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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Bayou Boating and a Shipyard Tour

Cullen and my youngest sister, Tia, and I drove down to the southernmost part of Mississippi this past weekend for a family reunion and some time hanging out with my Dad, known as Pop by the grandkids. Tia is a kid at heart, and she and Cullen have a great time together.

We always look forward to paddling around in the little aluminum boat, but this time Cullen got to take it out solo for the first time. Well, sort of solo, because we kept a long rope tied to the dock just in case we had to pull him back.


My Dad gassed up the motor boat, and we piled in for a ride.


Not far from his house, there is a "ghost ship" washed ashore many years ago by a hurricane. I won't be at all surprised to see this popping in up in Cullen's creative writing. He thought this was awesomely creepy!

These two had the best seats on the boat.


Riding out toward the shipbuilding and port area at the mouth of the river, we got to see and hear a train run over the water.


Several ships were in for repair, and it looked like one was under construction. Even on the weekend, there were a number of cranes running and workers all over the ships. Cullen is crazy for ships of any kind right now, so he thoroughly enjoyed this! Though it was pretty hard to get photos from a moving boat with the sun so bright in my eyes, here's a favorite:

This oil rig was in for some work. The sheer hugeness of it was incredible!


Before we left to come home, Cullen spotted this small piece of driftwood floating in the bayou, so we paddled over to pick it up. Once I'm sure it's bacteria-free, he can keep it in his room. (Which reminds me that I need to get it out of the back of my car and spray it down with Lysol.)

On our next visit, I really want to visit the Pascagoula River Audubon Center and take a swamp tour with a naturalist. The birds in the area are plentiful and so beautiful, and I would love to know what they are.

1 comment:

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Looks like a fun trip, right up Cullen's alley! :)