In addition to his regular job, Hubby is a speaker for several companies. Coincidentally, he had talks scheduled at various places around Mississippi from the end of March through the first couple weeks of April. I decided to go with him just for fun on a “Tour de Mississippi.”
First stop: Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs is a lovely little place near Biloxi on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. In mapping out our stay, I found a blog that recommended The Roost, a beautifully styled boutique hotel near the historic downtown.
The room was nice and the location was excellent; but the noise from the bar until late at night was simply unacceptable for a couple who likes to be asleep by 10 pm and up by 6 am. I don’t think we’ll stay there again.
However, we thoroughly enjoyed walking to the Spring Art Festival and local coffee shops each morning! I also had an opportunity to visit the Walter Anderson Art Museum, which I highly recommend!
Hubby and I spent an extra day just driving the coastline and visiting Bay St. Louis. Before we left Ocean Springs, though, we grabbed a lovely lunch at By the Fig and the Vine.
Bay St. Louis has mostly recovered from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. We strolled through the town’s art galleries and shops, stopping at the Creole Creamery for ice cream. Yum!
Second stop: Greenwood
Hubby was asked to speak at a dinner program at Giardina’s in Greenwood on a Thursday night. I drove so that he could continue to answer calls, respond to emails, and review his talk. We passed through the Delta’s iconic flat landscape of plowed fields and sweeping crop dusters, all begging to be painted.
In Greenwood, we unloaded our overnight bags at one of our favorite places to stay in the world—The Alluvian. We immediately spied a new coffee shop (Zoe Coffee) across the street and ordered a tasty, iced peach matcha. Hubby left me for his talk, and I found some of the best shopping in all Mississippi!
Turn Row Books is back after a fire three years previous had destroyed it. It had just re-opened and was stocked with the best books and the cutest gifts. Suddenly, I remembered all the birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations looming on the horizon and made quite a few wise purchases.
The next morning, Hubby and I feasted on The Alluvian’s award-winning (well, if it’s not, it should be!) Southern breakfast. I DREAM about their blueberry scones!
Then we perused the many boutiques up and down the street for more gifts and a little something for each of us. What a treat!
Next stop: Laurel
Laurel is HGTV’s Hometown site. Hubby had a lunch program here, so he dropped me off at Gardiner Park, where I could enjoy the green space in the cool spring breeze and admire the beautiful old houses lining the park on my way to the Lauren Rogers Art Museum. I’d never visited the museum before, but it gets rave reviews online.
The museum is free to all and full of beautiful works of art. I was especially drawn to an art deco piece of an artist’s family and a Porter Fairfield painting of a tennis match.
The museum has two seven-minute films in the library that give an interesting and thorough history of the place. It’s definitely worth a visit if ever you’re in Laurel!
Next stop: Tupelo
There was no talk scheduled for Tupelo. Hubby and I are officials for our state’s Bible Quiz tournaments, so we spent the day at Apostolic Life in Tupelo. We left before the awards ceremony to help our Lego-loving son take down his Lego booth at the enormous Tupelo Flea Market. Then we headed home to the cat.
Whew! There’s no place like home!
