50 State Journey- BBQ, Beignets and the Beach

Our family is attempting to travel to all 50 states through creative road trips. We prefer to choose a route which may have several destination stops throughout the trip. This often results in spending a short amount of time in one city. We love to get the flavor of the place that we are visiting by experiencing dining experiences, seeing a well-known icon from that area or simply experiencing the understated charm of that particular area.

For our Spring Break 2025, we visited three new states as a family. There is a lot of dispute over what constitutes crossing off a state. Our family decided that we would count a state if we completed an activity or had a meal in that state. I should note that my husband and I have visited some of the states prior, but we are trying to achieve all 50 states as a family.

Indiana is our home base and we were traveling to the following new states : Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Our time in Arkansas was unfortunately cut short due to flooding.

Here is how we did it!

Day 1: Indiana to Memphis (Stopped to explore Casey, Illinois on the way.)

Day 2: Our plan had been to do Memphis to Hot Springs, but Hot Springs was flooded- more time in Memphis and stayed over night in Marion, Arkansas. We did make it to Hot Springs during another trip. Read about it here.

Day 3: Marion, Arkansas (or Hot Springs) to Vicksburg, Mississippi

Day 4: Vicksburg to New Orleans (we stopped in Carriere, Mississippi to have lunch with a cousin)

Day 5: New Orleans all day, swamp tour in the evening and on to Long Beach, Mississippi

Day 6 and Day 7: Mississippi Gulf Coast

Day 8: Gulf Coast to Nashville, TN

Day 9: Nashville, TN to Indiana

Day 1: We started out by making the 7 hour drive to Memphis. We broke up the drive by stopping in Casey, IL. Casey is known as the Big Things Small Town as it houses 12 items that are the "World's Largest" and over 20 other "Big Things." We, of course, didn't have time to find every item, but we checked out some of the "World's Largest." This was definitely a quirky stop, but satisfied my curiosity.

After this stop, we focused on the next stop as we were trying to make it to the Peabody Hotel for the evening duck parade. The Peabody Duck Parade happens daily at 11 AM and 5 PM. I was unfamiliar with this attraction until I began to research this trip. You can read more about the Peabody Ducks here.

Following the parade, we grabbed dinner at the well-known Charlie Vergos Rendezvous Restaurant. After having dinner, we checked out the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. After checking out the Pyramid, we called it a night. We stayed at the Drury Inn and Suites Southaven. We had a lovely stay. We are always pleased with a Drury Inn.

Day 2: The next morning, we had made plans to visit the National Civil Rights Museum.

Following our time at the museum, we had a late lunch at Central BBQ which was another recommended barbeque spot.

Following lunch, our original plan had been to drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas for our next stop. However, this trip was definitely a lesson in flexibility. When leaving Central BBQ, it was storming very badly. We got in the car to determine our next plan and actually drove to a parking garage to take cover from hail. Our original plan was to wait out the storm. However, as we researched the weather more, it was apparent that this was a long line of storms with concerns for tornados. In addition, Hot Springs was experiencing massive flooding and many roads were closed. We quickly determined that we were going to have to make some changes. We were able to book the Home 2 Suites by Hilton in Marion, Arkansas. This allowed us to at least spend a little time in Arkansas as this was a new state that we were hoping to explore. Our day definitely did not go as planned, but I was proud that our family could pivot so easily.

You can read a more detailed outline of our time in Memphis by visiting Where the Mississippi meets BBQ- Our time in Memphis.

Day 3: The next day we traveled from Marion, AR to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

We love small town stops so we stopped at The Warehouse Deli in Cleveland, Mississippi for lunch. This was a great stop for lunch as they had a variety of sandwiches on their menu.

After lunch, we continued on to our next destination which was Vicksburg, Mississippi. We arrived late in the afternoon so we arrived right as the Vicksburg National Military Park was closing. My girls were able to grab their NPS passport stamps, glance around in the visitor's center and take a picture out front with the cannon.

Our next stop was Duff Green Mansion. When I was planning for this trip, I saw the pictures of this antebellum mansion and knew we needed to visit. Duff Green Mansion was built in 1856 and served as a hospital during the Civil War. I highly recommend staying here if you are interested in history.

We went to our room and got settled in just in time to attend the 5:00 welcome reception. This was such a nice touch. They offered wine for the adults and even had some kid-appropriate beverages. They had some small cheese and meat plates. This was a fun time to meet other guests (several couples were from abroad) and to hear a little about the home.  During the welcome reception, we got some recommendations for dinner and headed out after the reception was finished. We decided to try the 10 South Rooftop Bar and Grill for dinner. This restaurant offered a good variety of dishes and fun rooftop views.

Day 4:  Each morning at Duff Green Mansion, there is a three-course seated, southern breakfast. It was so fun to feel like we had stepped back in history. The food was delicious and the staff was attentive. Following breakfast, there is a tour discussing the history of the home.

You can read a more detailed outline of our time in Mississippi here.

