BANQUETS & BEADS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST

In Biloxi, Mississippi, reconstruction started right after Katrina. The casinos, military, businesses, and local people literally picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and started again.

The Katrina Memorial in Biloxi, Mississippi

Many Live Oaks survived Katrina. Some did not. These along Beach Drive have been turned into works of art.

Along the waterfront the majority of the antebellum houses are gone. Foundations remain. Driveways and gate posts lead to nowhere.

We were wined, dined and toured around the area by Janice Jones and Nichole Learson from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau. For three days, the eating and the fun never stopped.

We even had King Cake for breakfast. It was delivered to our doorstep. King Cake is a Mardi Gras tradition. A soft coffee-style cake with colorful, sparkling icing. The traditional little baby Jesus, whether a plastic baby or just a bean, was not inside the cake. It seems this has proven dangerous over the years.

Mike Moore, captain of the Sailfish, took us out shrimping. The water was too cold for shrimp but our net caught blue crabs, squid, anchovies, and jelly fish. Pelicans and sea gulls came aboard to enjoy the catch.

Dinner at the Hard Rock Café at the Hard Rock Casino. Rock and Roll memorabilia. Our first meal in Biloxi and a hint of what was to come. Smoked barbecued ribs, fresh coleslaw, pulled pork and baked beans.

Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs. Walter Anderson’s love of the outdoors is very evident in his oil paintings, wood carvings and prints. He painted his seven seasons on the walls of the Ocean Springs community center. The staff treated us to more King Cake and we didn’t refuse.

Beauvoir, the home of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America. 12 feet of water inside and some window and roof damage but otherwise survived Katrina.

Dr. William Houston Tegarden, a friend of Jefferson Davis, joined us for a lunch of salad, red beans and rice with andouille sausage, bread pudding trickled with white chocolate sauce, and iced tea.

Caterer Calvin Coleman shared his recipes.

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art. George Ohr was an eccentric, one of the first potter artists. The curator said that George “went over the edge and stayed over the edge.” George promoted himself as the mad potter in order to draw attention to his work.

JIA Asian restaurant at the Beau Rivage Casino. An incredible dining experience. Excellent service. The Beau Rivage is touted as the best casino on the Gulf Coast.

We dropped in to the preview to the Coronation Ball at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center. We watched from the balcony as the King and Queen of Mardi Gras, their pages and accompanying Dukes and Maids were presented to the crowd in their bright, traditional Mardi Gras outfits.

We all had the best time throwing beads from a float in the Mardi Gras Parade on Fat Tuesday.

We dressed up in tiaras, beads, and boas and threw colourful strings of beads from the upper level of the float to the thousands of people lining the parade route. We threw beads to people bouncing up and down in the backs of pick-up trucks, kids on the shoulders of their dads, and countless others with their arms in the air shouting “Me. Me.”


After the parade we ate at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House. The restaurant building was erected in 1737, predating American Independence by three decades. Mary Mahoney’s Old French House is mentioned in two of John Grisham’s books, The Runaway Jury and The Partner. Our seafood meal started with soft shell crab and fried and broiled crab claws.

As the first day of Lent arrived, we were ready to rest. And to diet.