Years ago, Asa and I were looking for a simple beach vacation. We were introduced to Gulfport, Mississippi which may sound like the most random spot in the world, right? Unless you are well aquatinted with beach towns (I was not), you may not have heard about Gulfport. But I can’t stress enough that 1.) Gulfport is an amazing place to visit and 2.) restful vacations are ones you are never going to regret!
I’ll say that ten hours in the car (our commute) can be a little tiring with young kids, but it was definitely doable. Our kids watched a couple movies in the car, they wrote in notebooks, colored, and before we knew it, we were in Gulfport, Mississippi! When you get to the main stretch, you can see the ocean on the horizon and all of a sudden, whatever stress you may have been feeling or any amount of car sickness (something I battle), disappears!
We have stayed at Marriott’s Courtyard Gulfport Beachfront hotel every time we have vacationed there and this year I was actually able to do some photography work for the hotel, which I loved! We like to stay in one of their suite rooms, as it give us a little more space to move and walk around. The question of the day whenever we visit Gulfport is as difficult as this: “Do we want to go to the beach today, or the pool?” Oh wait, let’s do BOTH. (I mean really, this was daily!)
So why do we love Gulfport so much? Well, what’s not to love about a beach and a giant outdoor pool? But beyond that, this town is one I like to call quaint and quiet. It’s sleepy, serene, and scenic too! We have two favorite restaurants that we frequently dine at while here; Shaggy’s and Tony’s Brick Oven Pizzeria. Shaggy’s is right on the water, with an enormous deck that often has musicians and live music. There is always an ocean breeze that helps make the hot weather so much more enjoyable, and the staff has always been super friendly and accommodating with our kids. I wish I had taken pictures at our favorite pizza place, but what we love the most about this restaurant is the laid back yet elegant dining experience; and our kids will forever remember playing with dough while waiting for their meals. We have tried pizza and pasta here, and this time I actually got their Strip Steak (which I LOVED!)
Our next favorite place to visit is still the Pop Brothers—it’s right down the road from the hotel and a refreshing treat after a long day spent at the beach!
What we have ultimately decided is that Gulfport really is the place where we go to REST. School let out in June and honestly, we booked it to this beach. The staff at the hotel was beyond accommodating, and it really is just a purely restful place for us to be. The pool is so well taken care of and extremely large; it’s fun sometimes to get dinner as take out and just eat it at a table nearby the pool! Asa used the fitness room daily (he’s amazing…I’m not…) and always joined me and the kids for a swim after he worked out. The beach is super quiet and laid back and really, for an enormous beach, it was very, very private!
To see more of our photos while we stayed here at Gulfport, view the slideshow below. We REALLY hope you will one day visit and we are sure that you will love it just as much as we do. Oh and guess what, this is not an ad! Nope—this wasn’t sponsored, this is a post purely because I wanted to document our trip and show y’all how and WHY we love this spot! Thanks for reading, I hope you’ll enjoy these next few photos too :) Thank you, Courtyard Gulfport Beachfront for hosting us again, we look forward to more trips with you in the future!!
