Pensacola Beach

We drove through Alabama and then finally into Florida. It was storming when we arrived in Pensacola, with heavy rains and a few bolts of lightning. We checked into our place for the rest of the week, which had this great view of the beach (and the dark clouds hanging over the Gulf).



Later on, the sun managed to break through the clouds. And we were treated with a pretty great sunset from the balcony of our rental.





The beaches at Pensacola are beautiful. The water was crystal-clear, and the sand was fluffy and brilliantly white. And most of the land along the island is preserved and protected, which means most of the beaches are undeveloped and pristine.



One night after dark I went out onto the balcony and tried to get a few pictures. The moonlight had illuminated the white sandy beaches, and the stars were shining out above the Gulf.



I set up the camera for some star trails. It was an ideal place, since I could just retreat back into the rental property while the camera sat and took pictures for two hours. There were a few clouds that drifted through the sky (along with a few helicopters), but it resulted in this star trail photo:

Hattiesburg

We drove to Hattiesburg, where we had booked a room for the night. We had dinner at a brewery in downtown, which was a charming area with lots of old buildings. One of the most dominant was the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola bottling plant. It opened in 1910, and at one point it operated all day and produced more than 1.24 million cases of Coke a year.



In 1955, most of the bottling operations were moved to a more modern facility. The building has since had a few different uses. It's been a restaurant, bar and nightclub. Currently it's being used as an events venue.



Hattiesburg has a lot of neat old homes and buildings. I wish we had more time there, but we needed to hit the road. I did make one quick stop and got a shot of this old ghost sign on the side of an abandoned-looking building.



The other passengers in the car were eager to finish the drive to Florida, but I was able to make one last stop before we left Mississippi. There was this beautiful old home, which had looked like it had been abandoned for awhile. But this one seems like it's being taken care of - the first floor has gotten a fresh coat of paint. Hope this old place can be restored.

Jackson

As our Spring Break road trip headed through Mississippi, we made a stop in the state capitol of Jackson. I was kinda surprised at how small and compact downtown Jackson was, but it did have a good collection of old and interesting buildings. This is the Mississippi state capital building, which was built in 1903.







Not too far away was this neat old building, which was once the Morris Ice Company. It was built in 1924, and was one of the largest distributors of ice in Mississippi.



The Morris Ice Company was founded in 1875. Back then, ice wasn't something that was easily acquired, at least in the South. Companies would acquire blocks of ice carved out of the frozen lakes of the northern states. It would be packed in boxes with sawdust, and then shipped down the Mississippi River. 

 

Eventually, technology was developed to actually freeze and produce ice in factories like this.





The ice factory was in operation until 1988. After that, it seems like the building was left abandoned.





Someone bought the building and had made plans to turn it into a restaurant and music venue in 2019. But I'm guessing the pandemic messed up those plans.

This Old House

As we drove through Mississippi, I had to make a detour to visit this grand old home.



The house was built in 1892, in the late Victorian Queen Anne style. The house was occupied until the 1990s, but sadly it has been left empty and abandoned. But even in its advanced state of decay, you can see so many architectural charms. There are the numerous stained glass windows. There are the wooden gingerbread embellishments. There are the remains of the delicate decorations around the front porch. Compare this to the cookie-cutter McMansions you see in the sprawling suburbs of today. They definitely don't make them like this anymore.



This old house seems to truly encompass the tragic nature of abandoned places. There was such care and talent put into building this home. Generations of people lived here. But for whatever reason, it was left abandoned. It was forgotten, and left to detoriate and rot and collapse.

Perhaps it can still be saved. Every place has a history, and has a story. It feels like this place still has room for another chapter in its history.

Into Mississippi

From Gould we headed southeast, and eventually crossed over the Big River on the fancy new bridge at Lake Village. The bridge deposits you into Mississippi, rather unceremoniously, by a casino. This was still the Delta, with its miles of flat fields and wetlands. We drove by an occasional old plantation home, and through numerous small (but seemingly struggling) towns.

The route the GPS picked out for us took us near this beautiful old church, the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. It was built in 1918, but has been left empty and abandoned now for several decades. Although it felt lonely and forlorn there, you could almost feel a sense of stubborn pride still lingering in the old building. It's still here. Weathered and faded, it still remains.