East of Biloxi the highway crosses Biloxi Bay and enters the forests that line the coast.
Wide sandy beaches are a thing of the past and the highway cuts through thick forests that rise from the salt marshes that are characteristic of the gulf shore between Biloxi and Mobile Bay. Just past the village of Ocean Springs, the mainland section of Gulf Islands National Seashore preserves the typical environment of bayou, salt marsh and forest.
A narrow road has been carved out of the forest and marshland, leading to the shore.
Crossing Davis Bayou hurricane damage from this year’s hurricanes is still easily apparent. The bayou stretches out to the ocean in the distance.
Past the bayou the road ends in a parking lot with a short walk to the coastline. To the west the casino towers of downtown Biloxi rise across the bay.
A fishing dock reaches out into the water and the view is across a barrier island to the south. Look closely, you can see a fishing boat on the left and a sail boat on the right out in the open ocean on the other side of the low barrier island.
Back on Hwy 90 morning traffic whizzes on the way east towards Pascagoula, a ship building center and the last major town on the Mississippi coast.
An elevated causeway crosses the Pascagoula River, giving wide views of the interior to the left and a hazy glance at the shipbuilding and other buildings of the Port of Pascagoula on the right. A brackish mixture of salt and fresh water gives rise to billowing waves of salt marshes along river banks and the coast.
Past Pascagoula the highway veers further inland and consequently we are back in the dense forests of the interior. Something that one can always count on in the Lower South is the ubiquitous Dollar General, they are everywhere and often out in the middle of nowhere.
Now in Alabama, traffic heads east on I-10 as it circles around Mobile Bay, the fourth largest estuary in the United States. Two major rivers and four minor rivers empty into Mobile Bay, creating an amazing environment for wildlife. At least once a year during the summer, and sometimes more, fish and shrimp swarm into the bay in an event locally called a “jubilee” because of the abundance of easily caught seafood. Native Americans had long lived in the surrounding lands when the first Spanish explorers entered the bay in around 1500. In subsequent years various Spanish and French explorers passed through the region but the first settlement was not established until 1702 when French colonists built a port on Dauphin Island at the mouth of the bay and created the capital of French Louisiana, Mobile, at the head of the bay.
Our path takes a sharp turn south on the west side of the bay, traveling through dense forests on the west side of the Fowl River as it flows towards Mobile Bay on our way to Bellingrath Home and Gardens..
Walter Bellingrath (1869-1955) worked for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in the late 1800’s but made his fortune by purchasing the first Coca Cola franchise in southern Alabama in 1903. The South became (and still is) obsessed with Coca Cola and Mr. Bellingrath extended his fortune by investing in various other businesses in the Mobile area. He married Bessie Morse (1878-1943) in 1906. The couple had no children. In 1917 they bought an old fishing camp on the west bank of the Fowl River south of Mobile about a mile from where the river enters Mobile Bay. A painting hanging in the home depicts the humble beginnings of what grew into a great estate.
Mrs. Bellingrath brought in some azaleas and camellias to try and beautify the camp and thus the famous Bellingrath Gardens began. The Bellingrath’s first opened the gardens to public viewing in 1932. Mrs. Bellingrath died in 1943, Mr. Bellingrath passed in 1955. Since the couple had no children Mr. Bellingrath left his estate to a trust that manages the Bellingrath estate and gardens. The home joined the gardens in being opened to the public in 1956. The gardens have been carved out of dense forests along the west bank of the Fowl River and, as this is the holiday season, are ablaze with over 4.5 million lights every evening. It must be spectacular but as I am here in the middle of the afternoon I can only imagine.
The entrance to the estate opens under a huge holiday wreath.
Once inside the gardens a fountain in front of the conservatory is visible through an overhead walkway.
The conservatory, built in 1935, is lush with tropical greenery and holiday poinsettias.
Passing the Secret Garden (one of many little enclaves opening up off the main path throughout the gardens) the Great Lawn opens up to the sky. Christmas lights mark the edge of the path.
Between the Great Lawn and the main house are a series of gardens and courtyards, eventually opening up vistas down to the Fowl River.
At the base of the small bluff is the boat dock. Standing on the dock and looking up gives a view of the riverfront façade of the main house as well as a number of streams cascading down from the gardens above.
The home was built in 1935 using brick dating from 1853 and ironwork from the 1870’s salvaged from a historic hotel being demolished at the time in Mobile. The fifteen rooms in the home flow in a general “U-shape” around a central courtyard.
