April 27, 2014 (6th Day)

It was overcast and in mid 70's when we were up.  Edith took to biking around the campground twice while Erwin (EH) had his breakfast.  Then she started to work on next trip plan while EH went biking.
Left Davis Bayou campground at 8:50 am.  On way to visitor's center we stopped at Gator Pond, saw several water snakes, bullfrog, green backed heron and some cardinals.

 Went inside the visitor's center and they had some interesting exhibits.  There were several wonderful wood carvings on display of various wildlife by a local artist. There was a boardwalk that you could walk to the edge of the pond, and we did not see any songbirds at all.

We chose to continue driving on Highway 90 to Biloxi, MS.  After arriving at Biloxi we decided to check out Beau Rivage Casino that used to be our favorite gambling spot in old days. It is nice to know that the casino has a special parking lot for oversized vehicles for buses and RVs that you can park for free, so we pulled into it and parked our van. We were very curious to go inside the casino to see how much change has been made to it since Hurricane Katrina left lots off damages in 2005.   We recognize some furnishings, decors. The casino was not packed, and the minimum bet to play was $15 and up already early in the morning. We did not play at all, but watched.

Edith's brother suggested that we check out Boomtown Casino that is located way in the back and away from the main highway, so we decided to drop by and check it out.  We could not stay inside very long because it was very smoky.  Took a pic of the stuffed Longhorn Steer.

While on way to Gulfport there was a boat race going on and there were lots of spectators lined up on the beach and along the highway.

We used to spend time in Gulfport to gamble and to relax, so we were anxious to see what the town was like, but before we knew we were already past the town.  Cannot believe that Gulfport is desolate and sort of abandoned. The town is DEAD.  How sad and unfortunate

We stopped by to visit 600 year old Friendship Oak Tree in Long Beach, LA. It survived Katrina but there were many other large Live Oak trees whose bark was completely stripped off and still standing! Eerie looking and sad that those majestic trees are now dead! Check the video below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkUjKhe1uzg

We crossed Louisiana State line at 3:48 pm, stopped at visitor's center at welcome station to get information on sightseeing and campgrounds.

We wanted to camp at KOA, so we followed the sign to the location, but found it was no longer KOA. The campground was full, so we went to Pine Crest RV Park few blocks down the street. The office was closed, but we went ahead and parked on an available spot. For supper we fixed vegetable stir-fry over couscous with pine nuts.

The sunset was not spectacular.  We walked around the campground, then went biking, but there was not much to do, so we hit the sack early at 9 p.m.