On our way back from New Orleans, we drove along the coast back to Mobile. In Pass Christian, we went to see the Middlegate Japanese Garden, which used to be open to the public (my WPA book says the admission was $.50) – all the plants there are Japanese – including flowering plum, quince, and peach trees, giant bamboos, and Japanese magnolias. It looks *really* grown over now…I guess that nothing really has been done to maintain it since the hurricane:
You can just barely make out the pagoda:
Here’s a close-up. I would love to see what it really looks like:
Next, we went to see Friendship Oak at USM Gulf.
The sign above reads:
“Friendship Oak”
1487-
I am called the Friendship Oak
Those who enter my shadow will
remain friends through
all their lifetime
Sophomore Class 1969
…and here is the historical marker:
Isn’t it huge!? The circumference of the trunk is 18 feet, 7 inches.
We passed this wood sculpture that’s in the median of Hwy 98 at Woodward Avenue.
This is the Katrina memorial in Biloxi. The monument is about twelve feet high, about the same height as the storm surge here. Inside the display box are found objects from the storm
My WPA book mentions something different about the Biloxi cemetery – it says, “probably unique among cemeteries of the world is the custom frequently used here of shading the graves with canopies of Spanish moss draped on bars a few feet above the headstones.” I didn’t see any areas that were covered with Spanish moss, but several that had shed covers – like miniature carports:
