Sun's January position offers Sound sunset

I enjoy watching the sun set over the Mississippi Sound.

And a couple weeks ago, my wife and I journeyed to one of our favorite eating out spots to watch the red ball sink into the water.

And that occasion brought to mind something that I had read or heard which was uttered by an entertainer who is well-known along the Coast. 

He said that during the summer he enjoyed watching the sun set into the Gulf of Mexico (Mississippi Sound).

That sounds good, but its not correct. The sun does not set over the Gulf of Mexico during the summer.

The reason being is the east-west lay of the land  on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the sun’s path of travel.

The sun is seen at its most northern spot in the sky on a date close to June 21 which is the Summer Solstice.

This is the day of the year with the most daylight.

During this time, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the sun is far north of setting over the Gulf. It is in a position of being north of due west.

Therefore, one can only watch the sun set over the west end of Biloxi Bay which hugs the north side of the landmass that encompasses Biloxi and Gulfport.

As December approaches, the sun’s position in the sky is farther south as the Winter Solstice nears, which is around Dec. 21, the day with the least amount of daylight.

But I digress.

We went to eat out in January, because I knew the sun would be setting over the Sound.

McElroy’s Harbor House is our favorite spot and didn’t disappoint, although the sun did, just a little.

The restaurant, on an east-west plane, has a wall of windows  oriented to the south and offers a great view, from due east to due west.

There weren’t any clouds in the sky. As the great, giant red ball headed toward the horizon, it was just that, nothing more, as far as providing a spectacular offering for an exceptional sunset photo.

Next post: February 16, 2016
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Let the good times roll, a little longer

Parade on St. Charles in New Orleans

The good times are going to roll on until midnight next Tuesday (Feb. 9) when all of the parades, carrying-on, debauchery and excessiveness of the human mind will come to a screeching halt.

Well, for at least until the next day, anyway!

 Some people don’t know how to stop misbehaving.

Anyway, what I’m referring to is the annual celebration in the states along the Gulf of Mexico called Mardi Gras — Fat Tuesday.

It seems that anything anybody wants to do is OK during this period of time. But it does come to an end when the clock strikes midnight.

Mardi Gras doesn’t appeal to me that much. I try to make at least one parade every five years or so.  Lately, it seems I don’t want to go that often.

Usually it has to do with the weather and what else I feel is more important at the time.

Lately, the celebration happens earlier in February, which means its likely to be cold.

The parades are fun and entertaining although some people seem to take their ways to the limit and ruin the event for others.

The biggest parades are in New Orleans and Mobile although smaller towns along the Gulf Coast have their share.

The pictures here, of course, are of previous times, years earlier. I just haven’t been to a parade in four or five years.

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Next post: February 9, 2016

Hitting the road, to the Big Easy

Big Easy entertainment on Jackson Square

For the first time since early December, my wife and I traveled outside the state.

Where else, but to New Orleans.

During the course of the past three months of the year we made numerous trips that included Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina.

So it was time, then, to settle down for the rest of the year, prepare for Christmas and then have our sons and daughters-in-law and grandkids over for the holiday season.

Well, that came and went and we started thinking about the new year. And it was time to take a trip.

At least, a day trip. The snow trip that I had thought about was just that, thinking about it, never putting it into action.

An unusually decorated bicycle

But just last week, the skies were clear, the temperatures were cool (the only time to visit the Crescent City) and so we decided to give it a try.

There were a lot of people taking advantage of the beautiful weather.

We did our usual routine, parking just behind the Cafe du Monde, and then took a stroll around Jackson Square listening to the entertainment and doing a little people-watching.

The menus posted on the doors on a number of restaurants  had prices increases with our favorite offering, a po-boy going up another $2 in price, with the fries being extra.

Being involved in having a new home built and the expenses involved, I felt like being cheap.

A Rouse’s supermarket came to the rescue. It was located on the block north of the St. Louis Cathedral.

A small half-muffalata and a Coke, set us back just under $8.

We took the food down to the square and found a bench.

Rouses muffalata and a Coke

Next came beignets at the Cafe du Monde.

An order of beignets, a cup of cafe au lait or a small chocolate milk all cost the same thing, about $2.75 each.

I’ve been going to the French Market so long, I can remember when it was less than 25 cents each. That’s how old I am.

Whole Foods on Magazine was our last spot. We like the drive down Magazine, and oftentimes Whole Foods has a variety of sample items out.

We found a piece of sweet bread of some kind, but that was it.

Can’t say that I blame them for not putting out more. They surely don’t make any money off us.

We then headed home, taking the old US 90 route that was so much a part of my childhood, way before the interstate system came about.

Next post: Feb. 1, 2016