One “leg” of the “U” lies above the river, the other faces a court where today a Coca Cola food truck (probably serving the night time light display crowds) is parked blocking my view!
Across the court from the main house is the 1939 six-car garage with servant living quarters above. The garage was enclosed in 1967 to house a large collection of Boehm porcelain donated to the gardens by the Deschamps, a prominent Mobile family.
Tucked away attached to the northwest corner of the garage is the estate chapel.
The main entrance to the home is through an arched hall and then past the interior courtyard.
The east wing of the home contains the main rooms on the first floor with bedrooms above. The first floor parlor (as well as the rest of the home) displays the antique furniture and other furnishings collected by Mrs. Bellingrath. The furniture is an 18-pieced carved walnut parlor set, created in 1855.
Opening up from the parlor is the largest room in the home, the formal dining room. The Chippendale style table and chairs rest upon an 1860’s French Aubusson carpet.
An elegant set of stairs rise up from the parlor to the second floor of bedrooms, all opening up to the views of the river from a long hall.
The two guest bedrooms are separated by the second floor Morning Room.
The 1935 state-of-the-art bathroom, stylish in pink and green, serves the second floor with a door off the hallway as well as directly into the first guest bedroom.
Mr. Bellingrath’s bedroom contains a bed and chaise lounges dating from 1830.
Returning to the main floor the large kitchen occupies the north side of the house. The original kitchen was remodeled in 1941 and contains both gas and electric appliances, insurance against the frequent power outages caused by the strong storms and hurricanes that ravage the area around Mobile Bay.
Note in this view the presence of the ultimate 1941 luxury, two dishwashers on the right wall, again one powered by gas and the other by electricity.
A small room off the kitchen is called the Sunday Night Supper Room, used by the Bellingrath’s for casual Sunday dinners after the weekend’s visitors had left.
The food pantry now is dubbed the “Crystal Pantry” and displays the Bellingrath collection of crystal glassware as well as a massive mahogany chest holding over 300 pieces of sterling silver flatware in the King Edward pattern of 1901.
The Butler’s Pantry holds nine different sets of china as well as an extensive collection of silver serving pieces.
The final area of the house toured are two spaces that face the river to the east. The Riverfront Dining Porch was originally a screened porch where most meals were held. The screens have now been replaced by glass panels.
The Riverfront Living Porch was also originally screened in but Mr. Bellingrath replaced the screens with glass in the late 1940’s.
North of the house Mirror Lake opens up to the sun. Alligators formed out of Christmas lights pay homage to the local inhabitants of the bayous and marshes.
Around the south shore of Mirror Lake is a peaceful grotto as well as the Asian-American garden.
Finally we head back to the entrance gate where the exit is, of course, located in the gift shop…
I hop onto I-10 and pass through the city of Mobile, Alabama, on my way to my next stop, Meaher State Park on the other side of Mobile Bay.
Joey and I score a great spot for the night, right on Mobile Bay!
Our next stop is Fairhope, founded in 1894 on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay by the Fairhope Industrial Association, a group of followers of economist Henry George. Their goal was to establish a model community that promoted cooperative efforts to pay all expenses from a single tax. The liberal atmosphere attracted Marietta Johnson, one of the leading educators of the time. In 1907 she founded the School for Organic Education in Fairhope. An artistic and writing community developed, a role that Fairhope continues to fill today. In addition, the Fairhope Single-Tax Corporation still operates with 1,800 leaseholders owning around 4,000 acres in the area. The town is replete with boutiques, restaurants and other upscale businesses that cater not only to the tourist trade but also to the mostly white population in the area, many of whom left Mobile as a result of desegregation efforts in the city. The main highway south bypasses the town center, leaving a picturesque village without the hustle and bustle of big box stores, etc.
Southeast of Fairhope about 30 miles is Gulf Shores, the queen of Alabama resort cities on the Gulf of Mexico. Hotels and condominiums line the beach side of the highway along the wide sandy beaches.
The resort area dwindles to the east as we enter Florida. The change at the state line is dramatic, the road narrows from four lanes to two, buildings are older with less new construction, sand and and sea occasionally open up to my right.
The historic boundary between French Louisiana and Spanish Florida was the Perdido River, which flows from the north into Perdido Bay and then through a narrow pass into the Gulf of Mexico. Approaching the bridge over the Perdido River the view is across the pass between islands towards Perdido Key. Coming down off the bridge the view opens to the east.
Next up: Pensacola Bay
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