Trip to Mississippi: Nice places to visit (Jackson, Gulfport: military, hotel)

[cgballer]

Hi all,

We are planning a trip to the deep south w/ a few German friends in Spring '08 and we were wondering which cities, national / state parks you can recommend in your state. Things of interest:
- historic districts / sites
- beautiful nature, hiking, beaches
- southern culture, festivals, food, sea food
- nice towns / coastal towns
- live country music / dance halls
- do you know if there's a chance to go on a boat with shrimp fishermen? Are there nice fish markets?

We are interested in the must-see places but also in areas off the beaten path.

We're looking forward to hearing from you,
Christian

[tennreb]

Originally Posted by cgballer

Hi all,

We are planning a trip to the deep south w/ a few German friends in Spring '08 and we were wondering which cities, national / state parks you can recommend in your state. Things of interest:
- historic districts / sites
- beautiful nature, hiking, beaches
- southern culture, festivals, food, sea food
- nice towns / coastal towns
- live country music / dance halls
- do you know if there's a chance to go on a boat with shrimp fishermen? Are there nice fish markets?

We are interested in the must-see places but also in areas off the beaten path.

We're looking forward to hearing from you,
Christian

Mississippi is a big state but it has good highways you can travel it pretty quickly and see multiple towns in one day. Some things to see are the Delta and the many blues historical sites, cotton fields, folk artists' shops, and a way of life that hasn't seemed to change in 50 years (not so good for the people that live there, but makes for a distinctive destination). Greenwood is a good Delta town to visit and has a great hotel/spa and some good restaurants. The Double Decker festival takes place in Oxford the last weekend of April. Oxford is the quintessential Southern town with great food, live music, and shopping in a historical town square. It's also home to William Faulkner. There's a great catfish restaurant in a small artists community just outside of Oxford that is a cool place to visit. Natchez is a beautiful Old South town full of restored plantations perched high above the Mississippi River. They do a Spring Pilgrimage where they open a whole bunch of plantations for tourists and put on a lot of shows. It is the "Gone with the Wind" town of the state. The best casinos are on the gulf coast in Biloxi, though there are some small ones in the Mississippi river towns including Natchez. The Natchez Trace is a national park scenic road that runs diagonally across the state and is worthwhile.

Here's a travel website for Oxford: Oxford (Mississippi - Wikitravel)
And for Natchez: Travel and Tourism Guide to Natchez Mississippi

[darylwi]

Vicksburg is a great place if you're into civil war and antebellum history. There are plenty of homes to tour and the Vicksburg National Military Park is a great drive.
Visit Vicksburg
The Natchez Trace is also a great drive. The only bad side to it (if there can be a bad side) is that it pretty much bypasses every town along its route, so you have to be sure to get off every now and then to check out more of small town Mississippi. But there are many great scenic areas to stop at along the trace if you like to picnic, hike, or see historic places (like Rocky Springs).
I'm assuming you'll be in Mississippi for several days. If that's the case, it's pretty easy to make your way around the state at a leisurely pace.
The hills are definitely in the northeast part of the state, but Hwy 3 along the Delta is a nice drive where you have the old river bluffs on one side of you and the flat bottom lands on the other side.
The Gulf Coast is definitely the happening part of the state. There are plenty of casinos there that are fair quality, and there's usually always a show or something going on even if you don't want to gamble all night. It is also where the beaches are. They don't compare to Florida, but the ferry ride to Ship Island always guaranteed nice beaches, at least before the hurricane (I haven't been since).
There are beaucoup fishing excursions that you can take in coastal Louisiana, so I'm sure there are just as many along coastal Mississippi, although you'll see a lot more shrimping boats there. If you like to experience one of a kind offshore fishing, there are great charters that are based in Cocodrie & Fourchon, Louisiana. The costs usually gives you several hours of guaranteed fun (during the day or at night) and with some of the companies, you're guaranteed to catch your limit. It usually also comes with lunch/dinner and a place to sleep that night if you go out at night. And most of the accomodations are pretty nice. But that's if you're into the fishing excursions. If you just want to buy some good shrimp, the piers along the coast offer plenty. You can shop around. Some people offer better prices and better catch than some. A few will even bargain with you depending on the crowd and how much you intend to buy.
Hope you have fun and enjoy Mississippi. The people are generally really nice and will go out of their way to help you if you have any questions or get lost.

[Mississippienne]

I assume you'll be flying into Jackson? Or is this a roadtrip?

