From the Big Easy to the Links!

It was inconceivable that we could be less than 90 minutes away from New Orleans and not visit. Bill and I had both been there in the past but never together, so Sunday morning, Day 4 of our Mississippi adventure, we headed west to the Big Easy.

Mardi Gras had just occurred the week before we arrived, so the city was still decorated and as lively as it always is. After finding a parking garage, we headed toward Bourbon Street on foot. So, here’s how you do “Nawlins” in just one day…

Find Bourbon Street and walk it, taking in the sights along with the smells – some good; some not so pleasant. We love the architecture, the balconies, and the plethora of bars, restaurants and stores.

Our first stop was the famous Cafe du Monde. Busy as ever, we were able to find a table and indulged in beignets – many may try to imitate, but these are the real deal!

Wandered to Jackson Square…oh my! The sun was out and people were too! We took in several street musicians while many people were having their fortunes told – for only $20! Or how bout a caricature of the family?
We decided against a carriage ride, although they are quite popular and many tourists were taking advantage of the sunny day.
We stopped into the St. Louis Cathedral for a moment of quiet, peace, and awe.
We listened to “The Dirty Rotten Vipers” for quite a while. Look at this group! Standing in the middle of the street with a crowd around them – piano on wheels, many instruments, and of course, their traveling dog!

Our final stop was at the famous Pat O’Brien’s, and yes, of course we had a hurricane!

Upon returning to Ocean Springs, we didn’t need much to eat, but we did go to Glory Bound, another recommendation of our Airbnb host. We had also been told that their pizza was “amazing,” by our server at another eatery, so we thought we’d try it. Now remember, if you’ve been following us, you know we have tried pizza all over our wonderful country, in search of pizza as good or better than that in our own New Jersey. We did not find it in Mississippi.

Our last day in Ocean Springs was spent on the golf course! We played at Gulf Hills, which lived up to its name – the hills part! Neither of us has played as much as usual, so it was great to get out in the brisk sunshine and hit that little white ball.

Following our round, we stopped at Bacchus on the Bayou for a delicious late lunch. Our server was a really cute young girl with a very interesting tattoo on her arm of a fish. We commented on it and her response made us chuckle. She said, “Well, it’s a walleye. I’ve never seen one, but it was the best looking dead fish they had at the tattoo parlor!”

Our time in Mississippi ended with a drink at The Office, where we had landed several times during our stay. We couldn’t have fit much more into our five days in Ocean Springs and we certainly enjoyed exploring this part of the country.

On Tuesday morning before we took off for home, we did one more beach walk and took one more glance at the absolutely magnificent oak trees that adorn Ocean Springs. There is a city wide effort to save these trees and to preserve them as building continues. Pictures just don’t do them justice, but they are amazing!