The Gulf Coast

Being the typical Southern that I am, I took my family down to the gulf coast for part of our summer vacation.  Actually, my wife had a Zumba course to take so it was an added incentive to hit the Mississippi coastal region.

We went to the Las Vegas of the gulf coast, Biloxi, Mississippi.

I had been to Biloxi once back in 2002.  I went down for a Tool concert with some buddies from college.  We didn't see too much of the area.  Just went to the mall, hotel and arena.  Spent maybe 12 hours there in total.  Not much time to see the sights.

I had been meaning to go back to that area and I finally got my chance this year due to my wife's desire to become a Zumba instructor.  The closest place within a time frame that we could make was Biloxi.  Thus our family summer vacation spot was chosen.

Due to a little communication mix up, the original hotel I wanted to stay at was fully booked (Hampton Inn on Highway 90).  I was pretty heartbroken because I love Hampton Inn.  There will be another blog post soon on the awesomeness of Hampton Inn.  So I had to do a mad dash to find another place.  Most places in Biloxi proper were full.  Made sense seeing as it is in the middle of summer and it is a beach town.  I finally had success at a Day's Inn in Ocean Springs, a small town just across the bay from Biloxi.

Ocean Springs is a pleasant little town.  It's not as touristy as Biloxi, but is only about 5 minutes away.  I actually liked it better than Biloxi proper.  Ocean Springs is quieter and more relaxed than it's more famous neighbor.  It's also away from the hustle and bustle.  In Biloxi, there crowds of people everywhere you turn.  Traffic is as slow as molasses and people constantly tail gate.  I liked being able to go the more populous places, but then retreat back into my nice quiet place.

Ocean Springs isn't without it's attractions.  It's got a very nice beach complete with a kids' park/play ground.  The beach isn't as crowded as Biloxi so if you want some nice family time, OS is the place to do it.  I found the beach clean, quiet, almost abandoned and very relaxing.

The food in Ocean Springs is also pretty awesome.  BB's Po Boys and Seafood was great.  We ate there twice.  I had the roast beef po boy and a cheeseburger po boy.  Both were amazing.  It's a bit expensive, but worth it.  We also tried a couple other places while in town.  Aunt Jenny's was okay.  Not a whole lot of food for the price, but the view from the dining room was fantastic and the food was tasty. Stonewall's BBQ was okay.  Being from Memphis, I'm pretty picky about my BBQ, but Stonewall's was okay.  Not great.  Okay.  Their sausage was pretty good though and if I were to visit there again, I would probably skip everything else and go for the sausage by itself.  I really recommend the sausage.

One of things that I was most excited about was seeing Jefferson Davis' house, Beauvoir.  Now, I'm not a pro-Confederate, crazy racist.  No, I'm a history nerd.  Pure and simple, I'm a history nerd.  My wife showed no interest in going to Beauvoir, so I decided to visit while she was at Zumba.

It was a bit hectic and confused at the historic site.  When I entered, I was told that I would have to wait nearly 2 hours for the tour to begin.  Apparently somebody called out sick in a bid to show their power over the management.  I resigned myself to wandering the property and gift shop for however long my son could last before we would have to leave for lunch.  Miraculously they were able to schedule a tour for about 10am.

The tour itself is short.  Maybe about 30 minutes.  The house is also rather small.  It's amazing to see how little the people of the 1800s lived with.  The house is simple, yet beautiful and the museum and Presidential Library is pretty cool.  Definitely worth the visit if you are into history.

Another place we ventured to was the Lazy Magnolia brewery in Kiln, Mississippi.  It's a bit of a drive from the Biloxi area, but the brewery tour is good and tasty (you get to have samples throughout the tour).  I always enjoy a good brew tour and seeing how things are made.  You really need to call and schedule a tour because it was just dumb luck that I got there and they were just so happening to be starting a tour.  It would be a pity to drive all the way out to Kiln only to be turned away like I almost was.

The trip was a good respite from normal everyday life in the South.  It's a great destination for us Southerners to blow of some steam and enjoy beach life.