Road Trip: Gulf Coast Magic
See three states in three days as you wind your way through the swampy South.
Words by Stephanie Granada
Photography by Rush Jagoe
Illustrations by Zoe More O’Ferrall
Along the Gulf of Mexico — where busy ports and the Mississippi River attract business from all over — life is a cultural mélange. As you cruise the coast from New Orleans to the Panhandle, similarities are evident: The same hardships (hurricanes, oil spills), riches (bountiful waters), and trades (fishing, military, shipbuilding) have shaped a people with perseverance and imagination. Snake along Highway 90 on this three-part road trip and you’ll see each town’s personality come to life. Down here, it’s paradise with a little grit. That’s the way we like it.
NEW ORLEANS
Music flows freely, and the best show may be one you see on the go: an orchestra in a Bywater parking lot or a sax player in the French Quarter. This is magnified during Jazz Fest, a spring celebration of the genre’s bayou beginnings, but great music is common year-round. For time’s sake, keep your ears peeled and skip the jazz clubs.
Most travelers focus on the French Quarter, but you’ll get a better feel for the new New Orleans in the Bywater. Local host and tour guide Cheryl Radosta adds that the hood is very bikeable. “Ride St. Claude Avenue by the shotgun houses,” she says. “Many have been transformed into restaurants and galleries.” At Music Box Village, architecture and music merge in a junkyard-assembled playground and market. It’s a burgeoning theme here: creatives turning rubble into magic and voicing alternatives to the status quo. Minutes away, muralist and activist Brandan “BMike” Odums raises questions on civil rights in his huge Studio BE.
Local chefs are branching out from the down-home realm with modern dishes as diverse as the city. Eat at Magazine Street’s Saffron NOLA, where regional staples are infused with Indian flavor, like Bombay-spiced Gulf shrimp. Afterward, grab a drink at the rooftop bar Hot Tin in the Pontchartrain Hotel, then head to the nautical-inspired Seaworthy, which serves sustainable oysters until 1 a.m., at the Ace Hotel. “New Orleans is very social,” says Radosta. “People don’t go home after work. They’ll meet for coffee or cocktails — mostly cocktails.”
MISSISSIPPI TO ALABAMA
Cruising out of Louisiana on Highway 90, marshlands and stilted fish camps lead the way to Mississippi’s 62-mile stretch of Gulf. Once obliterated by Hurricane Katrina, what stands today is a mostly untapped coast attracting young artists and naturalists. The first postcard-perfect hamlet is Bay St. Louis. Call ahead to book a Shore Thing fishing charter. They’ll tell you the best spots to hook your own dinner. The chef at the adjacent fish shack, the Blind Tiger, can cook your catch.
Move along to Gulfport and Biloxi, where gambling has had a strong influence on tourism. These days cultural draws like the Ohr- O’Keefe Museum of Art, a Frank Gehry–designed celebration of eccentric potter George Ohr, are tuning out the glare of the mini-Vegas. Farther down the road, the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum holds centuries of sailing, crabbing, and marine treasures in a glass-encased beauty meant to evoke a ship in a bottle.
Things slow way down as you roll into Ocean Springs, where the oak-canopied streets, clapboard cottages, and unhurried pace may inspire a new life plan. First stop is the Greenhouse on Porter for pour-over coffee and biscuits served on a hoop-house patio. Scoot around the Washington Avenue shops, and end at the Walter Anderson Museum, dedicated to the work of the cornerstone of this arts community. Then get a taste of the Delta at the Juke Joint, in a ramshackle century-old home.
Next up is Mobile, Alabama, a port city that used to be a ghost town and is now on the verge of exploding, thanks in large part to music institutions like Callaghan’s Irish Social Club. The owner’s knack for catching bands on the upswing brings the likes of Shovels & Rope and Alabama Shakes through the blue-collar pub. Dinner should be at Southern National, where Mobile Mardi Gras street fare, like chicken on a stick, is reinvented. Pick up the next day in Bienville Square so you can hop around to galleries like the Alabama Contemporary Art Center; the current exhibition explores the town’s sanctioned relationship with sister city Havana, Cuba.
THE PANHANDLE
Get on I-10 toward Pensacola, Florida, to bypass beach traffic. Take the exit for Perdido Key. Right on the Alabama-Florida line, this sleepy community is a hop-skip from Gulf Shores, so you can still have access to its lively bar scene. Set up shop on Johnson Beach for the afternoon. If the stars align, you may see the Blue Angels flying practice runs overhead. Their base camp is at nearby Pensacola Naval Air Station.
Pensacola has long drawn tourists with its naval base, well-preserved historic district, and, more recently, its minor league stadium overlooking the water. But it never enjoyed much of a cool factor until now. Tap into the artisanal culture by booking a visit to Bare Hand Collective, which houses the studio spaces of woodworkers, painters, and other creators. At lunchtime, follow the chefs to Joe Patti’s, a tiny version of Seattle’s Pike Place Market with a sushi joint in the back. For a nice dinner out, Iron’s chef, Alex McPhail, who worked at the NOLA institution Commander’s Palace, showcases the bounty’s flavors in downtown’s farm-to-fork spot.
Stock up on snacks at Saturday’s Palafox farmers’ market, then head south on Highway 98 and onto 399 to Pensacola Beach, located on a skinny barrier island with story-high sand dunes and azure water. A mix of white quartz and algae create a Technicolor dreamscape that draws the droves. Driving along the island, with its tight building restrictions and Gulf Islands National Seashore designation, is your best bet for stumbling onto an unspoiled lot.
If you have more time, consider returning on U.S. 98 to the idyllic little world of Seaside, just under two hours from Pensacola and the location for the film The Truman Show. With shore-front gourmet food trucks set up in Airstream trailers and the coolest boardwalks, each creatively designed in its own unique way, it’s a charm-filled beach town completely deserving of an extra pit stop.
About the author: Stephanie Granada is a Colombian-American freelance writer, who splits her time between Florida and Colorado. She’s into books, her dog, all things ocean-related, and small towns. You can also find her work in Sunset, Woman’s Day, National Geographic Traveler, Southern Living, and others.
