Posted on 01/12/2008 6:08:26 PM PST by kimmie7
I rarely post articles much less vanities, but we're planning a trip to my mother's other home in Vicksburg, MS, in March. Hubby was thinking maybe we'd drive down to Gulfport or Biloxi for a day or two.
My questions are these:
I know the area was devastated during hurricaine Katrina, are things back to normal? Semi-normal?
What is there to do there? Besides casinos. We'll have our 8 year old son with us.
Any recommendations? I can look online at places like Virtual Tourist, but it's hard to know how to plan when there is a chance the restaurant that looks fantastic may no longer exist.
Any assistance you could offer will be welcome.
Yes, the casinos are pretty much all up and running and the area is recovering pretty well.
The casinos are pretty much about it for things to do this time of year. The beaches there are pretty nice but that won’t really do you much good now. Kinda cold.
As far as I know,the Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula area is up and running just fine. They went through much worse than Katrina back in 1969 with Hurricane Camille and they bounced right back.
I’m just outside of New Orleans and have only been to Gulfport a couple of times since Katrina, but there is a great children’s museum there and it has reopened. It is called Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and the website is www.lmdc.org.
Toby someone is asking what the gulf coast is like now post Katrina.
I was there over the summer and the beaches were still closed. Not much to do there other than the casinos. The west bridge across Bay St Louis was open, the one to the east across Biloxi Bay was due to open in November, I assume it is now open as well.
I agree with capt. norm, Vicksburg is a great little town from a historical perspective. Natchez (just down Hwy. 61 from V'burg) is also good for tours. Hope you have a great time!
So true about Vicksburg...my stepdad was the contractor on the Civil War park. My stepbrother and his wife own a newspaper in Tunica. Nice place. I can’t wait to go back!
None of us have been on the MS coast, though, and thought we’d take a turn at it.
I like walking on a cold beach. It’s so very.....poetic. LOL
I don’t know the area,but I’m reading this as a grandmother.
Why don’t you let Grandma have some time with your son,who is a great age,and you and your husband do some “grown-up” things for a day or so.
I love having one grandchild at a time.
That said,enjoy your trip !
Oh my goodness, my son will LOVE that! And the price is so reasonable! Thanks, we’ll definitely go there.
We’ve done Natchez. LOVED it....but I love the Windsor ruins the best. So hauntingly beautiful. I’d love to have time to go there with my camera and sketchbook.
That’s so sweet of you!
Grandma would love that, but I want the kiddo to go to the coast with us as he’s never seen the ocean.
Things are semi-normal and the casinos will be most happy to take your money.
As someone who has never lived more than 1/2 hour from the ocean for my entire life I don’t blame you.
My grandchildren love visiting the mountains.
Go figure !
Just happened to drive the coast highway (US90) from Pascagoula to Gulfport this afternoon, my first time to do so since Katrina. This area is cleaned up well but many homes and businesses are simply gone - lots of bare slab foundations and for sale signs on the lots. The casinos have returned. Don’t know about fun things to do for an 8-yr old boy. The beaches are beautiful. The people here are VERY resilient and as friendly as always. Hotels and restaurants closer to I-10 are pretty much back to normal. Enjoy your visit!
I just noticed your tagline. If it helps any ... just do what I did ... get up that morning and start celebrating your eleventh annual twenty-ninth birthday. It gets to be more fun every year. Life really begins at 40!
What is there to do besides Casinos? NOTHING!!! You can’t even swim in the Gulf waters of Biloxi; too toxic. That’s the way it was pre-Rita. I doubt it’s changed.
Nope, the casinos, that’s it. And who in the heck wants to spend a vacation losing the money they need to get back home?
“Natchez (just down Hwy. 61 from V’burg) is also good for tours.”
Natchez is my hometown and I highly recommend it. I lived in Vicksburg for a number of years and it pales in comparison to Natchez. You will be there during Pilgrimage and there is lots going on. I recommend taking the Natchez Trace. Quite the scenic federal parkway. Speed limit is 50, though.
Sound advice from a caring soul. :^)
Yes, Natchez with its lovely civil war homes, and homey atmosphere is a must!
Missippy Ping.
Vicksburg and coasties, yall get in here.
I emailed a friend who works at one of the TV stations in Biloxi. His response is below:
“Gulf coast still in rebuilding phase. about 60% back but where something was three years ago it more than likely is no longer there. As for things for kids to do, you have the discovery center which is located on hwy 90 in Gulfport, and the large water park at the canal rd exit of I-10 but that’s about it for attractions here on the coast for the moment.”
