Mary Mahoney's Old French House

Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi: It was cold overnight. We had the floor heaters running and the furnace a bit this morning to warm us up. Quite a change from our previously pleasant weather. Today it was clear - but the temperature rose to only about 60°.

After our cleaning and exercising, we drove the Honda east along the Gulf Coast. When we were here in 2002, I wrote about the gorgeous huge mansions lining the shore. They were ancient massive homes, protected by towering Live Oaks. Hurricane Katrina has changed the landscape dramatically. Most of the homes are gone, the highway has changed, the resorts are gone - everything is different. A bit difficult to get your bearings.

Down around Biloxi: Highway 90 is a four lane divided highway with a wide sidewalk on the seawall.

We drove into Biloxi for lunch. Any Parrothead worth his/her salt (sorry, can't help it) recognizes Biloxi from a famous Jimmy Buffett song. DT wanted to have lunch at Mary Mahoney's Old French House - so there was a purpose to our afternoon drive.

Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi, Mississippi


2000 (not  a typo) year old tree at Mary Mahoney's


Etouffee (this version made with crayfish) was served as a side dish with our lunch.


Again, I had the snapper - smothered in Cajun seasoning - served with fresh veggies


Mary Mahoney's survived Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, the restaurant chairs were found three blocks down the street. Since the chairs were made of rosewood, they only needed to be cleaned before going back into service. (Ignore unidentified old fat short woman in photo.)


A view inside Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi, Mississippi


Paintings of the restaurant owners (now deceased) portraying
Napoleon & Josephine by local artist Earle de Vries


From a photo of a photo... looks like many famous faces frequent Mary Mahoney's - Jimmy Buffett
(far right, posing with Mary Mahoney's children) and his sister, Lucy, (in white) a few weeks ago.


In Biloxi you can see boarded up buildings...


... next to restored buildings.


Gulp. Next to completely restored mansions.

It was quite a day. Our lunch was fabulous - Mary Mahoney's serves a bread pudding to all guests and it is simply dreamy, with a yummy rum sauce.

Our drive took us through areas completely devastated by Katrina, areas that seem to have not been touched by Katrina and hundreds of trees with nothing left except the trunk - all the branches are gone. We noticed many, many, many, many, many (did I mention many?) home sites with nothing left except the foundation. Again, so sad. Anything standing on the shore between Bay Saint Louis and Biloxi is either brand-new or completely restored.

Until my next update, I remain, your Down around Biloxi correspondent.

RV Park: Hollywood RV Park - we have a full service site with 50 amp. Back-in. $26.