Written by kstraveler on 31 Mar, 2004
Like our parents, we have always loved the music of Jimmie Rodgers. We have collected all of his songs on compact discs and enjoy listening to them when we drive to vacation destinations. Through the internet, we recently discovered the presence of the…Read More
Like our parents, we have always loved the music of Jimmie Rodgers. We have collected all of his songs on compact discs and enjoy listening to them when we drive to vacation destinations. Through the internet, we recently discovered the presence of the Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian, MS, and decided to stop and see it the next time one of our journeys took us anywhere close to Meridian. Our spring break trip to Florida made our visit possible.
Jimmie Rodgers was known as the "Blue Yodeler" and "the Singing Brakeman" and is considered by many to be the father of country music. His old 78 RPM records were best sellers in the late 1920's and until his death from TB in 1933. He, with the musical assistance of Elsie McWilliams, his sister-in-law, wrote almost all of the over 110 songs he recorded. He had no musical training, and did not read or write music. Jimmie Rodgers was the first country music artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is recognized as "The Man Who Started it All."
We thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits in the museum, but still had some unanswered questions, so we each bought a book about Jimmie Rodgers' life. We are enjoying reading our books and learning more about him. After leaving the museum, we drove out to Oak Grove Cemetery and visited his grave. (The Museum personnel have maps that give the directions to the cemetery.)
Written by Irene on 29 Oct, 2003
What does one do at 5am on a Saturday morning in Ocean Springs, Mississippi? You can stand in line with the mob on Government Street and wait for the first ones to come out of the oven. Not an early bird? Then you might be…Read More
What does one do at 5am on a Saturday morning in Ocean Springs, Mississippi? You can stand in line with the mob on Government Street and wait for the first ones to come out of the oven. Not an early bird? Then you might be disappointed and not get a chance to sample the wares of the Tatonut Shop.
What do you think is the secret ingredient that makes this Mohler family tradition a sensation since 1960? Well there is lots of speculation, but we do know that these delights for the palate are made from potato flour. Unusual and tasty. Whatever else that singles these treats out is the family secret and no one is talking, just eating.
From the first door clang at 5am until all the shelves are empty, which usually is around 11am, the shop is alive with the donut gourmets. We rushed in to grab a dozen on our way from the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, just around the corner. It seems like you needed a traffic cop in the middle of the block in front of the splashy yellow Tatonut Shop. Cars lined both sides of the street for blocks and customers scurried out guarding their treasures. By the dozen, by the box, by the bag, donuts, twists, chocolate cake donuts, blueberry donuts, cream-filled, cinnamon rolls as big as my husband’s hand.
If you by chance have a few minutes, you can savor a particular favorite from the kitchen with your favorite coffee concoction. Inside the swinging glass doors a dozen or so ice cream parlor chairs and tables are scattered about painted the same brilliant yellow that adorns the outside walls. A helpful counter person in the back will take your order to go or to take to your table.
Even with all the specialty donuts, the all time favorite still remains the original. The old fashioned glazed donut, you know the one you pick up in the grocery deli. Well it might look like this donut but just you take a bite of the Tatonut glazed donut. Tatonut is filled with donut, not air and the color is a dense yellow with a healthy body. It does not melt in you mouth, you must chew to engage the full flavor with the thin coating of glaze. I even whimper just a little. Everything I have tried here has the same intensity of flavor.
A dozen will set you back about $5 but if you want to buy them individually then you can get them for 69cents. Coffees run between $1.50-3.50 depending on how many things you want to put in it and how long the name is. You can also buy gourmet coffee by the pound. Tatonut stays open until 5pm, but you just might not find anything left by then. They only bake so many and when it is gone it is gone.
Address is 1114 Government Street, Ocean Springs and phone # is 228-872-2076
The Tatonut Shop -- The Only Real Donut.
