I Do Love Ocean Springs

March 27-31, 2025                                                     Most Recent Posts:
Davis Bayou Campground              Walter Anderson and Shearwater Pottery
Gulf Islands National Seashore                        Florida’s Tallest Waterfall
Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Among the many things to do in the sweet town of Ocean Springs is the Fresh Market on Saturday Morning.  It is held in the parking lot of the vintage train station which also contains the VERY small visitor’s center to the right of building’s center and Realizations, the Walter Anderson Shop on the left end.

Everything Walter Anderson is in there.  Books, prints, pottery clothing, scarves and more.  Those who know me, know well how much I hate to shop, even the grocery store.  But I could have spent all day in this small two room shop.  So engaged was I that I took no pictures. 

But I did do this one of what I finally purchased.  A long sleeve T shirt which I love, 2 bookmarks and a new keychain for Winnona.  If you enlarge the picture you may be able to see that the book mark is pelicans and the keychain a crab.

My budget is small as is space in Winnona.
Were both of those not true I could have spent a serious amount of money in this wonderful place.  I was very proud of myself that I bought no books.

Back to the Saturday Fresh Market

I love mushrooms.  These folks call themselves Down Home Mushrooms.  They had some amazing ones.  Guess which ones went home with me?

This is a picture of the ones just outside the left edge of the photo above.  Can you believe the size of them?

Here is the answer to the question which did I buy.  At home, on a plate, just before slice and fry in butter.  Fantastic wild but sweet flavor.  I would eat a lot of mushrooms if I lived in Ocean Springs.

Of course at a Fresh market there were Fresh vegetables.

I loved his sign and as pretty much everyone  knows, I have many many sweet teeth but you may be surprised to hear that Pralines are actually too sweet for me.

But donuts are another story.  Their sweet is just right.  In my hometown of Charlottesville Virginia there was for many years a family run donut shop called Spud Nuts.  They made the hands down best fresh donuts ever and as a bonus you could get them hot with chocolate drizzle or coconut.  When I saw there was a Tato Nut shop in Ocean Springs I was there.

Here’s what I brought home.  As you can see unlike Spudnuts, Tato nuts has things other than donuts.  As much as they are beloved in Ocean Springs, their coconut donut could not match up to my hometown favorites.   I grieve their retirement every time I am back in C’ville.

Marshall Park in Ocean Springs is a lovely oasis with gorgeous mature trees.  In 1989, Historic Ocean Springs Association relocated the original 1911 bandstand back to the center of the park.

From atop the bandstand  you can view the three lovely murals done by Walter Anderson’s grandson artist Christopher Ingles Sibley.  The Anderson legacy is evident in them.

You can look closely at the detail by enlarging the picture.

Not the same as his grandfather’s work but the influence is evident and I am thrilled to see the artistic vision and style  of Walter Anderson continuing in his family.

IF I were to move to Oceans Springs, I want this as my license plate.  Maybe I’d have to be PELICN2.

On another morning I tried out the sweets shop French Kiss Pastries.

I’m sure it was much busier earlier in the morning.  Looking in the case, that was evident.

Although I was a bit late for much choice in pastries, I settled for a favorite of mine, pecan roll.   Seen here after I got it home.

I could spend days visiting the Walter Anderson Museum of Art and wandering around Ocean Springs up and down their streets lined with wonderful oak trees like this huge one that I could not get entirely in the picture.  It’s located across from the library which frequent readers know is always a stop of mine in any town.

 

More lovely oaks  in front of the library.

Ocean Springs library does not disappoint.  Wonderful displays of current books with comfy chairs for reading, an entire section of used books for sale where I could not help but pick up a couple and an enchanting children’s section

The ends of the bookshelves made me smile.

I’m ready for crawfish so I had lunch at The Lady May.

They have three different crawfish dishes and I wish I could have tried them all.  Obviously I will have to return and stay longer to do that.  This one, on their brunch menu, is called Biscuit Monica.  Fried Crawfish with cream sauce served on a homemade biscuit with sausage.   It was delicious

And finally, how about this public art installation hanging above Cash Alley?  That’s Pop Brothers, as in Popsicle shop, in the background.

Although I wanted to end this post with the Cash Alley picture, I couldn’t resist the chalk board menu seen above at Pop Brothers.  What fun!  So many different types and flavors of popsicles.  Who knew?  And there are Poptails too.  Hope you can read the menu.

This was a difficult post to do since I have so many more pictures.  It covers only a small part of all that I saw on my many days of just walking in Ocean Springs.  Hope it’s clear that it’s one of my very favorite places. 

I fantasize about what it would be like to live in this seemingly great place but then I think about being permanently so far away from Carrie and about the probable politics of the area and the probable hurricanes.  But I can dream and maybe visit once a year???