By no means heard of Ocean Springs, Mississippi? Neither had we! But it surely caught our eye on round-ups like Southern Dwelling’s 15 Most Cute Small Cities and USA As we speak’s 10 Greatest Coastal Small Cities the place it ranked #1. So a number of months in the past our household determined to test it out for ourselves. It did NOT disappoint! We really thought of detouring via Ocean Springs on our weekend journey to New Orleans two years in the past. However now we’re glad we didn’t shortchange it with a fast pitstop and gave it a full journey of its personal.
Ocean Springs lived as much as the hype of being an lovely, small, historic city with heaps to discover. In truth it reminded us A LOT of Cape Charles, the little Virginia seaside city the place we renovated two properties. Each locations are tremendous walkable, have a bunch of enjoyable outlets and eating places, and sit on a quiet bay with shallow water for youths to play in.
We visited Ocean Springs in late November throughout our children’ Thanksgiving break, so we didn’t spend time on the seaside (though it did get into the low 70s every day). However even with out having fun with the water, we discovered a lot to do in Ocean Springs.
The place is Ocean Springs, Mississippi?
Ocean Springs is situated on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, proper throughout the Biloxi Bay from, nicely, Biloxi. It’s about 3 hours west of our house in Northwest Florida and nearly 90 minutes east of New Orleans.
We spent most of our Ocean Springs go to strolling round and exploring the historic downtown and beachfront. We actually didn’t get in our automobile as soon as because of renting an Airbnb in a brilliant walkable space! We hit up parks, outlets, eating places, toy & sweet shops, and – in fact – poked round some charming neighborhoods too. It was the proper laid-back, slow-paced household getaway.
The place to Keep In Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs has a lot of short-term leases in addition to boutique motels and B&Bs, so there are a number of lodging choices – together with fashionable ones like the trendy cabins on the Beatnik Motel.
We stayed at a dog-friendly Airbnb proper off of one of many predominant downtown streets, which was clear and well-stocked, however after strolling round many areas there, we wouldn’t advocate that particular spot, so I’m not going to hyperlink it right here. It was slightly loud from some adjoining eating places, however there have been some very charming areas south of Authorities Avenue that we’d choose to remain in subsequent time. This one known as Gaslamp Home is slightly dear, however it all the time catches my eye!
However once more, there’s additionally no scarcity of cool motels. We walked by The Roost Boutique Lodge, which appeared like an up to date outdated farmhouse. The pool space seems superior on the web site too!
Barely nearer to downtown is The Springs Lodge, which additionally homes a cool floral and present store known as Palmette (extra on that later). That’s why Sherry is marching so determinedly into the lodge under!
I stayed outdoors with the canine, however Sherry received to sneak some peaks of the within of the lodge whereas procuring. It was tremendous nicely designed!
I imply, simply take a look at the lavatory!
We had been positively pleasantly stunned by the extent of lodging choices in Ocean Springs.
The place To Eat in Ocean Springs
We wouldn’t name ourselves foodies (zero refined palates right here), however in some way our holidays all the time revolve round meals! Ocean Springs had tons of nice restaurant choices which might be each child & dog-friendly. In our 48 hours there, we had 2 breakfasts, 2 brunches, and a pair of dinners… plus some desserts! Right here’s an inventory of the place we went, with extra information and pics under:
- Vibrant Eyed Brew Co
- The TatoNut Store (donuts)
- Fats Spoon Cafe
- Woman Might
- Glory Sure Gyro Co
- Pop Brothers (popsicles)
- Sweet Cottage
We additionally ate an incredible brunch on the Fats Spoon Cafe, however didn’t take any photographs!
Woman Might
We liked Woman Might a lot that we ate there twice – as soon as for dinner after which the subsequent morning for brunch. They’d an incredible patio and the menu had crowdpleasers from flatbread pizzas and burgers to omelets and waffles.
Glory Sure Gyro Co
Our first dinner was at Glory Sure Gryo Co which, we later realized, is a sister restaurant to Woman Might. It additionally had burgers, salads, and pizzas but additionally tons of gyros with completely different topping and sauce combos. It wasn’t fancy, however it was SO GOOD we nearly ate there the second evening (however ended up at Woman Might as an alternative).
Pop Brothers
After a protracted stroll, we handled ourselves to some connoisseur popsicles at Pop Brothers. It’s situated in “Money Alley” which is adorned with colourful umbrellas overhead and graphic sidewalk artwork under. There are dozens of artisan popsicle flavors to select from (I did Vietnamese Espresso and Sherry did chocolate peanut butter). We extremely advocate paying the additional greenback to have it dipped in chocolate!
Sadly we missed getting a New Orleans-style snow cone at close by Caboose Cones, which had closed for the winter season. However I think about it’s an iconic place to chill off in the summertime.
We additionally loved some novelty sweet on the Sweet Cottage, which is true subsequent door to Woman Might. It had TONS of customized chocolate creations, plus the same old favs.
What To Do in Oceans Springs
The seaside is definitely a giant draw for Ocean Springs, however even in November we discovered a lot to maintain us busy out of the water. Principally it concerned strolling round, exploring, dropping into outlets, and taking within the lovely neighborhoods.
A number of Historic Downtown Ocean Springs seems just like the streets pictured above and under. Cozy sidewalks, large oak bushes, and enjoyable little outlets, parks, and houses alongside the way in which.
Ocean Springs appears to have a vibrant artwork scene too, with one common cease downtown being the Walter Anderson Museum of Artwork. Lots of people additionally discuss Shearwater Pottery, however we sadly didn’t make it there throughout open hours.
The subsequent block down is the aforementioned Springs Lodge, which can be house to a floral and artwork store known as Palmette.
I stayed outdoors with Penny whereas Sherry and the children shopped. Based mostly on the period of time spent, I may inform it was one in every of their favourite stops!
Sherry purchased this brass tiger pendant there and loves it endlessly.
I don’t keep in mind the identify of each little retailer we stopped into, however that was sort of the enjoyable of it. There was all the time one thing fascinating to see.
My solely want is that Ocean Springs had a neighborhood bookshop (we love trying out unbiased bookstores on trip). We did come throughout a number of Little Free Libraries, so I suppose that was a detailed second!
It was additionally enjoyable being downtown as issues had been beginning to get decked out for the vacations. We even received to see the toy retailer actively hanging theirs!
Along with procuring the downtown, we additionally loved strolling down a few of the neighborhood streets to admire the properties. I’ve by no means thought a lot about what a “quintessential coastal Mississippi” neighborhood would possibly appear like, however in some way Ocean Springs is strictly that. It positively had a number of New Orleans vibes, with lovely outdated properties, native outlets, and tree-lined streets.
There have been a lot of sprawling porches, picket fences, and large mossy oaks.
Presumably the perfect half about our go to to Ocean Springs is that we left wanting to return again. Whereas I believe we hit a number of highlights in our brief go to, it looks like we may use extra time to soak it in, absolutely chill out into its laid-back vibe, and possibly bike round city or hang around on the seaside on a summer time day.
Oh, and I really need a type of snow cones from the prepare caboose.
Ocean Springs, Mississippi: A Recap
For those who’re searching for all of the issues we talked about in a single spot, right here ya go!
The place to Keep:
The place to Eat
The place to Store & Browse
Extra Household Journeys We’ve Taken
For those who’re focused on our tackle different locations or are in quest of family-friendly journeys, you may also get pleasure from these posts:
