Ocean Springs combines a signposted cycling route with cultural sites and arts and crafts. The Ocean Springs Live Oaks Bicycle Route is 15.5 miles long and connects the Davis Bayou Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore with the Old Louisville and Nashville Train Depot. Also part of the picture are the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival and a cultural history reflected in the historic 1927 school building. Depending on whether you want to focus on exercise, arts and crafts, or architectural history, you can shape your stay in different ways.
Cycling and Getting Your Bearings
As a 15.5-mile round trip, the Ocean Springs Live Oaks Bicycle Route connects the Davis Bayou Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore with the Old Louisville and Nashville Train Depot. The distance refers to the entire route, not a one-way trip. The route is marked on Ocean Springs streets with green-and-white bicycle route signs. Maps are available at the Gulf Islands Visitor Contact Station and the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce. Davis Bayou Area, one of the two endpoints, is located at 3500 Park Road, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564.
Arts and Crafts and Cultural History
Shearwater Pottery was founded in 1928 by Peter Anderson with support from his parents, George Walter Anderson and Annette McConnell Anderson. From the 1920s to the present, the pottery has produced art pottery, functional pottery, figurines, decorative tiles, and other ceramic pieces. Its range combines useful items with decorative and figurative works. The Shearwater Pottery Showroom is the pottery’s only retail outlet—a helpful detail if you plan to include buying a piece in your trip itinerary.
In addition to tours by request, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art offers art activities such as drawing, painting, or printmaking by request. If you want to plan a specific hands-on art activity during your stay, ask about it directly. This lets you distinguish between a tour and an additional creative activity.
The Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival takes place every year on the first weekend in November in downtown Ocean Springs. It was founded to celebrate the city’s arts scene and honor Peter Anderson. The festival brings the arts into focus over a recurring weekend, while Shearwater Pottery has been producing work from the 1920s to the present. If the festival is the reason for your trip, check the specific event dates before traveling.
The Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center is housed in the historic 1927 Ocean Springs Public School building in downtown. The cultural center and the school’s history come together in the same building. Another architectural connection is the Charnley-Norwood House: after a fire on February 18, 1897, it was rebuilt under Sullivan’s supervision, closely following the original design and incorporating important improvements. This history combines the preservation of the original form with changes made during the reconstruction.
Discover more destinations: Moss Point, Pascagoula, Gautier, Latimer.
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