Just 3 hours south of Jackson, MS, is the lovely town of Long Beach. Long Beach, Mississippi is very close to Gulfport, and it’s a charming little beach town that doesn’t feel too touristy. Our day trip to Long Beach was a fun and relaxing visit that included great food and great views of the Gulf of Mexico.
While on a girls’ trip to Jackson, MS, we decided that a beach day was something we really wanted to do. The drive was not bad at all. Long Beach was recommended to us as a location that was quiet and peaceful but still fun. The waves aren’t usually very strong because of the barrier islands, but this was fine for me. If you’re planning on surfing, this probably isn’t your first pick, but for a nice beach day, it’s just right!
Lil’ Ray’s
What’s a beach day without seafood? We ate lunch at Lil’ Ray’s, which is a local seafood restaurant in downtown Long Beach. It’s only a few blocks from the gulf. I ordered one of the daily specials: the Popcorn Shrimp plate.
Most of the meals come with French fries and buttered toast. According to the rest of my group, the shrimp po’ boy and shrimp tacos were excellent.
Overall, I would be happy to eat here again! The prices were reasonable and the food was delicious.
Find Lil’ Rays here: 124 N Jeff Davis Ave, Long Beach, MS 39560
Long Beach
I had never been to a Mississippi beach before this trip even though I’ve lived in Mississippi for my entire life. We visited in early March, just before the spring break crowds showed up, so it wasn’t crowded at all.
The water at this beach wasn’t a stunning blue like many of the Florida beaches, but it wasn’t dirty or filled with algae. It seemed pretty clean, and it still had the lovely white sand beaches.
The thing about Long Beach is that nothing is permitted to be built on the beach. There are no hotels or beach houses directly on the beach. The advantage of this is that the beach feels very natural and untouched, and if you are renting a beach house across the street, you will still have an unobstructed ocean view.
Long Beach is great for all your typical beach activities. It was too cold to swim, but we still put our feet in the water and waded around. We built a sandcastle which I didn’t take a picture of because it looked kinda sad haha. Something unusual about Long Beach is that you can find clay buried in the sand. We sculpted the mushy clay into little sculptures before we gave up and built our sandcastle.
Overall, I would say that Long Beach is a great weekend getaway if you want a chill trip. There didn’t seem to be very many activities other than the beach. However, there are plenty of bigger beach towns nearby if shopping is something you want to do.
Ed’s Burger Joint
On our way back to Jackson, we stopped for dinner at Ed’s Burger Joint in Hattiesburg. Everything looked delicious, but we decided to try some of the appetizers instead of entrees for our meals. We got the Family Size Onion Rings which were amazing and came with comeback sauce for dipping.
We also tried “Ed’s Fries”. These were delicious and were covered with bacon, ranch dressing, cheese, and cheese sauce.
We decided to go with appetizers instead of full meals because we were saving room for dessert. Ed’s is known for its giant milkshakes, the Outrageous Shakes, so we knew we wanted to try some. I’m glad we only ordered two shakes for the four of us because we never could’ve finished one by ourselves!
Outrageous Shakes
My sister and I shared the Bake Sale Outrageous Shake. It was a chocolate milkshake with a cookie and Rice Krispie treats on top finished off with a ton of whip cream. Around the edge of the glass was a big hunk of brownie cake. If I had eaten all this myself, I would’ve made myself sick, but it was sooo good!
My sister-in-law and her sister got the Candy Shop Outrageous Shake, which was a strawberry milkshake covered with nerds, cotton candy, and other candies, and of course whip cream.
Ed’s is definitely a place I would visit more than once. There were so many options, and we didn’t even get to try the entrees! If you’re looking for a cool place to eat with a fun atmosphere and delicious food, Ed’s Burger Joint is the place to go!
Find Ed’s Burger Joint here: 3800 Hardy St, Hattiesburg, MS 39402
Our day trip to Long Beach was as wonderful as we had hoped. The weather was beautiful, and the beach was fantastic. We were able to try 2 amazing restaurants for the first time. All in all, Long Beach makes for a perfect beach day trip. If you are looking for a beach with a laid-back, chill vibe, this is the beach for you!
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We live near Long Beach and just love Lil’ Ray’s. It has been a Gulf coast institution since opening in Waveland, MS. in 1970. Ray’s son, Tre, runs the Long Beach restaurant. Ray’s brother, Davey Joe, runs the Lil Ray’s in Gulfport.
Not many restaurants last five years, there’s only one reason why this legacy has continued for more than 50 years…EXCELLENCE!
Thank you for your feature.
The thing that determines how clear/clean the water is along the beach is the amount of rainfall and flow coming out of the nearby rivers. Strong winds also make it muddy sometimes too, since the MS sound has a lot of mud bottom. It changes so much day to day. Like yesterday the water was very clear, but a few days prior we had a west wind and it looked like chocolate milk!
It sounds like a wonderful day excursion from Long Beach, complete with delicious seafood at Lil’ Ray’s and calm, natural beach beauty. Inspiring!