Dave'n'Kathy's Vagabond Blog: Back In The Bayou Again!

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Back In The Bayou Again!

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Hi Blog!

After leaving Navarre, Florida on Wednesday, we made our way to Davis Bayou Campground in Mississippi. We last visited Davis Bayou back in 2018. A lot has happened in 6 years since our last visit. This area of Mississippi was hit with six different hurricanes - Michael (2018), Barry (2019), Delta, Sally, Zeta (2020) and Ida (2021).

After a move day, it always feels good to get out and stretch our legs. We decided to walk over to the Visitor's Center. Along the way, we stopped at several side trails.

Just after starting down Nature's Way Trail, we came across a very tiny replica of a $100 bill. It couldn't have been more than 2 inches. After snapping this photo, we decided to leave it on the trail for the next person to find.

The loop trail starts in a coastal forest.

The trail had numbered stops along the loop. We didn't have a copy of the trail guide, but we have done enough of these types of trails to know that this stop was probably describing the southern magnolia or loblolly pine.

We came to our first observation platform. It obviously didn't stand up to a recent hurricane storm surge.

The second observation platform was recently repaired and gave us another look at the marsh.

This boardwalk still needs some work.

We finished the loop and started walking toward the Visitor Center. Just around the corner from the Nature's Way Loop Trail was a side road called the CCC Spur Trail. The old roadbed is slowly being taken over by the forest. However, you can still see the concrete curbs on both sides of the road.

The Ocean Spring CCC Camp Dining Room was at the end of the road looking out into the Gulf of Mexico. The camp housed 200 men. The facilities they built became Magnolia State Park. The park was incorporated into the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

As we continued our journey, we reflected on how much the CCC has influenced our RV experiences. If it wasn't for the Civilian Conservation Corp, many of the campgrounds we stayed at or trails we hiked would not exist. Pretty amazing when you think about it. We owe are RV adventures in good part to the CCC.

We stopped to see if we could see any birds or gators making their way through the marsh. The building on the left is the park boathouse.

Once we arrived at the Visitor Center, the first order of business was to watch the park film on the Gulf Islands National Seashore. In addition to the Davis Bayou, the Seashore includes five barrier islands of the coast of Mississippi - Cat Island, Ship Island, Horn Island, West Petit Bois Island and Petit Bois Island. Unfortunately, you need a boat to visit them. The ferry service doesn't start until March 15th.

After watching the park film, we walked around the exhibits. We never heard of hurricane balls (shown below). The force of the strong winds and surf tear up the sea grass and weeds and swirl them around until they form a tight ball. Pictured below are hurricane balls from two different hurricanes - Hurricane Katrina (left) and Hurricane Camille (right).

We also learned that Cat Island was the site of a secret World War II project to teach dogs to recognize the scent and appearance of the Japanese enemy. Men of Company B of the 100th Infantry Battalion Separate (Japanese Americans known as Nisei) submitted themselves to sweaty tracking regimens and vicious dog attacks. Four hundred dogs and their trainers lived on Cat Island during the war. After the experiment failed and was closed down in five months, an intelligence investigation followed. The 400 island dogs continued to be trained as sentries, scouts, suicide dogs and to locate wounded soldiers. Americans had donated 18,000 pets to be trained in the country’s four war canine centers.

After touring the exhibits at the Visitor Center, we walked over to the fishing pier. There were a couple fisherman out on the pier. After all the recent windy weather, it was surprising to see the Bayou so calm.