Written by Linda Kaye on 24 Nov, 2000
If you are traveling by car, consider the Natchez Trace for part of your journey. The Trace is a 442-miles national parkway, which runs between Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, free of all commercialization, billboards and even towns. It is a peaceful drive…Read More
If you are traveling by car, consider the Natchez Trace for part of your journey. The Trace is a 442-miles national parkway, which runs between Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, free of all commercialization, billboards and even towns. It is a peaceful drive through wooded areas and wide meadows. Speed limit is 50 mph and on the day we drove it, there was very little traffic. Be sure to pick up a map at one of the several visitor centers as it lists all the historic landmarks you can look for along the route. You do not have to drive the entire parkway to experience this National treasure, you can jump on and off at any of the many exits along the way. Cost of this wonderful experience – just the price of gasoline. Close
Written by IWW639 on 06 Sep, 2000
The population of Waveland is under 6000, but most of the homes are vacant during the week. Waveland is less than an hours drive from New Orleans making it a great retreat. Actually, it was originally considered a suburb of New…Read More
The population of Waveland is under 6000, but most of the homes are vacant during the week. Waveland is less than an hours drive from New Orleans making it a great retreat. Actually, it was originally considered a suburb of New Orleans. Aparently, it is a good place for the weekenders to put out their cutesy lawn decorations. The gawdy ornaments give Waveland add to the kitch of the already quirky town. Waveland is the westernmost city on the coast and a great place to start a drivng tour. The scenic Beach Blvd. passes along the gulf seperating the antebellum homes from the lapping waves and eroding beaches. Private piers jet out into the gulf flaunting hammocks and fishing nets. Most of Wavelands homes and landmarks were destroyed by a hurricane in 1969, but some of the beautiful homes are returning, mostly built on stilts now.Close
Written by Amber Autumn on 09 Jun, 2005
Located on 640 South Canal Street, the Visitor Reception Center has visitor parking, Natchez exhibits, National Park Service Info, and a 20-minute show, "The Natchez Story". It also has a Natchez Logo Gift Shop, a bookstore, and tickets for special events, carriage tours and city…Read More
Located on 640 South Canal Street, the Visitor Reception Center has visitor parking, Natchez exhibits, National Park Service Info, and a 20-minute show, "The Natchez Story". It also has a Natchez Logo Gift Shop, a bookstore, and tickets for special events, carriage tours and city tours, historic homes tours, and Melrose. There are also hotel reservations. The Historic City Tour was costly. They began in the back of the building, where you got into this small white bus with a tour guide who'd tell you about the places--homes such as Rosalie and Stanton Hall--drive you Under The Hill and up and down the city streets. The woman we had knew what she was talking about, but she couldn't speak clearly enough to understand her. But other than that, I really enjoyed seeing the city and its unique buildings. In addition to the Center, there's two other websites that can help you become familiar with Natchez and its accomodations. The first is http://www.natchezms.com/index.html, where there is everything from accomodations to restaurants. The second is the "3 Natchez Ladies Beds and Breakfasts'" that shows three charming B & B's in Natchez at http://www.3natchezladies.com. Close
Written by brack52 on 09 Mar, 2005
We loved our trip, but 2 days is not nearly enough time to explore all the historic sites, old homes, and casinos. We enjoyed just driving and walking around while looking at the great old homes. There are several intriguing towns along the coast…Read More
We loved our trip, but 2 days is not nearly enough time to explore all the historic sites, old homes, and casinos. We enjoyed just driving and walking around while looking at the great old homes. There are several intriguing towns along the coast between Biloxi and New Orleans; I'd love to go back and spend time getting to know each one. Biloxi has the great casinos, a clean beach, and gorgeous, old live oak trees; Gulfport has less glitz, an even cleaner beach, and more historic homes; and Pass Christian is a neat town (I would love to spend a week there checking out all the little shops and backstreets). We also enjoyed the Jefferson Davis home, the different harbors, and the Mariner museum.Close
Written by pruthfield on 11 Apr, 2005
The Grand Hotel and Casino offers visitors the opportunity to spend time in a beautiful resort and be treated as well, if not better than, you ever have been. You land at the Biloxi/Gulfport airport and are welcomed by transportation to the resort that takes…Read More
The Grand Hotel and Casino offers visitors the opportunity to spend time in a beautiful resort and be treated as well, if not better than, you ever have been.
You land at the Biloxi/Gulfport airport and are welcomed by transportation to the resort that takes about 20 minutes. During that time, the driver will regale you with stories about the area (if you let him). Upon the arrival at the resort, you are greeted by a friendly staff who make you feel very welcome.
The resort is really two hotels across the street from each other that are connected by walking bridges. Both of them have very nice rooms that you will be very comfortable in. If you don't mind walking across the bridges, stay across the street (Bayside) in one of the parlor suites and enjoy real decadence in these accommodations.
Written by abababbey on 23 Aug, 2004
Our vacation in Mississippi came as kind of a last minute thing. On our way to Louisiana, we had some extra time and decided to explore the little Gulf state. Our first stop was Biloxi, which is the oldest settlement in Mississippi. In Biloxi, you have…Read More
Our vacation in Mississippi came as kind of a last minute thing. On our way to Louisiana, we had some extra time and decided to explore the little Gulf state.
