Mississippi and Alabama

Yesterday was the last day of our holiday in New Orleans so we headed east to the beaches of Mississippi. I would have loved to travel a bit further to Pensacola but with all of the driving we'd be doing on Friday, that idea was quickly dismissed. We found a decent spot right outside of Gulfport. The sand was white and the water was warm albeit mirky, presumably due to the large amount of silt deposited from the Mississippi. We stayed for a game of football, a little stroll and some castle-building and then headed off to the 'showers' down the road. After a quick rinse we drove down to Shaggy's for some good Southern eats - fried shrimp, pulled pork and crab cakes. Emmett took the opportunity to fish off one of the piers and wouldn't you know it - he caught one! Whether the fish was strong or heavy I'm not sure but Emmett's little fishing rod was bending quite a bit and I wondered if it might snap. We headed back to Metairie and had an early night as the Gomez family was in for a 4 a.m. departure this morning. We set off about 4 hours later, driving northeast to Birmingham. After a fairly easy 5 hour ride, we arrived at the Civil Rights Institute on 16t Street North which sits across from the 16th St Baptist Church, the site of one of Birmingham's most notorious bombings and one which took the lives of 4 young girls who were attending Sunday Mass on the morning of September 15th, 1963. The well-kept museum is one of the most beautiful, moving places I have ever visited. There were displays depicting the segregation that was a part of life in the South, and detailed exhibits on the Civil Rights movement as well as human rights movements around the world. The artifacts, pictures and words some of which were disturbing and some inspiring were difficult to look at and read at times but it's a museum to which I would return. After about 2 hours, we headed south to our hotel. We were greeted by amazing, friendly staff who brought complimentary cupcakes to our door and called to see if we had settled in all right. Down at the pool, a man entered, arms overflowing with goggles, balls, dive sticks, floats and water pistols. There were ice pops for the children as well. Pretty sweet. .