2011 Marriage in Ocean Springs
Gail and I went to my brother's daughter's wedding in Ocean Springs,
MS,
in May 2011. Our daughter was going to go, but decided not to at
the last minute.
Note -- click on the
thumbnails below to see larger images.
Note -- markers below can be found on this
interactive Google map.
Friday, May 6th, 2011
We flew on Delta to Mobile, AL, with a stop
in Memphis, TN (Delta had recently aquired Northwest Airlines, which
had a hub in Memphis). For some reason flights to Mobile were
considerably cheaper than flights to Gulfport, MS, or New Orleans, and
the Mobile airport is only about 50 miles from Ocean Springs. Both
flights were on small commuter planes, which meant that our carry-on
suitcases were checked at no cost just before we boarded the plane. As
we approached the Mississippi River in western Tennessee, we could see
serious flooding first on its tributaries and then on the Mississippi
itself. The left photo shows the Mississippi River north of Memphis (I
think it is Tipton County, TN, across the river from Osceola, AR).
The Mississippi had not been so
high in Memphis
since 1937.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express just North of Ocean Springs
(Marker A on this Google map).
At the recommendation of the hotel staff,
we went to Mikey's
on the Bayou (Marker B), a casual seafood restaurant
overlooking Old Fort Bayou. The food was good, and the staff
friendly. After dinner we drove down to Front Beach Drive in Ocean
Springs and then crossed over to Biloxi on the new bridge that replaced
the one Hurricane Katrina destroyed. Damage from Katrina was still
evident in Biloxi especially near the water. Later we met my brother,
his other daughter, and her husband for drinks at Kwitzky's in downtown Ocean
Springs (Marker C). Ocean Springs had many more bars and shops
than when I last visited about 10 years ago.
Saturday, May 7th, 2011
Saturday morning we drove down to the Ocean
Springs beach at the end of Washington Ave. and walked out onto the
pier (Marker D). A boy was
fishing using a large net, which attracted the interest of two great
blue herons. The birds would let you get within about 10 feet (left
photo), at least when there were small fish lying on the deck of the
pier. We then walked around downtown Ocean Springs and stopped for
donuts at the Tato-Nut
Shop (Marker E; right photo). On my earlier visits, we had coffee
and donuts there almost every
morning . We met my brother for lunch at one of his
old favorite restaurants BB's
PoBoys & Seafood (Marker F). The soup and sandwiches were
delicious.
Saturday afternoon we went to the wedding
reception, which was at the home the groom's sister near Mikey's. There
were about 45 people there, but only four of us related to the bride.
The weather was very pleasant, which made sitting at tables on the back
lawn very comfortable (right photo). The groom's father roasted (left
photo) a 90-lb.
pig for the occasion. It takes about 8 hours, and the meat was tender
and delicious. The presentation of the snout (left photo) is an unusual
tradition. We got to meet a lot of interesting peiople
including a professor at Virginia Tech and the groom's sister who is
studying oceanography at NASA's Michoud facility. 
The bride entertained us with stories about her pet turtles (who
would come when called) and the foxes that would eat from her hand.
There were the traditional photos plus one
with me, 
my brother, and the cook. Later that night we returned with my brother
to Kwitzky's; a
street fair was under way on Government St.
Sunday, May 8th, 2011
We left Sunday
morning to catch our 10:49 am flight out of Mobile. After stopping in
Atlanta, we were back in Baltimore at about 5 pm.