Biloxi beach
Biloxi, MS is a small town (less than 45,000 residents) with a big profile. Whether it is Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues or its prominent place in headlines about Hurricane Katrina or the BP oil spill, everyone knows Biloxi. But I had never been there. Never been to Mississippi, in fact.
It turns out that, geographically, Biloxi is similar to South Beach – it is a city built on a barrier island. Almost every building in the city is within a half mile of the beach. And if you want some beachfront property, it looks like a lot is available, thanks to Katrina.
When we first arrived we were a little puzzled by the vacant land that was once occupied by large buildings – the foundations remained. It took about 3 days before I had that “light dawning over Marble Head” moment. No, these weren’t properties that were abandoned; Katrina washed them away.
Soft-server Bananas Foster
Jett sampling the instant coffee
What else is prominent in Biloxi besides the vacant beachfront? Casinos. Nine of them in the city limits and several more nearby. It may have more casinos, per capita, than Vegas. We went to two: the Grand Biloxi (soon to become Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino) and Treasure Bay. We had the BOGO buffet on Monday night at the Grand Biloxi – two all-you-can-eat meals for $20! The photo on the right is one of the rarest photos in existence: a picture of Jett drinking instant coffee. In the 17 years we have been together, I have never witnessed instant coffee touching her lips. I wish I had gotten a picture of her face a few seconds later. Just look in the mirror and say “blechhh!” and you will know what I mean.
I had a variety of dishes that ranged from forgettable to very good. One of the most interesting was my choice for dessert: soft-serve vanilla with a Bananas Foster sauce. Delicious! I never had Bananas Foster over soft-serve before, but it works.
We lost $80 gambling at the Grand. Treasure Bay, on the other hand, was generous enough to give us $30 before we left town. This is entirely due to a unique offer: they will reimburse up to $100 in losses for new members. We went Friday night and lost $80 (just to match our losses at the Grand). But we came back at 8am Saturday morning, took our $80 credit and turned it into $110 in real money. Net: Plus $30. It was probably our most productive 40 minutes at a casino ever.
We LOVE Treasure Bay. It is right up there with Seven Feathers as one of the best casinos in the US.
The beach, looking downtown
We considered doing the buffet at Treasure Bay, but (1) we weren’t famished and (2) it wasn’t BOGO so it would have been expensive. Instead we popped into the nearby Raising Cane’s fast food joint. We had never heard of it before, but what the heck… how bad could the chicken fingers be? Well, we don’t know how bad they can be, but now we know how good they can be. Those were the best chicken fingers ever! Big, fresh, breaded just right, served hot and with a sauce that was very tasty and unlike any dipping sauce I have ever had before. It looked like Russian dressing, but had a mixture of spices that was just right for the chicken. Their menu is very limited, but I have to say that they do chicken fingers right. Recommended!
Cajun RV Park
We stayed at the Cajun RV Park that was right across the road from the beach – a great location if the weather is warm and you want to have a beach holiday. But the weather wasn’t all that warm – 75 was as high as it got – and we weren’t there to get a tan. We did, however, walk to the beach one day to give Grace an opportunity to romp in the surf. She loves the water! It is a beautiful beach with very fine white sand. And not an oil glob in sight.
The park itself was nice. But the sites were tight and the railroad line is nearby. The noise wasn’t quite as bad as in San Jose, but only because the trains were less frequent. When they came by they blew their horns. Loudly. And repeatedly. I counted 8 freight trains in the hour between 6am and 7am Monday morning. I thought we might have to move. But there were fewer trains the rest of the week and it turned out to be tolerable.
Note to self: check for nearby train tracks before booking a site.
Patience at Cajun RV Park