Three States Today
02 July 2021 | Hammond, Mississippi
Mary Yeomans | Mid 80s, humid
We left the hotel in Alabama and headed through Mississippi to Louisiana before stopping for lunch in Slidell. We took a route along the coast and were amazed at the lack of building along the beach in Biloxi, Gulfport, and all the way to Waveland where we drove inland. Sand blows across Beach Boulevard where we were driving, and we wondered how it would be to shovel sand out of your driveway instead of snow!
Palmetto's on the Bayou was our choice for lunch, and it proved to be a good one. I had grilled Caesar salad which was warm and Lime Cilantro Shrimp on Corn Relish which was cold. Both were scrumptious. Bill's spicy chicken sandwich was good too. The setting was superb - on the water with swampy greenery around. Very pretty.
Back on the road we headed to Jean Baptiste Lang's Creole house, which is an old residence that was moved off of Lake Ponchartrain after Katrina and renovated by the historical society in Mandeville. The docent was excellent, and we learned much about the construction of the house but also about life in the 18 and 1900's. Zatarain of spice fame owned the home for eight years when he moved there with his second wife after leaving his first wife and children in New Orleans. Divorce was not possible if you were a Catholic at the time so he just left town and started a new family.
Our next stop was Ruby's Roadhouse. I read about this place but live music is only on Saturdays now so we had a couple of $2 PBRs before calling it a day. This was a very old building with very few seats inside but had some outside areas to sit. This place hops when there is music and the inside is very crowded.
On to the hotel in Hammond. Our room was very nice but finding dinner proved to be difficult. Many restaurants were take out only! We finally ate at Taco Bell - neither of us was very hungry after our big lunch so it hit the spot.