Heavy rain this morning! Checking out today and setting off on our road trip. Grabbed breakfast in the hotel and checked out.
We took a cab to the car rental office, the commissionaire outside the hotel told the cab driver the address. As we got in the cab the drive, foreign with little English, handed me the satnav and asked me to put in the address. It was then that I knew this wasn't going to go well!!!!!
It was pouring with rain, we were in a cab with a driver who didn't speak English and didn't know where we wanted to go. So, we did the only thing possible in that situation, we told him to take us back to the hotel and that he wasn't getting paid!
The commissionaire was surprised to see us back so soon and he got us another cab.
Thankfully this driver knew the way and got us to the car rental office in about 5 mins.
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We completed the paperwork and picked up the car....... A brand new Toyota Camry with only 18 miles on the clock! It was easy to get to the interstate we needed, so with bags packed in the trunk, supplies for the journey in the front and "Rand" to hand, off we went.
Driving is so easy in the States, so it was easy to make good time. The miles just rolled by and apart from the rain, which was intermittent, the journey went well.
The usual stops for coffee and loo breaks, usually at rest areas, were welcome, we had to travel some 350 miles to Biloxi where we were staying for the night.
As we drove down I85 towards Mobile the sky started to get a little bit darker, then suddenly the heavens opened and we could hardly see where we were going. Visibility was almost nil as the rain was torrential, the wipers on full were all but useless and what amazed me was there were drivers not slowing down and driving without lights on! So dangerous!
Sarnie was having a meltdown in the passenger seat, we were travelling on a bridge crossing a river, so the wind was really strong which didn't help with the rain?
After about 10 minutes it eased and eventually stopped. We were now on I65 past Mobile on our way to pick up I10 towards Biloxi.
A stop at the Mississippi welcome centre to get maps etc calmed Sandra down. It was a really great building, it had been built in the style of an old plantation residence. As always the staff were really helpful and we were only about 30 mins from Biloxi, so all looked good. Little did we know!!!!
As we were driving on the road to Biloxi we heard severe storm and tornado warnings for South Central Mississippi. There had been a waterspout seen off the coast. It started to rain, only slightly at first, but all was good. As we entered Biloxi we turned right and started to look for our hotel, The Hard Rock. We drove down the coast road, Sarnie admiring the beach and houses. It was still only raining slightly, then in the distance the sky turned black, the rain became torrential and the thunder and lightning started. Very soon we couldn't see a thing, there were massive puddles in the road and we could only do about 20mph. We drove for some while looking for the hotel, we passed a fatal accident on the other side of the road and then had to turn around when it became apparent we were going the wrong way.
As you can imagine by this time Sarnie is totally freaked, convinced we we were going to die either in a crash or by drowning!
We eventually found our hotel and checked in.
Hard Rock hotels are really buzzing, this one has a casino, so even busier! Our room was great, 2 king size beds, walk in shower with 3 shower heads and a great view. Pity the weather was so bad that we couldn't see it.
After our experience driving here Sandra really needed a drink, so we hit the bar. We were also peckish and ordered some bar snacks. Sandra was on the cosmos, I was on the Michelob Ultra, after 4 drinks each we were pretty relaxed!
We had booked a meal in a restaurant inside the hotel called Ruth's Chris, a steak restaurant originally founded in New Orleans.
After a shower, we enter to dinner. It is a really nice restaurant, great decor, nice ambiance. Our server was LJ, an older man. He was very engaging. His customer service levels were great. We both ordered fish, Sandra had the sea bass, I had shrimp. Both were absolutely gorgeous, cooked to perfection and good portions.
We both had desert but I couldn't finish mine so "doggie bagged" it.
A quick tour round the casino, losing $40 and off we went to bed!
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