Anyway, I recommend starting in the Delta and working south to the Gulf Coast. There's lots of jazz and blues festivals in the spring (if you're in MS in June check out Indianola's B.B. King's Homecoming). Legendary bluesman Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the Devil in Clarksdale MS, where Highway 61 meets Highway 49. On the Delta you'll see shotgun houses, cheap narrow one-room boxes -- my mama told me that they were called "shotgun houses" because if you walked in and caught your wife in bed with another man, the other man couldn't run out the back door before you grabbed your shotgun and shot him.

From the Delta come down to the river cities of Natchez and Vicksburg and explore Mississippi's Antebellum and Civil War history. If you visit Port Gibson, check out the famous Windsor Ruins, which have appeared in several movies. Continue heading south to the Gulf Coast, and visit Biloxi and Gulfport, relax on the beaches, gamble at the casinos, or visit Jefferson Davis' home, Beauvoir (currently undergoing renovations post-Katrina). From there, New Orleans is about an hour and a half away.

Have fun!

[cgballer]

Thank you all for your info, this helps a lot

@Mississippienne: We will be driving: NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, East TX and then back AR, TN, NC. That's a long drive but we'll probably spend a month traveling.

[darylwi]

Well, since you are talking about coming through most of the south, and in the spring, I'll give you a list of great festivals in Louisiana in April-May 2008.

The Strawberry Festival - Ponchatoula, LA near Hammond on the northshore.
It's scheduled for April 11-13.
Baton Rouge Earth Day is scheduled for Sunday, April 20. It's always a big event.
Festival Internationale in Lafayette is a must. It's scheduled April 23-27.
NOLA Jazz Fest is scheduled for April 25 - May 4 next year.
Baton Rouge Fest For All is scheduled for the weekend of May 3-4.
The Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge (east of Lafayette) is scheduled for May 5-7 and it is always fun, lots of music and food and crafts.
The Jambalaya Festival in Gonzales (south of Baton Rouge on I-10) is usually memorial day weekend, May 25-28.
Most of the websites for these festivals are not up to date yet although you can find good info on last years festival. If I had more time, I'd give you links to most of them, but sorry in a rush.
Enjoy your trip to the south.

[Tama]

From Jackson you could get on the Natchez Trace to Natchez. Don't miss that area. It truly reflects the southern ambience of the plantation era. If you come down through Hattiesburg there is an Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby that is quite interesting. Your German friends might be interested because German prisoners of war stayed there and there are photos of them and information about them. They built a lake that is now a state park in the vicinity. Some have returned off and on to visit.
Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby

[silversurfer]

Can anyone recommend a clean, not too pricey place to stay in or near Oxford? My sister and I are planning another trip, and didn't much care for the Days Inn on the Frontage Rd. The staff and rooms were nice, but it was extremely hard, not to mention dangerous getting out of there, and they were building a huge housing development behind it that surely makes that situation worse.
Thanks for your help. Oh, and does anyone know where I can buy good, course cut grits there? Last time I only found $12 lb. organic hand ground la-de-da grits on the square.. Even when I'm home in FL I can't find good ol' grits anymore. Sheesh!

[aiangel_writer]

I would like to recommend you also try the Northeastern part of our state. Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo and his home is on part of the tour from the museum. William Faulkner was born in New Albany and there is a landmark for his home, not sure if you can tour it though.

It would be a shame to miss out on this part of the state, as well as Booneville and Corinth and Iuka which is close to Picwick State Park. It joins the Tennessee River and is a really nice place to catch your breath.

Neshoba County also might be a place of interest. The Reservation owns some casinos there and there are festivals at different times of the year. Google Philidelphia, MS or Neshoba County for more.

Aberdeen MS has a lot of old Southern homes that are open to tours at different times of the year as well as Holly Springs. They have a humming bird festival but I do not remember when that is held.

Best of luck on your tour.

[tennreb]

Originally Posted by silversurfer

Can anyone recommend a clean, not too pricey place to stay in or near Oxford? My sister and I are planning another trip, and didn't much care for the Days Inn on the Frontage Rd. The staff and rooms were nice, but it was extremely hard, not to mention dangerous getting out of there, and they were building a huge housing development behind it that surely makes that situation worse.
Thanks for your help. Oh, and does anyone know where I can buy good, course cut grits there? Last time I only found $12 lb. organic hand ground la-de-da grits on the square.. Even when I'm home in FL I can't find good ol' grits anymore. Sheesh!

The intersection near Days Inn on Frontage has been replaced with a roundabout, essentially solving the traffic problem there. The Downtown Inn is a better place to stay because of the location. You can park at the hotel and walk everywhere on the Square. Also, check out the Inn at Ole Miss. The rooms are nice and cheap. See http://wikitravel.org/en/Oxford_(Mississippi) for more hotel info. I know there is a grits mill in Oxford, but I don't know where they sell their products. Go to www.chowhound.com and post your request on the "South" board.