Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Ocean Springs knows how to mix up the perfect coastal cocktail: take laid back beach vibes, add a splash of serious art scene, and finish with fresh Gulf seafood.
This small Mississippi town serves up big flavors and even bigger culture, without the tourist crowds. Here’s what makes Ocean Springs worth a stop.
It’s Old But Not Trying Too Hard About It
Ocean Springs began in 1699 when the French dropped anchor and established Fort Maurepas, the first permanent European outpost in the entire Mississippi Valley as a settlement that would become part of early French colonial territory.
The town didn’t get its current name until 1854, when some doctor decided the local springs had healing properties and started marketing the place as a health retreat believing the local springs had healing qualities.
Unlike other “historic” towns that beat you over the head with restored colonial bullshit and gift shops selling tricorn hats, Ocean Springs wears its age casually.
The history is there in the old L&N train depot, the 1927 schoolhouse, and the massive live oaks that survived countless hurricanes, but nobody’s making a big performance about it.
The Food Scene Punches Way Above Its Weight
In a town of only 18,000 people, you’d expect maybe one decent restaurant and a bunch of frozen shrimp baskets.
Instead, Ocean Springs has evolved into a dining mecca for foodies with over 100 restaurants and bars that would make cities ten times its size jealous.
Hit Vestige, where Chef Alex draws inspiration from Japan, where his partner, Kumi, grew up, creating the kind of contemplative, seasonal food you’d expect in Portland or San Francisco.
The James Beard Foundation has noticed, nominating him as a semi-finalist. Make a reservation or don’t bother.
For something more casual but no less serious, go to Aunt Jenny’s Catfish Restaurant. Housed in a historic antebellum home built in the 1850s, they serve all-you-can-eat pond-raised catfish, fried shrimp, and southern fried chicken family-style under 500-year-old oak trees at the mouth of the Bay of Biloxi.
The restaurant’s cellar houses the Julep Room Lounge, which was reportedly a favorite hangout of Elvis Presley and is known to host mischievous spirits that unscrew light bulbs and turn on faucets.
Over at the Greenhouse on Porter serves buttery biscuits that could make a grown man weep. Grab a coffee, sit in the actual greenhouse out back among the plants, and thank whatever god you believe in that places like this still exist.
Walter Anderson Was the Real Deal
Walter Anderson might be the most authentic American artist you’ve never heard of.
He lived here, painted obsessively, and occasionally rowed himself out to Horn Island where he’d stay for weeks, living wild and documenting the natural world in watercolors so immediate and honest they make you remember what art was supposed to be about before it got swallowed by commerce and pretension.
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art doesn’t feel like a museum so much as a window into one man’s complete devotion to seeing the world as it is.
His “Little Room,” preserved in the museum, is what happens when an artist turns his own living space into a total work of art – floor-to-ceiling murals he created in private that nobody saw until after his death.
Shearwater Pottery Survived the Corporate Century
In 1928, Walter’s brother Peter Anderson set up Shearwater Pottery, making the kind of functional art objects that were meant to be used, not just displayed behind glass.
Peter’s son Jim is still the main potter there today, continuing a family business that’s maintained its integrity through nearly a century.
Front Beach Isn’t Trying to Be South Beach
Front Beach is a short walk from downtown where you can dig your toes in the sand just a short walk from downtown, without high-rises shadowing the sand or clubs thumping EDM at 11 AM.
The water isn’t Caribbean blue – it’s Gulf water, sometimes clear, sometimes not, depending on the Mississippi River’s mood.
Families set up for the day. Old guys fish off the pier. Dogs chase balls into the surf. It feels lived-in, not performed.
Downtown Hasn’t Been Completely Mall-ified
Most small-town main streets in America have been gutted by Walmart, killed by Amazon, or Disney-fied into precious boutique overload. Somehow, Ocean Springs’ downtown managed to avoid all three fates.
Washington Avenue and Government Street are lined with over 200 independent shops, galleries, restaurants and nightlife venues.
The Art Isn’t Just in Museums
This is a town where art bleeds out beyond gallery walls. The Ocean Springs Art Association represents more than 300 local artists, and you’ll find their work hanging in nearly every restaurant, shop, and public building.
The Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival has been running for over four decades, drawing artists from across the region.
The Shed Is Everything a BBQ Joint Should Be
Just outside town, The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint looks like it might collapse if you sneeze too hard.
The smoke from the pits hits you half a mile away. The ribs are what God intended: smoky, sticky, requiring significant napkinage and possibly a post-meal clothing change.
Blues music plays while you eat at picnic tables, usually next to a mix of bikers, families, and the occasional lost tourist who can’t believe they found something this authentic by accident.
Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center
The Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center includes art galleries, a theater, music studios, and a culinary kitchen where you can take cooking classes.
The place has a comfortable, lived-in feel. There’s no air of pretension, no sense that you need an advanced degree to participate.
It Survived Katrina and Didn’t Lose Its Soul
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hammered Ocean Springs with a 28-foot storm surge destroying many buildings along the shoreline and the Biloxi Bay Bridge that connected the town to Biloxi.
The destruction was spectacular and complete in parts of town. Where other places might have used disaster as an excuse to bulldoze history and start fresh with condos and chain restaurants, Ocean Springs rebuilt largely as it was.
The new bridge opened in 2007, more beautiful than its predecessor. The old buildings were restored rather than replaced. The community’s response to catastrophe says everything about its character.
That said, drop by the TatoNut Donut Shop that’s been owned and operated by the Mohler family since 1960.
Located on Government Street in downtown, this iconic establishment is known for its unique donuts made with potato flour, which gives them their characteristically light and tender texture.
Their signature “Katrina Pieces” were created during Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath when supplies were limited, using the irregular edges of dough that were typically discarded.
Gulf Islands National Seashore Is Wild America
Just minutes from town, Gulf Islands National Seashore offers the increasingly rare experience of undeveloped coastline.
This protected stretch of barrier islands, maritime forests, and wetlands lets you see what this coast looked like before humans started paving everything.
This is where Walter Anderson would row out to Horn Island, spending weeks in solitude painting the wildlife and landscape. You can take boat tours to the islands or kayak the marshes where mullet jump and ospreys dive.
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