (fairly quickly, at that...) I decided to walk the bridge from Biloxi to Ocean Springs. It is the coolest bridge! The original one was destroyed by Katrina, but it's been rebuilt bigger and better. You can google Yahoo Images to find Biloxi Bay Bridge or here's a link to see it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29371377@N04/3020014496/
It was clearly a regular route for walkers and joggers, and I stopped one woman to ask how long it was. 1.7 miles each way, so a perfect 3.4 mile walk for me. They had a pretty wide walkway that was well-separated from the six lanes of highway. It was also perfect for my usual treadmill routine. A steady and increasing incline to the very high center, then downhill to the other end and reversed coming back. I worked up quite a good sweat, despite the incredibly strong winds off the Gulf. I'm sure I didn't work off much more than the hashbrowns from the Waffle House, but at least I felt better!
Overall, I really did have a good trip and I'm glad I have now been to the Gulf. There's no real overwhelming need to go back, but then again Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Casino is being built and scheduled to open in 2010. That may be worth the trip back.....
posted by Kris at 12/30/2008 08:27:00 PM
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