Last week we took a couple of road trips - one close to our current 'base' here in Holt, FL, and the other a bit further afield. The photo above is from a support of one of the ramps connecting Interstate 10 to Interstate 110 which services Pensacola, the site of a Naval Air Station and home of the Blue Angels. There is at least a dozen such displays in the area, a very nice tribute to the Navy fliers, the armed forces in general and the men and women who serve our country and defend our freedom. In the photo collection that follows there is a shot to give a better perspective on how these appear as one passes them along the highway.
Our first trip was mostly along Florida 4, starting from a bit North of our location here in Holt, Florida and taking us on a drive to a point just over the Alababma border (at Atmore). While we really have no photos to share of this trip, I'd have to describe it mostly as a nice quiet ride of 60 some miles (one way) where we encountered, in about equal portions, huge horse ranches, the Black Water River State Forest, acres and acres of cotton fields approaching harvest time and rural small towns with unique names like Canoe and Jay (Pop. 579).
The second trip covered the 12+ miles along US 90 from Biloxi to Gulfport, MS. The entire length of this stretch of the highway remains under construction since most of it was destroyed, in some areas completely obliterated by Katrina. The highway travels right along the coast, usually with nothing but beaches between the road and the Gulf of Mexico and the other side was previously lined with with a large number of antebellum homes and a variety of businesses. There was probably not a single property left undamaged by the hurricane and many were completely destroyed. Today, although there is a lot of reconstruction in process and indeed some has been completed, it is still very sad to see all the devistation, including damaged homes and empty properties where homes once stood. We refrained from photographing most of the damage except a couple of large piles of debris and a bit of reconstruction, feeling it was just not something we wanted to share. Click here for photos.
