Visiting The Mississippi Gulf Coast

When we picked Cruz up from preschool on Monday we headed out on an overnight trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  We had a speaking engagement on Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Pascagoula (I'll blog about that tomorrow).   There are a few different ways we could have traveled there but we chose to go 1-55 South to Hammond, LA and then took 1-10 towards the coast.  We got off at Gulfport and then took 1-90 along the beachfront to enjoy the views.  It was a nice drive down.  The weather was sunny with beautiful blue skies.  The boys slept most of the way and we just enjoyed the quiet time together in the car. 

 

Back several months before we ever left Guatemala I was watching television one day and saw a feature for the Blow Fly Inn on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  It is located in Gulfport, MS.  I thought it was cool to be in Guatemala and be watching a show about a restaurant in Mississippi.  It looked like a good place so I ran to our office and scratched down a note about it on my list of "Things to do while in the States".   This trip was the closest we have gotten to the restaurant so we decided to make a stop there for a late lunch.  We were not disappointed.

 

 

 The sign says Steaks & Ribs but we went for the seafood.

 

The restaurant- it's nothing fancy but the food is delicious!  We chose to sit outside on the upstairs open patio you see to the right.  The restaurant overlooks water and has beautiful views.

When they brought out the menus they gave the boys a fly coloring sheet.  How fun is that! 

After ordering we walked back down stairs to look at the water up close.  I was a nervous wreck that one of my boys was going to fall in.

I was especially nervous when we saw this swimming our way!  It hung out for the longest time at the pier and my boys went nuts over it.  It was very entertaining for them while we waited for our food.

me and Ben on the pier

enjoying our lunch at the Blow Fly Inn

We loved it and will definitely go back the next time we get a chance.

I had shrimp and grits.

David had the seafood platter (and I got all the fried oysters- my favorite).

After eating we took 1-90 and drove down the coastline.  It's been years since we have been to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I don't think we have been there since Hurricane Katrina.  It has really redeveloped well.

love those blue skies!

I snapped this photo as we came over the bridge into Pascagoula.  I loved the lighthouse and you can also see First Baptist Church in the background.  Our host had told us to look for the steeple when we crossed over the bridge. 

Our first stop was to check into our hotel.  We were provided a wonderful room at the Hilton Garden Inn.  It is brand new and had the most plush bed I have slept in in years.  Ahhhh.....

My boys LOVE hotels!

 

After unpacking we took the advice of our hostess and drove down to the beach.   She told us about the pier and playground area so we went to check it out. 

We decided to walk across the pier first.  I love this photo of David and the boys running across it.

I also love this one of David and Cruz.  It makes my heart smile.

A view of some of the homes from the pier.  There are some beautiful homes along the Gulf Coast and I love looking at them.

our family at the end of the pier

the pier from the beach

My boys love playing in the sand so we spent a long time letting them do that.

We also rolled up their pants and let them get their feet wet.

They ran and played and ran and played and ran and played... I loved it!

having fun in Pascagoula, MS

My sweet family- I am blessed!

As if we hadn't played enough, we then walked across the street to the large playground area and let the boys play some more. 

my sweet, precious Ben

I often say that Cruz is our cake and Ben is the icing on top.  He just completes our family in every way.

my monkey man Cruz

He's the main reason I spent this morning at the salon getting my gray covered, ha.  He rocks our little world but I don't think I could breathe without him. 

Because we had chosen where we ate lunch we let the boys choose what to eat for supper.  Taco Bell and McDonald's were top on Cruz's list and in the end chicken nuggets won out.  So we drove to McDonald's and ate before calling it a night. 

Those smiles say it all.  It had been a pretty fun day.  I think we all really enjoyed ourselves.  Traveling with little ones can be hard, frustrating, and exhausting but we do all we can to make it fun and we wouldn't trade it for anything in this world.