My friend Emma, whom I have not seen in a decade, lives in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Seeing her was a great reason to stop by the city known as the “Playground of the South” for a few days.  Sitting along the shores of Mississippi’s gulf coast, the city of Biloxi has been a favorite vacation destination for decades, with beautiful sandy beaches kissed by gentle waves.  It also brought back fond memories for Steve, as he completed his technical training at Keesler AFB with his best buddy Vic way back in 1978.

Biloxi and the Mississippi gulf coast are occasionally hit by hurricanes, with the most destructive one being Katrina in 2005 when 90% of the buildings along the coast were destroyed.  But Biloxi is bouncing back and many casinos have returned to action.  Driving down Beach Blvd, we saw new homes and many new/restored buildings.

Emma played  tour guide, taking me to some historic and interesting sights of the city.

Biloxi Lighthouse

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art

Emma in Biloxi, MS

One of the historic sites restored after Katrina was Beauvoir, the  home of Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America.  The beachfront 51-acre estate was also once the site of the Mississippi Confederate Soldier’s Home, which cared for hundreds of southern veterans and their wives.  We caught the last tour of the day and heard interesting stories about the house and president Davis.

Beauvoir

A room at the Davis house

And then there was the beach, yeah!

And food.  We were treated to a free lunch at Back Bay Buffet in the casino where Emma works.  It pays to know somebody who works in a casino!  And their buffet was the best we’ve had in a long time.  Thank you, Emma!  On another day we had an outstanding lunch at Half Shell Oyster House near the beach, followed by a nice long walk on the sand.

Yummy shrimp gumbo

Cheese grits – these were sooooo good!

We stayed at Martin Lakes RV Park at the northern end of Biloxi, rather than being closer to the beach, as we found out the trains go right past the beach parks.  This park is quiet with average spacing between sites, but we noticed a lot of “perms” there, with junk sitting around their RV’s.  We were not crazy about this place.  One of the beach parks would probably be better, if you can stand the trains rumbling right past your window.