Wanderlust Chronicles: A Journey of Discovery : Biloxi, Mississippi: Casinos, Food, and History

Mississippi. The name alone conjures up images in my mind of bayous, giant river deltas, alligators, palm trees, and the feeling of walking into a wall of heat. I had never been to Mississippi before and I was really pretty unsure of what I would see, it didn't disappoint me.

First we went to the casino, and we won some money. I figured we were off to a great start that night at the Hard Rock Cafe hotel and casino. Sure it was only a $100 bucks, but still, it was pretty cool. We listened to a musician- Eugene Eash, and just enjoyed the friendly, laid back atmosphere of the casino and bar. I was told the casinos used to be on the ocean on boats, until Katrina. Now they put them on the land. Some of them seemed to still be under construction.

We ate at the Phoenician. I guess they are famous for their Mediterranean food. Our waiter recited the entire menu from memory. It seemed a little excessive, but when I heard what I wanted, I just blocked the rest of it out. This is a BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer) establishment, but it is really fancy. I had never eaten at a place where you can bring your own beer, wine, or spirits with you. If you eat here bring a bottle of wine. It's amazing how doing that can cut down on the cost of your meal.

We played laser tag, I had never done that before. Sadly I am really terrible at it, I had 8 hits. Total. I also had a striped shirt on which was highly visible in the black light, so I made for a pretty easy target. Also, once you were shot all of your equipment shuts off for 10 seconds. We went bowling and played in the arcade after that. Most of this stuff could be done just about anywhere, but it was the company we kept made it a great day!

We also went to a ceramics museum, this was the Orh-O'keefe Museum. Although the foundation that supports it is Georgia O'keefe, so it would appear there would be some of her paintings. There was not. The person at the desk did not tell us this until after our tickets were purchased. The museum was dedicated to her and it contained ceramics from George Orh. Other than that the place was really interesting. There is a whole building dedicated to African American art and there is a house that was built by a free black man named Pleasant Reed. It was the first house in Mississippi built by a free black man, although there were probably others, Mr. Reed married an educated woman and she got all the papers together so they weren't considered squatters. The house was wiped out when Katrina hit and it was re-built. It was really a pretty cool little building with a really old chest freezer and artifacts. There was also a short film about Pleasant Reed's life.

We ate a place called Mary Mahoney's. It was delicious. There were interesting pictures on the walls, and the building had been around a long time. I think my favorite was of the founder's faces on paintings of Napoleon and Josephine. The back porch was converted to a large glass wall, while eating you can look outside but you don't have to suffer the oppressive Mississippi heat. The building was obviously historical, with old posts for horses outside and with it's size it looked like a plantation house. The owners have run the place for sometime and they are usually around.

Finally, last but certainly not least, the reason we came, "The Shed". This BBQ joint boasts the best sauce in Mississippi, I think possibly the world. Their actually ranking from the NBBQA (National BBQ Association) was number one in Mild tomato BBQ sauce. They got a lot of other awards from NBBQA as well. I was thoroughly impressed with the service they had. When I sat near the door and waited for my order to be called I watched the front door, every person that entered was greeted with the same friendly hello. The customers that were local loved telling me stories about the old smoker that started the place and how big the restaurant has grown in past years. I really don't eat meat very often, but I couldn't pass up a chance to try the BBQ, so I indulged a little and tried the Brisket. It was really good, they pull it apart, so it isn't exactly like a full brisket, but it's still really, really delicious. It's their own modification on the beef.

It was really cool to watch the filming of the TV show. The show is going to be on the Food Network and I look forward to seeing it. The people that work at The Shed are super nice and interesting as well! Southern Hospitality is not lost on them. The energy is great, there is signs posted everywhere about having a good attitude, not tolerating cussing, and just plain being nice to one another, good advice for everybody anywhere!