Extended Weekend Getaways “When you’re happy you enjoy the music. When you’re sad you understand the lyrics.” ANON
By Renée S. Gordon
History Travel Writer
Original published in our February 2025 issue.
Their legendary stories speak to the nature of the entire coast. The Pascagoula lived in the region in peace until confronted by the fierce Biloxi tribe. As the legend goes a Biloxi princess, Anola, met and loved Altama, chief of the Pascagoula. The enraged Biloxi attacked the Pascagoula, hoping to enslave the entire tribe. The Pascagoula women, sensing doom, sang a death chant and led the entire tribe into the Pascagoula River. It is said that you can still hear them sing in what is forever known as the Singing River.
Pascagoula boasts a number of historic districts and a bike trail and river cruise that wind through and around them. Pascagoula Beach Park offers access to an artificial sand beach and has a seawall overlooking the Mississippi Sound. Jimmy Buffett was born here and in 2003 the city named a 249.9-ft. long bridge in his honor. The Katrina Memorial and Walking Trail portrays the patterns of the tidal wave that hit Pascagoula during the 2005 hurricane. https://cityofpascagoula.com
Locals Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker brought fame to the city in 1973 when they claimed to have been beamed onto an oval alien spacecraft while on the Pascagoula fishing pier. They were examined by a trio of aliens before being returned. In 2019 a marker was placed at the alleged site of the abduction.
A surprising historic site in Pascagoula is the La Pointe-Krebs House and Museum, the oldest standing documented structure, between the Rockies and the Appalachians, in the US. The house was constructed in the 1750s using currently obsolete building techniques. The house has been restored to its 1820s appearance and interprets Colonial and Native American history and the first pre-Whitney cotton gin. The site is referred to as the Old Spanish Fort but it was neither Spanish nor a fort and much of the construction was completed by the plantation’s enslaved population. Guests can tour the 3-room house, the nearby museum and the family cemetery. Exhibits inside the museum give you a view of a replica cotton gin used on the plantation at least 20-years prior to Whitney’s patent. https://lagionalpointekrebs.org
Pass Christian Scenic Drive Historic District was designated a site on the National Register in 1979. The 2-mile drive is filled with oak trees and opulent mansions dating from the 1800s. Wealthy New Orleanians spent summers here to escape Louisiana heat. There are Indian Mounds in the area proving that Native Americans were here many years prior to the explorers. In 1699 French-Canadian explorers named the region. The town became official in 1848 when Charles Asmar, a free black man, willed what is now the land that is the center of town, to his family. Robin Roberts grew up there and a marker indicates her school.
Gulfport, Mississippi has always been a mecca for blues and R&B on both a national and international scale. North Gulfport was outside of police jurisdiction and clubs flourished there. In the 1900s Robert Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton and Ma Rainey were known to perform there in both clubs and tent shows.
The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall was built in Bay St. Louis in 1922 by the One Hundred Members’ Debating Benevolent Association as a fraternal, benevolent, society to assist in gaining political and economic advances. The 100 Men Hall presented music performances by famous musical acts, eventually becoming an important stop on the Chitlin Circuit (venues where blacks could perform).
The Bay St. Louis Train Depot highlights regional history and Mardi Gras Costumes. Do not miss the Mississippi Blues Trail exhibit on the lower level. This is the same station from which musicians would head north to make their fortunes by spreading a melodic message. #Baystlouis
We are back to Biloxi, where the good times still roll and you will see it with a new vision looking through the eyes of lyrical legends. Coastal Mississippi was a both a journey’s end and a pit stop for musicians, music lovers, visitors, gamblers and hustlers. Numerous venues were filled with patrons in search of a good time. 
Clubs did not always cater to African Americans so they created their own with the best entertainment and gambling opportunities. One portion of Biloxi’s main street was primarily for black clientele. A Mississippi Blues Trail Marker is situated on Murray and Main Sts.
The allure of the coast tends to be focused on the scenic beauty, gaming venues, entertainment and unique attractions. While these things elevate the average vacation into something truly memorable, the Gulf Coast has a number of additional, singular, sites that should not to be overlooked.
There is always more in Mississippi!
