This white beach goes on for miles and miles.
It is ironical. We should have been enjoying Buck Island at Tamarind Reef Resort on St. Croix, USVI. Hurricane Maria thought otherwise and plowed down everything it could on the island. In December, only 30% of the island has electricity and about that percent has clean drinking water. Instead we headed for Waveland, Mississippi to camp as close to the beach as we could. But it was quiet in Waveland, too quiet!
Waveland after Katrina.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit Waveland, dead center. If you remember, New Orleans was in the news. We heard only briefly about Mississippi. “Katrina’s storm surge was a wall of water 20 – 35 feet high moving at 80-100 MPH. When the surge came ashore, it swept clean the first few lots along the beach.” See http://www.schlatter.org/Katrina/aerial_photos.htm
Driveways along the coast lead to open fields.
Twelve years later most of the lots facing the beach (Gulf of Mexico) are empty from Waveland to Biloxi. It is an eerie sight! Lonely pylons out in the Gulf look like sticks thrown to earth by some great and angry god. The storm surge reached I-10 some ten miles north and plowed down all that it could in its path. We
Support beams echo the ghost of Katrina as you walk the beach. You wonder, what did they support?
are so lucky that the State of Mississippi rebuilt Buccaneer State Park so that we could enjoy the gorgeous beach!
The Beach Boulevard sign still stands!
We hope that St. Croix will be rebuilt enough for us to return next year!
Jefferson Davis
Early portrait of Jefferson Davis.
Neither Tom nor I had studied the life of Jefferson Davis, first and only president of the Confederacy. (He also served as a Senator from Mississippi in the US Senate.) So we visited “Beauvoir,” the last residence of Davis, discovering a home, two guest-houses, a large museum, and a Confederate cemetery. Included with our ticket was a tour of his home. Donna Barnes, an ordained minister guided us through each room of the main house. With the zeal of an evangelist, she pointed to Davis’ bed, “This is where he slept!” Or, “This is where he sat!” “This is where he bathed!” She seemed to be in the presence of the Divine as she told us several of the places where Jefferson “read his bible!” He was loved by all! During his time at Beauvoir, he wrote several books, among them “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.”
The lovely home of Davis.
Our enthusiastic guide, Donna Barnes.
We had mixed emotions about our trek through the property and museum. What about all of those 600,000 boys that lost their lives in the Civil War? Why wasn’t Jefferson imprisoned for life for his deeds? Of course, the more you read about him, you discover that many people came to his rescue and supported him after the war. He was a very lucky guy!
Jefferson Davis Museum.
Inside the very spot where Jefferson Davis sat.
After visiting Beauvoir, we learned that Sarah Ellis Dorsey bequeathed the property to him. Our guide said that he purchased it! Sarah was a constant companion of Davis until she died in 1879. Varina, second wife, for a time, also lived at Beauvoir.
It is interesting to read accounts of the lives of these people. Some stories are written like a hagiography and others tell a different and more complicated story. Jefferson was ill with Malaria most of his life along with other chronic diseases. And he may have been a bad-tempered recluse who had bouts of depression. After losing his 140 or so slaves, he was left penniless after the Civil War. Jobs alluded him! And he could not run for Congress again because he had lost his citizenship. There is so much more!
It is so sad that all of these people had to die!
Cousin Charles
Lunch was too short with cousin Charles.
Today we caught up with my world-traveled cousin Charles. He drove in from Pensacola, Florida and we met in Biloxi, Mississippi. Our homes were only a mile apart when we were children. Our fathers were brothers. Charles worked at Bower Roller Bearing Company with my dad. It so good to hear him talk about my dad. Apparently when he asked Joanne to marry him, Joanne’s father asked my dad about the trustworthiness of Charles. Said my dad, “He’s the best of the Selvidge’s.” Unfortunately Charles’ beloved spouse Joanne passed away over two years ago! It was a fine lunch with a great cousin!
As always, this post is copyrighted by Marla J. Selvidge
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