Exploring Mississippi

The Gulf Islands National Seashore stretches from Cat Island in Mississippi to the eastern tip of Santa Rosa Island in Florida. Even though most of the seashore is submerged, the barrier islands have white-sand beaches, coastal marshes, and dense maritime forests. Here you’ll find hiking trails, camping, and areas in which to picnic. There are also old forts and recreational opportunities such as kayaking and snorkeling. At the seashore, you’ll find several visitor centers. Fort Pickens has volunteers who can answer your questions.

The USS Cairo is on display at Vicksburg National Military Park. It sunk the same year it was commissioned. After sitting under mud for almost 100 years it was salvaged. Now the restored ship is on display along with thousands of recovered artifacts.

The Vicksburg National Military Park commemorates the battle that took place in this town during one of the most decisive periods of the Civil War. Here General Grant was captured, giving Union forces control of the waterway.

The park also includes Vicksburg National Cemetery where 17,000 Union soldiers are buried and another 13,000 U.S. military veterans have lost their lives in conflicts since then.

The Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg is a registered National Historic Landmark. Exhibits include extensive antebellum and Civil War artifacts. There is a large portrait collection, Native American artifacts, and a teddy bear which was a gift from Theodore Roosevelt. You can look at the building and visit the McCardle Research Library with historical volumes and original documents from the region’s past.

In Indianola, you’ll find a museum that focuses on the life and work of one of the most influential blues artists of all time B.B. King. At the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center, you’ll also learn about the birth of blues in the Mississippi Delta. The exhibits here are themed by era starting with the 1930s Delta and the time King was a farmer. Other exhibits follow B. B King to Memphis where he became the “Beale Street Boy” and was on the radio for the first time. There is a gift shop that sells blues and King-related souvenirs.

The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport is a large research and rehabilitation center with an interactive museum, teaching people about ocean life. This is one of the only dolphin rescue facilities on the Gulf Coast. Visitors can see dolphin presentations and learn more about them as they play with their trainers. If you like you can also get a dolphin encounter. The Discovery Room has touch pools allowing visitors to interact with sea stars, stingrays, sharks, and other marine life. You can learn about reptiles and birds while watching tropical animal shows.

Beauvoir is a large estate that overlooks the Mississippi Sound in Biloxi. It was built in 1852 and was the home of the Confederate States of America’s only president, Jefferson Davis in 1877. Later from 1903 to 1957 it was a free veterans home for Confederate veterans. It became home to the Confederate Presidential Library and Museum. In the museum, you can see artifacts that once belonged to Davis and items from the former veterans home as well as Civil War artifacts. Visitors can tour the large estate which includes the home, guest cottages, and the Memorial Cemetery.

The Biloxi Lighthouse was completed in 1848 and became the very first cast-iron lighthouse in the southern states. It was reopened for tours in 2010 after surviving Hurricane Katrina.

Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in a two-room house that was built by his father in Tupelo, Mississippi. Today the home has been preserved and open to the public complete with period furnishings. Elvis’ interest in music began by listening to gospel music in church. The chapel that the family attended has been relocated to this same property. There is a museum that chronicles his early life and a gift shop with Elvis-themed souvenirs.

The Rock & Blues Heritage Museum in Clarksdale has music memorabilia on display from the 1950s through the 1970s. There is a collection of original records that date back to a 1905 Edison phonograph and cylinders and examples of 1920s 78 RPM acetate records. Some guitars have been autographed by music legends like Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and others. You’ll find lots of interesting memorabilia.

Two miles east of Biloxi you’ll find the town of Ocean Springs. This is a haven for artists and craftspeople with art shops and studios. There are also many historic churches from the late 1800s. One of the highlights here is the Walter Anderson Museum of Art which features the artwork of Walter Inglis Anderson and his two brothers. The collections include oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints as well as carvings and ceramics.

The Mississippi Petrified Forest in Flora gives visitors the opportunity to see the enormous remains of what was once a massive forest and has turned to stone with time. There are nature trails to explore. The Earth Science Museum has exhibits that explain the science behind how this all came to be. There are many interesting displays among them whale bones. Children enjoy having their photo taken on “Caveman’s Bench” and looking for treasure in the gem mining flume.

Dunn’s Falls was named after their creator, John Dunn who was an Irish immigrant in the mid-1850s. The stream provides a natural source of power via a working water wheel and then crashes seventy feet into the river below. You can enjoy fishing, canoeing, and swimming among the rugged landscape around the Chunky River.

Ship Island was once a single island that was split into two land masses during a hurricane in 1969. Here you can find some fantastic beaches. The island is accessible by a 50-minute ferry ride. On the way, you can see bottlenose dolphins.