We left Duff Green Mansion following breakfast and we were headed to Carriere, Mississippi to have lunch with a cousin that lives in the area. We met up at a local Pizza Hut as that is their son's favorite so no restaurant recommendations for that stop. But, it was great to reconnect.

After lunch, we headed on to New Orleans. We arrived in New Orleans late afternoon and checked into our hotel and explored the surrounding area. We stayed at Hotel Provincial. We loved the location and beauty of this hotel. The courtyard is adorable!

We decided to walk around the French Quarter for a bit. We found ourselves near Cafe Du Monde so we it was time for beignets! When in New Orleans, it is always beignet time.

We explored the French Quarter for a bit and then took the New Orlean Streetcar to the Garden District. We took the St. Charles Streetcar Line. This allowed us to see more parts of the city while on the streetcar. We arrived in the Garden District. We wandered Garden District taking in the beautiful architecture and historic homes. We chose Joey K's Restaurant and Bar which is on the well-known Magazine Street. After dinner, we took the streetcar back to our hotel. We got some rest so that we could pack more fun into the next day.

Day 5: The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at a different beignet bakery. (We were told that they aren't all the same.) This morning, we enjoyed beignets at Cafe Beignet. For our morning activity, we decided to do a walking tour of the French Quarter. This was a great way to explore the French Quarter and to learn about the history of the area.

Following the tour, we had a little bit more time to explore before our lunch reservation. We visited the Jazz National Historical Park which is an NPS stop in New Orleans. After exploring, we attended a jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters. Court of Two Sisters offers a large buffet with iconic New Orleans items such as gumbo, turtle soup and fried catfish. However, it also offers a variety of common items such as eggs, sausage and hash browns. Make sure to request a table in the courtyard. Their courtyard is beautiful. There was a jazz trio playing in the courtyard which and we were lucky to be seated nearby. It was a beautiful afternoon!

We explored a bit more and then bid fair well to NOLA. Our next stop to explore Louisiana was a swamp tour. We booked at  Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour through Cajun Encouters. We arrived, showed our tickets and boarded our boat for a 90 minute swamp tour. It was so fun to see the wildlife and learn about the ecosystem. The guide was very engaging and we learned a lot about gators and swamp wildlife. A swamp tour was such a fun experience, especially since we don't have swamps in Indiana. It was a great way to end our Louisiana time.

You can read all the details about our time in New Orleans on my post Beignets, Jazz and History- Family Trip to New Orleans.

Following our swamp tour, it was about 1.5 hours to our Mississippi beach hotel. We had had a late lunch at a jazz buffet in New Orleans so no one was super hungry for dinner. We decided to have ice cream for dinner. It's vacation, after all! We stopped at The Creole Creamery in Bay St. Louis on our way to the hotel. Lots of flavors to choose from and we all found something that made us happy. After our ice cream detour, we arrived at our hotel. We were staying at The Inn at Long Beach.

Day 6: Let me take a minute to rave about  The Inn at Long Beach. I was so excited about this find. I felt that it was an amazing value for the price. The rooms were very spacious. We had a view of the ocean. The hot breakfast included made-to-order pancakes. And, by made-to-order, I mean that someone comes to your table and takes your order. No waiting in lines.

After made-to-order pancakes (of course!), we headed out to explore the area. We stopped to check out the beach and take some obligatory pictures by the Mississippi Gulf Coast signs. My girls snagged some beautiful shells.

Our next stop was the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We chose to visit the William M. Colmer Visitor Center along the National Seashore. This was about a 45 minute drive from our hotel, but we felt it was worth it. The visitor center offered exhibits about local wildlife. There were great views of the ocean and river.

After our time at the National Seashore, I was eager to check out Ocean Springs. I had heard that it was a cute, coastal town. Ocean Springs has many cute boutiques and unique shops. We explored for a bit and then shared some Greek nachos at Glory Bound Gyro Company. We tried donuts from  The Tatonut Shop. The ladies at the shop shared how the donuts were made with potato flour. The donuts were very light and tasty! After exploring, we headed back to the hotel for a little down time. That evening, we had dinner at Shaggy's Pass Harbor. Good food and a fun atmosphere. We even ran into a friend from Indiana there!

Day 7: The next day was warmer and this was our beach and pool day! We started out with time on the beach. It was nice, but a bit windy. After our morning at the beach, we enjoyed an afternoon by the pool which was perfect!

After dinner, we tried for some family beach pictures. I always like to attempt to get family pictures with the beach backdrop if possible. It doesn't always work out. But, I do always pack my selfie stick/ tripod to try to make it happen. You can find the one I use here. After pictures, we headed to dinner. We chose to check out Steve's Marina Restaurant.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to relax for a bit and get the room in order so that we could leave in the morning.

You can read a more detailed outline of our time in Mississippi here.

Day 8: We drove from the Gulf Coast to the Nashville area where we stayed over night.

Day 9: We drove from Nashville to Indiana. We stopped for lunch at Back Home Restaurant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky which was a quaint lunch spot.

We sincerely loved this trip. NOLA was so fun, and we were so pleasantly surprised about the beauty of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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