Tale of Two Cities

The newfound freedom of a rental van gave us the opportunity to explore the Gulf Coast over the weekend. Heading east past Mobile we ended up in Gulf Shores, Alabama a resort town that lies at the end of a peninsula, known for its golf courses and miles of white sand beaches.

The only evidence of Katrina damage here were front loaders moving sand back into place. There were so many new high-rise condos under construction; it was difficult to delineate hurricane repairs from new work being done.

Sunday was a different story. In the afternoon, we traveled west as far as Louisiana. The most stirring sight was Bay St. Louis, Mississippi pictured above. There isn’t an adequate way to describe what was left of what was previously an upscale beach town.

There were no (repeat no) businesses that were reopened. Cars were turned over in ditches, debris hung from every tree, and sections of buildings were scattered everywhere. The house shown above was the only one left along a mile coast stretch west of the city.