Shae and I kicked off 2020 by spending 3.5 weeks in Mississippi. We’d never visited the Magnolia State before, so we weren’t too sure what to expect.
Having said that, our impression of Mississippi before visiting wasn’t great, but by the end of our time there it had gone up in our estimations. While not one of our favorite states, it did have one of our favorite cities so far which I don’t think either of us was expecting.
As always when we leave a state, here’s a list of our best and worst things from Mississippi.
Favorite Accommodation We Stayed At
Stephen – Without a doubt, the Hyatt Place Biloxi. A view of the beach from our room, great staff, fun bar, heated outdoor pool and more – what’s not to like?!
Shae – Yup. Hands down Hyatt Place Biloxi.
Favorite Meal
Stephen – I really liked our meal at The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint in Ocean Springs (near Biloxi), but I think the award has to go to The Old Country Store Restaurant in Lorman. The food was excellent and the service was wonderful – we even got serenaded by the restaurant’s owner 🙂
Shae – I loved our dinner at The Sugar Factory. What’s not to love? Rainbow sliders? S’mores boozy shake? Cotton Candy cocktail!? All so great! AND you get to keep your own rubber duck!? Bonus!
Most Disappointing Meal
Stephen – We didn’t eat out a ton in Mississippi, so I don’t think I had a disappointing meal. I guess the closest I’d come is not being able to have a cinnamon roll at breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express New Albany because they cleared breakfast away 30 minutes early several days.
Shae – Equally, the most disappointing part was my main entree at The Sugar Factory. I love a good donut burger with a grilled cheese as much as the next guy, but it just wasn’t all that I’d hoped it would be.
Favorite Free Activity
Stephen – Walking along the beach in Biloxi.
Shae – The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum was my favorite free activity since the day we went was the 3rd Saturday which is free entry day.
Favorite Paid Activity
Stephen – Having drinks at the Robo Bar at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi. $8 for two drinks during Happy Hour and they’re mixed by robots!
Shae – My favorite paid activity was the Mississippi Petrified Forest. It was so cool and even if we hadn’t used a Groupon it was a bargain.
Favorite Pet-Friendly Activity
Stephen – There were far more to choose from than I expected. There were a couple of great dog parks and Truffles had a great time playing on the beach in Ocean Springs. I think Truffles’s favorite might have been the Mississippi Petrified Forest seeing as she was even allowed in the museum area.
My favorite though was the fact that she got to come in to the Hard Rock Casino with us in her backpack. I’m not 100% sure if the casino is officially dog-friendly, but the guys checking IDs knew that we had her with us and waved us through. Truffles didn’t have her ID with her, but she’s 6 years old, so 42 in dog years which is presumably why she didn’t get carded.
Shae – The beach at Ocean Springs is dog-friendly!
Least Favorite Activity
Stephen – Having to take Truffles out in the rain while in the Jackson area seeing as it rained so much.
Shae – I enjoyed most of what we did, I can’t think of a least favorite activity from Mississippi.
Favorite Hike
Stephen – We didn’t really hike as such, so my favorite walk would be the ones we took along the beach.
Shae – I enjoyed our walk (“hike”) on the Tanglefoot Trail in New Albany.
Favorite Quirky Thing We Did
Stephen – The Robo Bar cocktails.
Shae – Getting drinks made by a robot at the Robo Bar.
Favorite Memory
Stephen – Just spending a week in Biloxi. Being by the beach was super-relaxing, even though it wasn’t really beach weather.
Shae – Meeting a super awesome full-time travel family on their way to Florida for a few months. Check them out here!
Funniest Moment
Stephen – TMI alert! Discovering the after-effects of the food coloring from the rainbow sliders at Sugar Factory. Blue + yellow + purple + brown = green.
Shae – I loved our silly casino shenanigans with Truffles playing OMg Puppies! together.
Thing We Most Regretted
Stephen – Not spending more time in Biloxi.
Shae – I regret not seeing more around Vicksburg besides the Battlefield. There were more things that could’ve been really interesting but we didn’t learn about them until we’d left.
Something We Missed And Want To See
Stephen – Dunn’s Falls Park. It’s on the eastern side of central Mississippi, but was about two hours drive from our hotel. That distance and the fact that the weather wasn’t great for much of our stay meant we didn’t end up over there.
Shae – There are museums for the Civil Rights movement all across Mississippi and I didn’t find out about any of them until our last day in Jackson at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Our Biggest Surprise
Stephen – How much better Mississippi was than I expected. I figured it’d be somewhere we’d visit to check off our list, but I’m really keen on returning to Biloxi.
Shae – How much I enjoyed Mississippi overall. I LOVED Biloxi so that does pull the overall average up, but I’d like to see a bit more of what Mississippi has to offer in the future.
My Mississippi Drinking Game Would Be…
Stephen – Take a drink every time you’re surprised at how much better Mississippi is than you’d expect it to be.
Shae – Take a drink when you pass a place of historical significance. There’s more than you’d expect!
Summary Of Mississippi In 10 Words Or Less
Stephen – Exceeded my expectations; Biloxi in particular was excellent.
Shae – Biloxi was amazing and the rest was good too.
Mississippi Cities We Visited In Order From Favorite To Least Favorite
Stephen – Far and away Biloxi. Then Jackson/Ridgeland, then New Albany.
Shae – BILOXI.
Jackson and then New Albany.
[…] spending the first few weeks of 2020 in Mississippi, Shae, Truffles and I headed one state over to Louisiana. Our first stop was Baton Rouge, […]