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Moynan, referring to Hancock County, Miss., home to Bay St. Louis, just a skip over the state line from Louisiana’s St. Tammany Parish.
A former Algiers Point resident, Moynan defected to the Bay, as local say, and now owns Serenity Place, a large building housing art galleries, an antique book store and revolving artist spaces in the Bay St. Louis Old Town historic district. “Every other person who comes in here seems to be from New Orleans.”
Indeed, work by Crescent City artists was spotted throughout Serenity Place, one of the three dozen or so galleries, boutiques, bars and restaurants that stay open late on the second Saturday of every month from March through December. The flier says the event lasts from 5 to 8 p.m., but it was well after 9 p.m. when we left, and the music was still playing and free wine was still flowing.
The old town packs dozens of cutesy shops into a three-block area, selling everything from kitchen utensils to fine art, garden decor to beach wear. (Regular hours for most shops are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with some also opening for a few hours on Sunday.)
Artist Jim Bonner also traded a New Orleans address for one in Pass Christian, Miss., across a bridge from Bay St. Louis. His Old Town gallery features fish and wildlife paintings. But Bonner, as some New Orleans insiders may know, also is renowned for another sort of art work.
He designed the current Barq’s root beer can logo, among many other designs for area companies (Kentwood Water among them). Above the'cash register at The Bonner Collection, his gallery and gift shop on the corner of Beach Boulevard and Main Street, is a shelf bearing several silver cans with the signature Barq’s sash.
On a recent Second Saturday, one big Barq’s fan struck up a conversation with Bonner about the design. At the end of their chat, the fan sheepishly asked to have his picture snapped with Bonner and one of those cans. The artist, a Meridian native, gave a gracious Southern smile as he accepted, holding out his famous handiwork as the camera clicked.
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You never know when you might turn a corner and find someone playing the blues in the old part of Bay St. Louis.
In attitude, although not in distance, the Bay St. Louis Old Town is miles from the casinos and chain restaurants that cover much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. While nice to be near the activities, staying in the Bay provides a quiet retreat away from the noise and hubbub.
The beach here is a tiny strip of white sand	mississipi
curling along the bay shore. It’s almost hidden behind the bluff where Old Town sits. Large antebellum homes and big oak trees perch on the ridge like grand dames admiring the view.
Late in the afternoon, a family walks their Jack Russell terrier along the sand. The dog and the children hop in and out of the surf, squealing with laughter when their toes get wet.
That’s entertainment in Bay St. Louis. But so is Casino Magic, where New Orleans jazz man Pete Fountain plays regularly and other big names appear frequently.
There are some bars in Old Town offering live music well into the evening. But for the most part, the folks here seem happy to leave the late-night party to the casinos.
Several restaurants also are located within easy walking distance of local bed and breakfasts. After working up an appetite at the Second Saturday opening, we cruised over to Ttapani’s Eatery for a dinner of crawfish etouffee and blackened shrimp with honey mustard sauce. We finished with a Dinwiddie, a house specialty cake with pecans and cream cheese icing, topped off with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with Amaretto and toasted almonds.
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Breakfast, 204 Bookter St., (800) 331-9046.
Where to eat: We enjoyed our meal at Trapani’s Eatery, 116 N. Beach Blvd., (228) 467-8570. Old fashioned with great seafood.
More information: www.oldtownbaystlouis.com, www.hancockcountyms.org and www.gulf coast.org, (800) 237-9493.
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It was a decadent finale for a most enjoyable day at the Bay. •••••••
Susan Langenhennig can be reached at slangenhennig@timespicayuhe.com or at (504) 826-3782.
THE MULLET TOSS IS SET FOR APRIL 22-24,
EVEN THOUGH THE FLORA-BAMA BAR HAS YET TO REOPEN SINGE THE STORM.
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IFYOU GO TO ALABAMA OR THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE:
With crews working hard to speed the post-Ivan reconstruction efforts along the Alabama Gulf Coast and Pensacola area of Florida, tourism officials say hotels and attractions are opening daily.
Find updates on the Alabama Gulf Coast at (800) 745-SAND or at www.gulfshores.com.
For Pensacola, check out www.visitpensacola. com or call the Pensacola Area Convention & Visitors Information Center at (800) 874-1234.
For the latest status on the Flora-Bama, check its web site at www.florabama.com.
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to leap from the water, are thrown for sport, sometimes by bikini-clad participants. It regularly draws slack-mouthed spectators by the hundreds.
The mullet toss is set for April 22-24, even though the bar has yet to reopen since the storm. “We were pretty hard hit. We haven’t even been able to start construction yet,” said Monika Givens, one of the managers of Flora-Bama, speaking from a bedroom in an apartment that’s serving as a makeshift office for the bar. “It’s still pretty depressing out there.”
Givens said the Flora-Bama has had “billions” of calls about the event and decided to hold it even with the lounge out of commission.
“It’s going to happen. It’s going to be on the beach. The main building won’t be in operation, but we should be able to get the deck and a tent or two out there,” she said.
The Flora-Bama is one of many Gulf Coast attractions desperately trying to reopen in time for summer. While life has returned to near normal for most of the Emerald Coast communities of Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa and Destin, the areas farther west, including Pensacola and Navarre, as well as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala., are
still digging out from under Ivan’s mess.
But progress, however slowly, is being made. In fact, all of the region’s beaches are open.
“We’re very excited to report that we have 51 percent of our accommodations open for business. That’s 6,572 units available for rent,” said Bebe Gauntt, public relations manager for the Alabama Gulf Coast (Gulf Shores/Orange Beach) Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“By the end of March, we’re expecting to have 55 percent, and by June, 90 percent open.”
All of the Gulf Shores marinas, golf courses, 66 percent of its restaurants and 73 percent of its attractions, such as miniature golf and water parks, are back in business, Gauntt said.
A Web site — www.gulfshores.com — offers a handy chart listing the status of individual hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and condominium complexes, along with phone numbers to call for more information.
“I just want everyone to know that the beaches are still sugar white and beautiful and open,” she said, adding, however, that not all of the public beach access points have come back online.
“We’ve made fantastic progress, considering what it looked like out here the day after, and it’s getting better every day.”
Stacy Garrett, marketing and communications manager for the Pensacola Corivention and
Visitors Bureau, gives a similar, upbeat message, albeit with progress moving a little slower.
“For Escambia County as a whole, which includes Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key, we have 60 percent of our accommodations open,” she said. “For Pensacola Beach alone, it’s more like 30 to 35 percent.”
That translates to about three hotels and a few condominium complexes.
“It’s growing every month,” she added. “As a whole, the area is rebounding quickly.”
The beach is open, as are “99 percent of our restaurants and all major roadways leading to and from Pensacola,” Garrett said, adding that visitors should check www.visit-pensacola.com for updates.
The road to Fort Pickens and the Gulf Islands National Seashore, however, remains closed. Although the fort survived the storm, the roadway wasn’t so lucky, sustaining major damage. Access to the area is by boat only for now. For information about the Gulf Islands National Seashore, call (850) 934-2600.
The Pensacola community is still planning to hold some of its popular spring festivals and
FILE PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
The Flora-Bama was once the most famous honky tonk on the Gulf Coast. It will be rebuilt, but construction has yet to bdgin.
events, including the air show on Pensacola Beach set for July 1-2 and the Florida Spring Fest musical celebration held in the streets of downtown Pensacola May 20-22.
“The sand is as white as it ever was,” Garrett said, “and the water is as blue.”
•••••••
Susan Langenhennig can be reached at slangenhennig@timespicayune.com or at (504) 826-^82.