I went through late in the summer; the casinos were about all that there was along the coast. The beaches were still closed at that time. Most of the activity was along I-10.
If he’s interested in space, there is a tour of the Stennis Space Center (leaves from the Mississippi Welcome Center on I-10. - in the old days, you just drove yourself on to the facility). New Orleans might be interesting for a day trip. He might be more interested in the petrified forest northwest of Jackson (and much closer to Vicksburg than the coast is). The National Park in V’burg is nice.
I’d probably head to Memphis instead of the Coast. Pink Palace and Mud Island would be more entertaining.
For adults, but how much is an 8 year old boy going to enjoy that?
Bah-loney. The devastation during Camille was bad, but huge swaths of areas that survived Camille were just simply GONE after Katrina. What dream world do you live in??? There is simply no possible comparison. Katrina was a factor of ten worse (at least) than Camille.
http://www.usm.edu/marineeducation/
http://www1.ssc.nasa.gov/public/visitors/
http://www.biloxi.org/tourism.php?id=5
Is Aunt Jenny’s Catfish Restaurant open for business?
Those are some good ideas....of course we’re planning to do Huntsville this summer, and Houston next spring.
> I want the kiddo to go to the coast with us as he’s never seen the ocean <
Sorry to say that the Mississippi Gulf Coast is not very much like being on “the ocean.”
There’s no surf, due to the barrier islands. It’s more like having a wide, sandy beach on the shore of the Great Lakes.
If you want your child to see what “an ocean” is like, you’ll need to drive an hour or so more over to the Alabama Gulf Coast.
You could see the surf at Dauphin Island, which is due south of Mobile. But rather than stop there, I’d recommend taking the ferry from Dauphin Island across Mobile Bay to old Fort Morgan.
(The ferry and the fort are a great adventure for a kid!)
Then drive over to Gulf Shores, where you’ll be in a more-or-less typical “ocean beach” evironment. Then back home!
I’ve been to the fort...it’s wonderful. I’d live in the Perdido/Gulf Shores are if I could. Sailing on Perdido Bay was magnificent! But we don’t want to get so involved as to go that far. Just a short day (or 2) trip. ;-)
Yes. I toured The World War Two Museum there, very good. Plan on an all day trip if you want to see everything.
"You could see the surf at Dauphin Island, which is due south of Mobile. But rather than stop there, I’d recommend taking the ferry from Dauphin Island across Mobile Bay to old Fort Morgan."
"(The ferry and the fort are a great adventure for a kid!)"
I live here. I agree, It's a nice trip.
Having been on the edge of both storms, I still rank Camille as much stronger.
Here is a link with the comparison between the two: http://wrc.iewatershed.com/index.php?pagename=news_050902_Katrina
What happened to the Jefferson Davis home on the beach in Biloxi? I went through it a few years ago and it’s location would have made it pretty vulnerable.
We went through both this past Summer...and while still a ways from “normal”, they were leaps and bounds better off than New Orleans intrying to pull themselves back up.
You can visit the beach, if kind of chilly.
It got smashed something fierce. It was hit really bad. Although they seem to be doing a good job with the restoration project.
I haven’t been over there but I think there back up and running, at least the original one in Ocean Springs. Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong.
I wish I could help, NerdDad, but I haven’t been to the coast since before it was wiped out.
I have no idea what it looks like now, and I don’t know if I want to know.
Not completely. The casinos are back, and some allow families to come through and eat at the buffets, which are usually fantastic. There are some new restaurants, a nice Italian one on Hwy. 90, across from the beach just East of Hwy. 49 in Gulfport, and some old ones are back, like Mary Mahoney's, in Biloxi.
Some of the tourist places haven't come back, but one of the posters mentioned the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center. A lot of homeschoolers go there, and really like it. Check out the Marine Education Center in Ocean Springs, too. I think they may have re-opened since Katrina.
Great! We homeschool, so the MEC will be a stop as well. One of the better hotel prices was at a casino that advertised a buffet. Perhaps I should consider it.
I don't think so. It may have flooded, because Fort Bayou came up quite a bit, but I'm not sure. The last time I was through there, last summer, I don't remember seeing the sign for the restaurant. We had a birthday party there for my Mama when she turned 75. GOOD food!
It’s the storm surge that is most destructive.
My vote: Katrina 10 times worse.
There is simply no comparison---Camille was a pussy compared to Katrina.
Beauvoir was damaged pretty heavily. You can see the damage adn the restoration pictures at the link above.
As far as I know, Mary Mahoney’s restaurant has reopened.
Great seafood!
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