New Orleans was great, but those paying attention to our movement (Daddy 😇 ) know that in order to get from the wedding in Alabama to the crawfish boil in Louisiana, we had to drive through Mississippi.
One.
Indeed, we did, taking US-90 along the Gulf shore and entering Mississippi from the east on March 25.
Opting for a stop along the water, we took a chance on the South Beach Hotel in Biloxi. Turned out to be a great stop. Not yet being “the season,” it was not crowded nor too expensive. Score!
(just where we like it – w-a-a-ay over there…)
After a couple of days at the beach hi-rise, we continued the drive along the Mississippi coast, where the houses are large and the live oaks massive! The drive was so pretty our distracted navigator – umm, photographer – was enjoying the scenery rather than taking pictures (sigh).
The navigator had done her research, however, and routed our entrance to New Orleans through Mandeville, Louisiana not only so we could take the long bridge across Lake Pontchartrain but also so that we could hit some specific tourist stops.
Turns out these particular “stops” may not be high on the touristy list though, as locals in the park had no idea what we were talking about.
Not to be deterred, we happily continued our search of the lakefront area to locate the first specimen.
A short drive from the Northshore Lakefront, we located the Champion Seven Sisters Oak in a private yard on Fountain Street. It is the largest live oak registered by the Live Oak Society and estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years old.
After the trees, fast-forward a bit past our New Orleans visit (which we covered in the last post), and we are once again Virginia-bound for family business. Well, in order to now get from Louisiana to Virginia, one must drive through – you guessed it – Mississippi!
Two.
On April 3, we re-entered Mississippi from the south.
Our captain – umm, driver – had done his research and suggested an overnight stop in Meridian, MS.
As it often goes on travel days, Susie searched on the fly to come up with a creative dining stop. Enter Weidmann’s, established in 1870.
Legend has it that due to a war-driven shortage of butter in the 1940’s, a patron suggested peanut butter as a replacement. To this day, each table at Weidmann’s is set with a crock of peanut butter and an assortment of crackers.
(This one is Horsepower – note the motorcycle parts)
Turns out Todd suggested Meridian specifically because it’s home to an historic 1895 two-row Dentzel Carousel. Meridian is so proud to be home to the carousel that there are more than 60 life-size carousel horse sculptures throughout the city!
After driving around “carousel horse-spotting” for a while, we headed to the park to see the real thing. Yeah!
Please let me see the carousel
With someone somewhat disappointed, we headed for the hotel.
The next morning, as we continued our journey east, we passed the Simmons-Wright Company that has operated as a general store in Kewanee, Mississippi since 1884.
And there you have it. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.
Our Travels 