Down Around Biloxi

OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI - We left Fairhope on Sunday morning, April 12, having decided to avoid the big roads north through Mobile and instead go south across the mouth of the bay, hugging the coast into Ocean Springs, Mississippi. (Do you remember having to learn to spell all the states and their capitals, and the sheer joy of the letters in Mississippi rolling across your tongue!?)

The coastal route requires a ferry ride between the two great forts—Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines—that once protected both sides of the bay at its mouth. They reminded us of Fort Moultrie and its site protecting the entry into Charleston Harbor. All three forts have been involved in wars stretching back to the 18^th century at least. But Morgan and Gaines in Alabama have a special claim on history. It was past them that Admiral Farragut sailed the Union fleet—“damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”—to take Mobile, a great Union victory. Sherman took Atlanta the following month, September 1864, and these victories had a big impact in securing Lincoln’s re-election, which Lincoln, at least, had thought was doubtful.

In any case the 40-minute ferry ride was what all ferry rides are supposed to be—totally uneventful. We disembarked on Dauphin Island, which is linked to the mainland by a long series of bridges and causeways. Perhaps it was the gloomy day and the rain, but we did not see much to get excited about on Dauphin. Hurricanes have treated it badly, and the new beach houses on the western end look like giant spiders up on their legs moving across totally exposed dunes. Dauphin would have made a better protected national seashore, we’re guessing without knowing much.

The most interesting part of the drive into Ocean Springs in Mississippi was seeing the huge Gulf fishing fleet docked at Bayou La Batre. Impressively large! And then quickly we found ourselves in the old village of Ocean Springs on Biloxi Bay. Indeed, you can see the Biloxi area casinos across the bay from the Ocean Springs beach.

Biloxi across the bay.

Ocean Springs seems to have at least three regions. Part of it is an endless fairly upscale strip mall along US 90. It’s so long the national chains and car dealerships start repeating themselves. Another section is large, mostly beautiful older homes along the waterfront. There’s a lovely harbor there too.

Fishing boats in harbor

Our friend George grew up in a special one of these waterfront homes, the Lewis Sullivan House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Lewis Sullivan Now called the Charnley-Norwood House it is a project of the hurricane relief grant program for historic preservation ($1.3 million) post-Katrina. The really wonderful small octagonal cottage next door was completely destroyed in the storm surge but has been rebuilt and it is delightful (and occupied).

George's boyhood home

But the charm of Ocean Springs is the area between US 90 and the beachfront—an area of small, unpretentious older homes, restaurants, shops, galleries, and museums. Pawley’s Island, a beach community in SC, has the motto “arrogantly shabby.” There seems to be some of that here—a commitment to keep the scale, character, and charm the way they have been for a long time. It takes a strong sense of community and good leadership to pull that off.

We stayed here!

It rained hard almost all day Monday and that had the benefit of forcing us inside the town Community Center, the adjoining Walter Anderson Museum of Art, and the Shearwater Pottery complex.

We will show you some of Anderson’s work here and will not try to tell his story. His personal life story is deeply moving, which you can find on Wikipedia and elsewhere and an amazing film shown at the museum may be available online. One huge body of his work was devoted to painting the natural world around the gulf and the results are incredible.

Anderson loved to do murals and in the early 1950s painted all four walls of the Ocean Spring Community Center for $1. All the photos here are from the Community Center murals, except the skimmers. 

 

Anderson’s brother Peter started Shearwater Pottery and the work continues today down through the fourth generation of the three original brothers.

We are off to New Orleans.