Our first stop was Biloxi, which is the oldest settlement in Mississippi. In Biloxi, you have a great mixture of the very old homes and shops and the very new hotels and casinos.
We stayed at a little motel (the name of which, I’ve forgotten) on the strip that leads directly to the riverfront.
We took an afternoon cruise aboard a riverboat, which took us up and down the great Mississippi river and saw a great show and had a wonderful lunch! The Mississippi river isn't much to see because it is really quite dirty and murky, but the areas on shore were beautiful! We passed beautiful old plantations and homes and we saw the business district and some lush greenery, trees and plants and flowers.
When we returned, we went to have a look at the shrimp boat fleet that was coming in with their day’s catch of hundreds of pounds of fresh shrimp, and some crabs as well.
I guess this made us hungry again, so we decide to stop in one of the new beautiful riverfront hotel/casinos for something to eat and a little slot machine action. We had a great buffet, all you can eat for the unbelievable low price of just $9.95 (US).
The next day we drove over to Gulfport to the beach area and walked along the beautiful beach and collected some seashells. I heard the Gulfport casinos calling me, but we passed this time.(I can’t keep losing money!)
We also took a ride to see some of the old plantations and then headed up to Jackson to visit the state capitol and see the governor’s mansion. We did wind up taking a tour around the Ross Barrett Reservoir, where most of the state’s water supply comes from.
We stopped for the night at a little motel called ’’The Plantation Inn’’, which was located on the property of an old plantation. The rooms were actually the old slave quarters converted to accommodate us modern people.(Running water and full bathrooms,etc.)
I didn’t realize what a really beautiful state Mississippi is. The beaches are clean and the water is a clear blue.
We do plan on taking another trip to Mississippi in the near future, and staying for more than 2 1/2 days this time.
.....We're baaaack. Since Mississippi isn't really far from home(12 hrs. by car) we made another trip there.
This time we went to Tupelo to see the birthplace of Elvis Presley (YAWN) and check out a couple of civil war battlefields. (The Brices Cross National Battlefield and The National Battlefield site.)
We took a couple of tours through old plantations and got to taste some really fresh, out of the hive honey that we collected ourselves
Once again (being the glutton for punishment that I am..)we hit a couple of casinos and proceeded to lose some more of our hard earned money into the slot machines!
All in all, I really think Mississippi is a beautiful state to visit and it is rich in southern American history and beauty.
If you ever get a chance, do visit. You’ll be glad you did.
Written by BillStone on 20 Feb, 2004
We wanted to check out Biloxi and have a little fun. We aren't big-time gamblers, so we basically played on the small money games. We had done research online and had a pile of freebies stacked up to use when we got there.…Read More
We wanted to check out Biloxi and have a little fun. We aren't big-time gamblers, so we basically played on the small money games. We had done research online and had a pile of freebies stacked up to use when we got there. We visited the Beau Rivage, Casino Magic, Treasure Bay, CopaCasino (Gulfport), and Grand Casino. All were fun and we broke even. The only casino we actually put money into our pocket at was Treasure Bay. We did ok there. W
We joined all of the players clubs at the various casinos and have already (two weeks later) received offers in the mail to come back at a big discount, which is not bad considering the small amount we spent on our trip! Your drinks are free as long as you are playing some game at all the casinos.
We enjoyed a great show (another freebie) at Casino Magic: the Magic of Broadway. Although the stage was reminiscent of a school auditorium, the show was great! See it if you visit.
Written by kstraveler on 01 Apr, 2004
The Jimmie Rodgers Museum is located in Highland Park, Meridian, Mississippi. After visiting the museum, we walked around the grounds of the 32 acre park with hopes that the Dentzel Carousel, which was constructed in the 1890s, would be operating. Riding on carousels…Read More
The Jimmie Rodgers Museum is located in Highland Park, Meridian, Mississippi. After visiting the museum, we walked around the grounds of the 32 acre park with hopes that the Dentzel Carousel, which was constructed in the 1890s, would be operating. Riding on carousels is one of my favorite activities. Unfortunately, the carousel was not open and there was no ride for us. We did enjoy looking through the windows at this beautiful antique.
We also walked around the park and watched the ducks and geese swim on the small lake. It was a nice day and we enjoyed the beauty of nature in this historic park. Many trees and bushes were in bloom and spring certainly was all over Mississippi.