Biloxi sits on a narrow peninsula between the Mississippi Sound and Back Bay, a Gulf Coast city that has reinvented itself several times over. It started as a French colonial capital, became a playground for New Orleans weekenders, was nearly wiped off the map by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and rebuilt around its casino industry.
The casinos dominate the beachfront now, but there is more to Biloxi than slot machines. The Gulf Coast beach stretches for miles along Highway 90, and the seafood — particularly the Gulf shrimp and oysters — is excellent. The Biloxi Lighthouse, one of the few structures to survive Katrina, stands in the median of the coast road as a stubborn reminder of the old town.
Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's postwar home, sits on a bluff overlooking the sound and is worth a visit for the grounds alone. The Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum tells the story of the Vietnamese and Croatian fishing communities that shaped the local industry. The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, housed in a Frank Gehry complex, is the most architecturally striking building on the coast. For a meal, head to the back bay side where the less flashy restaurants serve the freshest catch.