Mississippi is an evening of blues music, a history lesson, a treasure hunt for antiques and odd gifts, a place to explore the heavens, a plate full of seafood and barbecue, and more than any one tour itinerary can handle. Here’s a collection of reasons to explore the Magnolia State.
Popular Demand
The MAX
The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in Meridian — known as The MAX — distills Mississippi’s creative juices and serves up a powerful cocktail. Consider the range of talent Mississippi has produced in music, arts and literature: William Faulkner, Morgan Freeman, John Grisham, Jim Henson, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Jimmy Buffett, Sela Ward, Oprah Winfrey and so many more. Their stories live in this landmark $14 million facility.
Mississippi Aquarium
Gulfport’s Mississippi Aquarium opened in 2020 on the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and quickly became a major destination. A Mississippi River representation winds through the property, where indoor and outdoor attractions showcase 200 aquatic species, as well as animals that call wetlands and terra firma home. The Changing Tides Building opened in 2023 with 23 new exhibits. More than 1 million gallons of water are in its freshwater and saltwater tanks. Bottlenose dolphins, sharks, gators, otters and even African penguins are among its residents.
Grammy Museum
The Grammy Awards mean Los Angeles — and Cleveland, Mississippi, too. The Grammy Museum Mississippi is the second museum devoted to the past, present and future of music in general, and it has a special focus on Mississippi’s deep musical roots. It includes an area that tells visitors about the impact of the state’s songwriters, producers and musicians — luminaries such as Jimmie Rodgers, Tammy Wynette, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Marty Stuart and Faith Hill.
B.B. King Museum
B.B. King, the legendary blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, was a son of the Mississippi Delta, and the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola recalls his life and career. Its collection, housed in a restored cotton gin where King once worked, explores the Delta’s culture and the origin of blues music through videos and memorabilia about King and other blues musicians. Visitors can take a picture with the bronze statue of King and Lucille, his beloved Gibson guitar. Groups can make special arrangements for a meal and a blues performance at a genuine juke joint nearby.
Up and Coming
Queen’s Reward
Honey has value beyond coating a fluffy biscuit at Queen’s Reward, Mississippi’s first meadery. Jeri Carter, already a winemaking hobbyist, began experimenting with mead, the ancient, fermented beverage made with honey, malt and water. National awards led to the opening of Queen’s Reward in downtown Tupelo, which features a tasting room where groups can sample ReBee, with a cranberry accent; Pucker Up, with a twist of lemon; and Delta Dry, with some riesling grape tartness.
The Lucky Rabbit
Visitors don’t need a charm to find treasure at The Lucky Rabbit in Hattiesburg. That’s because treasures fill every square foot of this attraction that combines elements of an antiques store, a flea market, a vintage goods emporium and a crafts mecca. It fills an old hardware and furniture store building, plus an adjacent grocery warehouse. Normal business hours are on weekends, but groups can arrange exclusive weekday access for private treasure hunts.
Paradise Pier Fun Park
When groups need some fun time on their own, Paradise Pier Fun Park in Biloxi serves up plenty of entertainment. It’s especially appealing on a cool coastal evening as the sun sets over the Mississippi Sound. The adventurous can join the younger set on several thrill rides, or visitors can indulge in arcade games, simply watch the action or lean back with a cocktail. An all-ages amusement is the Biloxi Tide Turner, a 180-foot-tall observation wheel overlooking the beach.
McNair-Davis Planetarium
A new era of space exploration for a historic planetarium in Jackson begins this year. The planetarium, first named for former Mayor Russell Davis, opened in 1979, but damage from a violent storm forced it to close in 2018. After major reworking, it is now named the McNair-Davis Planetarium to honor Ronald McNair, one of NASA’s first Black astronauts. He died in the 1984 Challenger mission. A vertical solar system model makes planetary scale understandable — Jupiter is 8 feet in diameter, while Earth is marble-sized.
Overnight Sensations
Threefoot Hotel
Meridian’s Threefoot Hotel is memorable, and not just for its unusual name. It also has a notable history and a distinctive design. When built in 1929-1930 as office space for doctors, lawyers and other professionals, the 16-story art deco tower was Mississippi’s tallest building. It was vacant in the late 1900s until a multimillion-dollar renovation transformed it into a 131-room hotel in Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio collection. The name comes from Michael Threefoot, a German immigrant in the early 1800s. The family speculates that authorities took great liberties when Anglicizing his German name, Dreyfus.
Hotel Tupelo
The fame of Elvis Presley will always help identify Tupelo, his birthplace, but the Hotel Tupelo will gain a reputation of its own over time. The 79-room hotel, a Wyndham property housed in a new (but made to look old) red-brick building, is in the Fairpark District and convenient for strolls to downtown’s dining and shopping opportunities. For those who want to pedal instead of walk, the hotel has bicycles for the short roll to the city’s famous statue of the King in front of Tupelo City Hall.
The White House Hotel
The White House Hotel in Biloxi has a presidential look, but its humble beginnings were as a boarding house in the late 1800s. It evolved into a hotel that attracted visitors to the coast’s sandy beaches and offered guests a rousing time in the roaring twenties. Expansions transformed a row of Victorian homes into today’s white stucco structure. It sat vacant for 30 years in the late 1900s and survived Hurricane Katrina. Restoration in 2013 produced a 76-room boutique hotel, where guests still enjoy ocean views, beach breezes and shady live oak trees.
Memorable Meals
Mayflower Cafe
Mayflower Cafe in Jackson is a casual spot, but it has deep roots. Greek immigrants opened it in 1935 and built a loyal following through three decades of family ownership. New owners in 2024 brought James Beard credentials and still retained the ambiance and hospitality of the past. They even serve blue-plate specials like Tuesday’s Greek-influenced feta-brined fried chicken. Its sibling restaurant is the fine-dining establishment, Elvie’s.
The Shed
Call the architectural style of The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint in Ocean Springs ramshackle, hodgepodge or maybe even junky, but remember that no one goes to a barbeque joint for its aesthetics. The Shed got its start in 2000 when brother and sister Brad and Brooke Orrison opened a takeout barbeque stand. It morphed into one of Mississippi’s most famous destinations for glorious pulled pork spiced with live music on weekends.
