Biloxi Beach Bliss

Last year at this time, my husband was graduating from Seminary, and our whole family celebrated with a trip to the beach.  I found a great deal on groupon for the South Beach Biloxi Hotel and Suites in Mississippi - a beach I had never visited, but the hotel looked so inviting, we decided to take a risk.

It was worth it!  The accommodations, the views, the peaceful location - everything was just what we hoped for.

First of all, the hotel is right on the beach.  There is no busy road to cross to get to the beach with your family.  The suite we stayed in had two bedrooms with a full kitchen and living room.  As much as I like eating out on vacation, it was really nice to just stay a beach bum and not have to clean up to go out to eat for every meal.

The next incredible feature of this hotel was the floor to ceiling windows in every room facing the ocean.  The view was breathtaking.  When my husband took the kids down to play in the sand, my mom and I could sit and watch them from our comfy swivel chairs in the living room and read our books.  It provided the perfect opportunity for rest that we all needed.

This was my view from the balcony off of our suite.  The beaches were rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina and they are really lovely.  The water is very shallow, so you can walk a long ways out into the water without ever getting in over our heads.  We could see dolphins swimming in the mornings, and enjoyed watching birds and boats as they drifted through our landscape. Someone had written their confessed love in the sand which inspired my recently graduated Challenge A son to draw his map in the sand!

Beach vacations are lovely because there is so much that can be done for free.  Watching the sun set and playing in the soft cool sand at twilight offered the perfect evening entertainment, followed by games and movies in the comfort of our own suite- at no additional cost!

Whenever we were planning our trip, I looked for any historical sites to visit while we were there.  My mother loves presidential libraries...and rightly so.  More than simply a collection of the president's books, these libraries are museums curated with relics from their presidency.  When I searched near Biloxi, I found the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library was just down the street from where we were staying.  Quickly, I ran through my handy song of the presidents to find out where he served in the line up.  Funny thing - he isn't in my president's song because he was the president for the Confederates while they were separated from the Union.

I love when we can combine our vacations with educational outings.  The Beauvoir was a beautiful home, and we enjoyed a carriage ride around the property.  The best part of traveling in May is that typically, you have the place to yourself.

It's always hard to leave such a lovely place, but we received what we desired - rest and fellowship.  What more could you want?