We decided to wait two weeks before attempting to visit the next three Casinos. My original plan was to drive straight through to Biloxi, make a quick hit and go on to New Orleans. That would make about a fourteen to sixteen hour day but I was willing to give it a try. I couldn’t get reservations for three nights in New Orleans due to a New Orleans Saints home game so we decided to book one night in Biloxi at the Grand. Thinking about the long drive on Sunday changed our mind so we left on Saturday to go only as far as Vicksburg which would make Sunday a short day. We wanted more time to look around the Biloxi/Gulfport area as for years we had connections in the region due to our ties in the Military.
We have often driven to Biloxi and used Vicksburg as a stopping point. We always stayed at Harrah’s Vicksburg; I even got my Harrah’s Gold card there. But Harrah’s sold the facility in June of 2003. The old Isle of Capri also changed hands and was sold to Diamond Jack’s. I was familiar with Diamond Jack’s in Bossier City and the rates for one night were very reasonable so we decided to make it our stop for the evening. The Isle of Capri was a themed property with an Island motif.
The interior decor from one casino brand to the other didn’t flow as smoothly as it could have. We spent a couple of hours on the casino floor without doing too much damage to the casino, or to our bankroll. With a decent night’s sleep and good weather off we went to Biloxi.
After four or five hours we arrived in Gulfport. We drove around town to re-live fond memories and drive by old places that survived the devastation of Katrina. After visiting the site of the old Gulfport Grand, we headed down Highway 90 toward Biloxi and the Biloxi Grand.
Highway 90 is the Gulf Coast road where casinos were built on barges from Gulfport east to Biloxi and on into the Back Bay.
Harrah’s had quite a presence with two of the largest barges, one in Biloxi and one in Gulfport. They were spacious and very nice. The Gulfport Grand was 80,000 sq. ft. and you seldom knew you were on a barge tied up on the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina changed all that.
Now the coast is scattered with remains of parking garages, mangled rusting steel, and unusable support structures for the no longer visible water based casinos.
Prior to Katrina, majestic southern homes lined the North side of Highway 90, now bare foundations, and concrete and stone stairs lead up to only memories. Some houses have been rebuilt, most have not. For thirty-three years I’d drive up and down the highway admiring those homes; now I can only feel a lump in my throat as we tried to remember were the old landmarks were located.
The casinos were the first to be rebuilt. They can now be up to 800 feet from the water to prevent another economic disaster from effecting the area. Then restaurants, hotels, and souvenir stores were rebuilt. They don’t resemble the old construction, because they are more storm worthy. The area has moved from the old south look to new modern buildings with contemporary styles.
Harrah’s took quite a hit in the Gulf Coast. The Gulfport Grand was moved from the water to blocking the highway by Hurricane Katrina. Harrah’s Entertainment (prior to changing to Caesars) was feeling a money crunch so they sold the remaining Gulfport holdings to a local company, and moved the Biloxi Grand Casino across Highway 90 to dry land. They were planning new construction in the form of a Jimmy Buffett themed casino but money soon dried up and plans and construction was halted. Now looking out the front of the present Grand shows the remains of a fabulous casino area. We checked in and were given a great room facing west looking toward Gulfport. We had views of the Gulf, Keesler AFB, most of the other casinos, and the trailers of the Recovery Services and Emergency Response Team that had been hired by Caesars to restore the damage from Hurricane Isaac just two weeks before. The contractors were visible all over the facility with dryers and generators required to restore the full operation of the Grand. They were finishing up and most everything was back to normal by the time we left. Still, the memories of Katrina were refreshed and I wondered how many times these people can come back from the storms.
We did our normal visit to Total Rewards and were opted-in for Biloxi. We achieved our goal and more. We enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner overlooking the Gulf. We walked along the docks looking at the fishing boats and watching recreational boaters pull their boats out of the water after a weekend of fun. We returned to the casino and we both had a pretty good run. All in all we had a nice reunion of a wonderful area.
Monday morning we packed up, made one last trip to the casino floor, and headed west on I-10 for New Orleans.