Antebellum History Meets Gulf Coast Beauty- Mississippi Musings

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.

This post shares about our time in Mississippi. The Magnolia state's history and beauty left us pleasantly surprised. I firmly believe Mississippi deserves more credit!

For this post, I will focus on our time exclusively in Mississippi. However, we did break our Mississippi exploration up into two legs. We had several other stops on this trip. We traveled from Indiana to Memphis, Tennessee to Arkansas (we were rerouted out of Hot Springs due to flooding this trip) to Vicksburg, to New Orleans and back to the Mississippi Coast. I will share about our time in Mississippi in this post.

We began our trip into Mississippi by leaving our hotel in Marion, Arkansas. As mentioned above, we were hoping to be leaving from Hot Springs, Arkansas. However, there was intense flooding which left Hot Springs inaccessible. We did make it to Hot Springs on a later trip if you would like to read about our time in Hot Springs.

We got a later start on the road than we were planning. After driving a bit in Arkansas, we realized that something was not right with our van. We got it checked out and learned that the flood waters (there was a small amount of standing water in the hotel parking lot) had dislodged the splash shield. It was making a terrible noise as it was dragging on the road. However, after realizing what it was and that it was not a crucial piece, it was able to be removed. Back on the road and thankful for a quick fix! After driving approximately 2 hours from our hotel, we decided that it was time to stop for lunch. We love small town stops so we stopped at The Warehouse Deli in Cleveland, Mississippi. This was a great stop for lunch as they had a variety of sandwiches on their menu. They also have soup, salad and/or sandwich combos. Everyone enjoyed their food choices. We also enjoyed the ambience as it is in an old historic building, feels very spacious as it has an upstairs and twinkle lights throughout out gave it a fun vibe.

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. We were not able to fully explore the park. This had definitely been on our itinerary, but the car issues led to a delay. I would definitely recommend this for the history buffs. It was redeeming for us that our next stop offered a great deal of history!

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. In fact, some think the mansion might be haunted, but we did not see or hear anything concerning. We arrived at the mansion to check into our room. White rocking chairs greeted us on the expansive porch area. We were staying in the Confederate Room. It was roomy enough for the entire family. Our room was close to the pool, but it was not pool weather during our stay. 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. Of course, there were some mildly spooky ghost legends (my daughters weren't spooked) and also true history to share. We were able to see the hole in one of the top-floor rooms where a Civil War cannon infiltrated the home. It was really cool to see that part of history! 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. (The restaurant is located at the top of the First National Building in Vicksburg. We tried the fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese- both felt like "a must" in Mississippi. We were not disappointed!

After dinner, we headed back to Duff Green Mansion for an early night. 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. This stay really did feel like it was an event since it included the welcome reception, breakfast and the history tour. I would highly recommend this bed and breakfast to anyone that appreciates history.

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. However, we had another snag as our van was now signaling to us that a tire was low. We put air in the tire, but it quickly became obvious that there was a nail and we couldn't make it further on our road trip. We pulled into a Firestone, got a quick patch and then we were on our way. (Road trips require flexibility!) We made it to Carriere and had a nice visit. Luckily, they were able to be flexible with a later lunch stop. 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.

This is where our Mississippi time takes a small detour into Louisiana. From Carriere, we continued on to spend the evening and the next day in New Orleans. You can read about our fabulous time in New Orleans here. We loved our time in NOLA and followed up with a swamp tour which you can also read about. Following the swamp tour, we continued back into Mississippi to find the Gulf Coast for some beach time!

Following our swamp tour, it was about 1.5 hours to our 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.

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. While this hotel is not directly on the beach (we found that not much is in Mississippi), it is a quick and easy walk across the street. The Inn had beach items for us to check out- including chairs. We did not utilize them, but they also have bikes to check out. The staff was very accommodating. The pool was small, but we basically had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed an entire afternoon at the pool. Lastly, 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. My kids LOVED the pancakes. I would definitely stay at The Inn again and would highly recommend it for a family stay. We often do VRBO or AirBNB rentals for beach stays. But, the stay at the Inn ended up being more economical for our stay of three days and we were so pleased!

Our first full day there was a little chilly so we decided to make this our day for exploring. 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 (stay-tuned for more on that.)

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. We got to see more of the area on the way. And, once we arrived the visitor center offered exhibits about local wildlife. There were great views of the ocean and river. There was also an observation deck to look at birds. We were able to see an Osprey flying overhead. And, of course, my girls enjoyed getting an NPS passport stamp as well. It was worth the detour in my opinion. Oh, and remember I told you to stay tuned about the shells. Right as we were arriving here, my youngest daughter had her shell sitting beside her in her seat. She ended up having a friend sitting with her as a small crab crawled out of the shell. She was quite surprised. We returned the shell and the crab to the seashore. She learned to check her shells more closely!

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. It was near the National Seashore Visitor Center. Ocean Springs would make for a great girl's trip. It has many cute boutiques and unique shops. We explored for a bit and then shared some Greek nachos at Glory Bound Gyro Company. I loved the nachos so much that I have tried to recreate them at home. Glory Bound is also conveniently located across the street from The Tatonut Shop. I had heard that these were iconic Ocean Springs donuts so we had to try them. I purchased two donuts for us to share. 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!

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 went to the grocery store to grab some fruit, vegetables and charcuterie for a light lunch near the pool. 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. The food was great, but I felt it was lacking the beachy vibe. It seems like the kind of place that has consistently good food and a local following. If that is your vibe, check it out. I was just hoping for a little more beach feel. It was cloudy the day we visited, so that may have been part of why I felt that way.

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. The next morning, we started the first leg of our drive home to Indiana.

We had a great time in Mississippi. I, personally, think that Mississippi should get more hype! It was a great trip for my family.

Read about our entire road trip on this post: 50 State Journey BBQ, Beignets and the Beach.

Follow along for more multi-destination trips at Middle of the Road Mindset.