By no means heard of Ocean Springs, Mississippi? Neither had we! However it caught our eye on round-ups like Southern Residing’s 15 Most Lovely Small Cities and USA At the moment’s 10 Finest Coastal Small Cities the place it ranked #1. So a couple of months in the past our household determined to test it out for ourselves. It did NOT disappoint! We truly thought-about detouring by way of 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 tons to discover. In truth it reminded us A LOT of Cape Charles, the little Virginia seashore city the place we renovated two properties. Each locations are tremendous walkable, have a bunch of enjoyable retailers 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 seashore (though it did get into the low 70s every day). However even with out having fun with the water, we discovered lots to do in Ocean Springs.
The place is Ocean Springs, Mississippi?
Ocean Springs is positioned on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, proper throughout the Biloxi Bay from, properly, Biloxi. It’s about 3 hours west of our dwelling 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, retailers, 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 plenty of short-term leases in addition to boutique motels and B&Bs, so there are numerous lodging choices – together with stylish ones like the trendy cabins on the Beatnik Motel.
We stayed at a dog-friendly Airbnb proper off of one of many important downtown streets, which was clear and well-stocked, however after strolling round many areas there, we wouldn’t suggest 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 Road that we might choose to remain in subsequent time. This one known as Gaslamp Home is slightly expensive, 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 Resort, which seemed like an up to date previous farmhouse. The pool space seems superior on the web site too!
Barely nearer to downtown is The Springs Resort, which additionally homes a cool floral and reward store known as Palmette (extra on that later). That’s why Sherry is marching so determinedly into the resort under!
I stayed outdoors with the canine, however Sherry acquired to sneak some peaks of the within of the resort whereas buying. It was tremendous properly designed!
I imply, simply have a look at the toilet!
We have been positively pleasantly shocked 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 couple of dinners… plus some desserts! Right here’s an inventory of the place we went, with extra information and pics under:
- Vivid Eyed Brew Co
- The TatoNut Store (donuts)
- Fats Spoon Cafe
- Girl Could
- Glory Sure Gyro Co
- Pop Brothers (popsicles)
- Sweet Cottage
We additionally ate an awesome brunch on the Fats Spoon Cafe, however didn’t take any pictures!
Girl Could
We cherished Girl Could a lot that we ate there twice – as soon as for dinner after which the following morning for brunch. That they had an awesome 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 discovered, is a sister restaurant to Girl Could. It additionally had burgers, salads, and pizzas but additionally tons of gyros with totally 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 Girl Could as an alternative).
Pop Brothers
After a protracted stroll, we handled ourselves to some gourmand popsicles at Pop Brothers. It’s positioned 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 suggest 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 correct subsequent door to Girl Could. It had TONS of customized chocolate creations, plus the standard favs.
What To Do in Oceans Springs
The seashore is definitely an enormous draw for Ocean Springs, however even in November we discovered lots to maintain us busy out of the water. Largely it concerned strolling round, exploring, dropping into retailers, and taking within the stunning neighborhoods.
Plenty of Historic Downtown Ocean Springs seems just like the streets pictured above and under. Cozy sidewalks, large oak bushes, and enjoyable little retailers, parks, and houses alongside the best way.
Ocean Springs appears to have a vibrant artwork scene too, with one standard cease downtown being the Walter Anderson Museum of Artwork. Lots of people additionally speak about Shearwater Pottery, however we sadly didn’t make it there throughout open hours.
The subsequent block down is the aforementioned Springs Resort, which can also be dwelling to a floral and artwork store known as Palmette.
I stayed outdoors with Penny whereas Sherry and the youngsters shopped. Based mostly on the period of time spent, I might inform it was one among their favourite stops!
Sherry purchased this brass tiger pendant there and loves it endlessly.
I don’t bear in mind the title of each little retailer we stopped into, however that was form of the enjoyable of it. There was all the time one thing attention-grabbing to see.
My solely want is that Ocean Springs had a neighborhood bookshop (we love testing impartial bookstores on trip). We did come throughout a number of Little Free Libraries, so I assume that was an in depth second!
It was additionally enjoyable being downtown as issues have been beginning to get decked out for the vacations. We even acquired to see the toy retailer actively hanging theirs!
Along with buying 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 precisely that. It positively had numerous New Orleans vibes, with stunning previous properties, native retailers, and tree-lined streets.
There have been plenty of sprawling porches, picket fences, and large mossy oaks.
Probably one of the best half about our go to to Ocean Springs is that we left wanting to come back again. Whereas I believe we hit numerous highlights in our quick go to, it looks like we might use extra time to soak it in, absolutely calm down into its laid-back vibe, and perhaps bike round city or hang around on the seashore on a summer time day.
Oh, and I really need a kind of snow cones from the prepare caboose.
Ocean Springs, Mississippi: A Recap
When you’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
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