Four states

We headed east out of New Orleans and, as luck would have it, through the lower ninth ward.  Devastation was still apparent there, eight years after Katrina; lots of ruined homes and overgrown empty lots.  But there seemed to be resilience too as evidenced by the banners on street poles and new construction.

This is the levee at the Industrial canal that was massively breached during Katrina

We hit the Mississippi state line

and drove along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Pass Christian to Pascagoula. The beaches are beautiful soft white sand on one side of the road and large homes on the other.

The disappointment was Biloxi; their beach is crowded with ugly high rise casinos, rebuilt from the shore after hurricane destruction.  Las Vegas sur la mer.

We reached Alabama and drove south along Mobile Bay so we could take the small ferry across the mouth of mobile bay.  When we got there, we found out the ferry was closed due to high winds.  We had passed 3 or 4 signs on our hour long drive to the ferry and not one had warned us the ferry was closed.  We had to backtrack north around the Bay through Mobile.

We searched for a local joint for lunch.  We saw plenty of fast food options, but local cafés were all closed since it was Sunday (buckle of the Bible Belt here).  We finally found a roadside barbecue joint and ordered pulled pork sandwiches and lemonade. I now know why proper dentition seems to be lacking in this part of the world. Two of my teeth about fell out after the first bite of the sandwich; it was all brown sugar and molasses sweet.  I've never tasted anything so sweet; I couldn't tell that there was pork in the sandwich except by looking at it. The lemonade was even sweeter.  I think I now have diabetes.  We couldn't eat or drink either sandwich or lemonade, and I love junk food too.

We crossed into Pensacola and headed out to the beach for the night.  John has spent hours trying to get Lilly to eat with no success.  She even refused the sugar tonight.  Maybe she has seen some of the locals and is afraid for her teeth.

If she doesn't eat today we will abandon the back roads and head to home and good veterinary care in Fort Lauderdale asap.