A hundred years of ferry rides — Ship Island, today.

Good morning from The Seawall.

A hundred years ago this year, a Gulfport family started running boats out to Ship Island. Today — Tuesday morning at Gulfport Harbor — Ship Island Excursions is cutting a ribbon on its centennial season, and you're invited to stand in the breeze for it.

There aren't a lot of Coast businesses that can say we've been doing this since the Coolidge administration and mean it. There aren't a lot of weeks where the Coast gets to throw two ribbon cuts on a single Tuesday, either — but if you'd rather aim your morning at Bay St. Louis, N&N Development is cutting one at 4 PM on East Marion Street, public welcome. Two ends of the Coast, two ends of the workday. Good Tuesday.

Here's the week.

Tuesday: High around 82, mostly cloudy, with a 20% shower chance before 8 AM. North winds 5–10 sliding southeast in the afternoon. Low near 66.

Wednesday: High around 84, sunny. Light variable winds turning southwest 5–10 in the afternoon. Low near 65.

Thursday: High around 85, sunny. North wind 5–10 turning southwest in the afternoon. Low near 65, mostly clear overnight.

No marine or rip-current advisories. Three-day window of clean Coast weather.

SPONSOR

SudsyCo Rentals makes washer and dryer rentals easy on the Coast — simple monthly pricing, quick delivery, and no giant upfront appliance bill. If you need a washer, a dryer, or both, this is the easiest way to get set up without the usual hassle.

If you want to watch a restaurant grow up in real time, watch a Crave Food Hall stall move out into its own building.

The Burger Bar did exactly that. Vendor stall at Crave on Government Street, brick-and-mortar two blocks down on the same street, ribbon cut in the same April wave that brought Chick-fil-A and Phoenicia Gourmet to the Bienville stretch. Owner kept the burgers, kept the menu, kept the team — added walls, a door, and the right to set their own hours.

Cynthia Sutton at Ocean Springs Main Street has called Crave an incubator. The Burger Bar is one of the proof points. Chicago 6ix Street Food is the next one to watch.

Where: 1314 Government Street, Ocean Springs.

Why we picked them: A clean local arc — pop-up to food-hall stall to standalone, all on one street. That's the OS playbook working..

Jackson — Jackson County Industry & Business Expo. Wed 5/13, 10 AM–2 PM. B.E. "Mac" McGinty Civic Center, 2902 Shortcut Rd, Pascagoula. Free. Hosted by the Jackson County Chamber. Big-tent business showcase, networking-driven.

Harrison — Ship Island Excursions centennial ribbon. Tue 5/12, Gulfport Harbor, 1040 23rd Ave. (Lead — see top.)

Hancock — N&N Development ribbon cutting. Tue 5/12, 4–5 PM. 6154 E Marion Street, Bay St. Louis. Hancock County Chamber-led, public.

If you’ve got something happening in Jackson, Harrison, or Hancock that should be on the radar next week, send it over. The goal is to make this sharper every issue.

The second Saturday of May has been Stamp Out Hunger Saturday since 1993 — the one day a year letter carriers across the country pick up grocery bags off front porches along their routes and turn them into food-bank donations. In Biloxi this year, that added up to 3,000 pounds, picked up yesterday morning and delivered straight to Back Bay Mission on Division Street.

That's about two weeks of meals for the Mission's pantry.

Dhiana Skrmetti, Back Bay Mission's development director, told WLOX: "I can't even explain how much it means to us. We celebrate every little thing." Biloxi letter carrier Kavaji Beverly worked the route and put it plain — a lot of people are food-insecure right now, and that bag on the porch matters.

The need doesn't reset in two weeks. If you missed setting a bag out Saturday, pantry items can still be dropped at the Mission directly, or you can give at thebackbaymission.org.

Source: WLOX, 5/11/2026.

Know someone making a difference on the Coast? Send them our way.

Rates pulled Mon AM from Freddie Mac PMMS, week ending Apr 30, 2026.

This week's rates (Freddie Mac PMMS, week of Apr 30, 2026):

Both rates ticked up slightly off last week's three-year spring lows. Year-over-year still ~46 bps cheaper than May 2025.

$2,150,000 · 5 bed / 7 bath · 9,359 sq ft · circa 1848

This one has a name. The Blue Rose has been standing on the high side of West Scenic Drive since Marlborough Farrell bought the lot in May of 1848 — a year before California became a state, four wars and one Katrina ago. The National Historic Trust calls it the most significant antebellum house on the western end of Pass Christian's beachfront. Most of the houses around it didn't survive 2005. This one did.

The architecture is West Indies — a raised antebellum that grew up over the years, with wraparound porches on both floors, the tall columns and louvered shutters of a house built for Mississippi summer before air conditioning made shade optional. Five bedrooms, seven baths, just under 9,400 square feet. Three parcels of land, a gazebo'd back patio, and 100 feet of Scenic Drive frontage with the live oaks doing their thing overhead.

It spent the last several years as one of the Coast's most-photographed wedding and event venues. It is back on the residential market now.

Why we picked it: Some houses are houses. This one is a chapter of Pass Christian still standing up.

Reader-submitted, lightly edited:

Short answer: yes — most coastal carriers run a binding moratorium that kicks in when a named storm reaches a defined distance from the Coast (commonly 24–72 hours out, but it varies by carrier). If you're inside that window without a bound policy, you wait until it clears. The fix is unfun and simple: don't wait. Talk to your agent now if you're closing in late May or June.Got a Coast real-estate question? Reply to this email — we'll answer one a week.

PET ADOPTION OF THE WEEK

Meet Kloe — a 13-year-old Chihuahua at the Humane Society of South Mississippi who has done her time on this earth and would now, please, very much like a couch, a sunbeam, and someone willing to take it easy with her.

She's small, she's old, and senior dogs are the hardest to place in any shelter — which is exactly why she's this week's pick. Kloe doesn't need a hike or a big yard or a chew-toy schedule. She needs a person who's home a lot and doesn't mind a tiny snorer.

Humane Society of South Mississippi

2615 25th Ave, Gulfport · (228) 863-3354 · hssm.org

Tue–Fri 10–5, Sat 10–4

📍 HSSM — 2615 25th Ave, Gulfport. Tue–Fri 10 AM–5 PM, Sat 10 AM–4 PM.

Full adoptable list: hssm.org/adoptable-pets

LOW TIDE LAUGHS

Ship Island Excursions turns 100 this year. A century of ferrying Gulf Coast visitors out to the most suspiciously white sand on the Mississippi coast. This week's Low Tide Laughs marks the occasion.

SPONSOR

MapPulse Agency helps local businesses get found where it counts — Google, maps, search, reviews, and websites that actually help bring in customers. If your business needs stronger local visibility, they know the terrain.

A FEW LOCAL LINKS WORTH KEEPING HANDY

If you want to go deeper by county, keep these local sites handy:

Jackson County MS
https://www.jacksoncountyms.com

Harrison County MS
https://www.harrisoncountyms.com

Hancock County MS
https://www.hancockcountyms.com

That’s part of the larger idea here too. The Seawall shouldn’t just point at itself. It should help connect people to the broader local web that already exists across the Coast.

SPONSOR

Cornerstone Numismatics works with collectors and buyers looking for coins, currency, bullion, and real numismatic expertise. If you want trusted guidance in the coin world, this is a name worth knowing.

That's the week.

That's two ribbons on a Tuesday and a forecast worth taking the long way home for. We'll see you Thursday with the weekend slate.

Short. Local. Useful.

— Rob
The Seawall