How I Spent My Summer Vacation v1.4

Day Five. Bye-bye New Orleans…Hello Orange Beach

     A good friend from my teaching days at the University knows how much I enjoy New Orleans and Key West so he recommended Orange Beach, Alabama as a place I might like. We left New Orleans on U.S. Highway 90 along the coast and by mid-afternoon we were in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I had read about the life and art of Walter Anderson in Gunnar Hansen’s book, Islands at the Edge of Time. Anderson was an eclectic naturalist and artist that lived in Ocean Springs and spent much of his time on Horn Island, which lies about 12 miles out in the Gulf across the Mississippi Sound. Anderson died in 1965 at the age of sixty-two. His family still owns Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs.

     In 1951 Walter Anderson painted a mural on the interior walls of the Oceans Springs Community Center. His work was so immediately disliked the local citizens wanted to paint over it. After the criticism he basically became a recluse living most of his life on Horn Island.

     The afternoon we stopped in Ocean Springs the Community Center was closed because they were restoring Walter Anderson’s murals. We were able to tour a small museum next door and see some examples of Anderson’s work, watercolors and pottery. I can say his work is definitely “unique”. From the amount of replications available for sale I would say he is, in death, a thriving resource for Ocean Springs.


Sign on Men's bathroom door
at Alabama reststop

      By early evening we had arrived in Orange Beach. I was a bit surprised, very tidy and neat and touristy. I suppose I was expecting something a bit more bohemian. We stayed at the recommended Island House, which was very nice but more like a condominium hotel than the beach retreat I was hoping for. Don’t get me wrong, lovely place, but I was in the mood for a more original experience, sometimes “rustic” can be nice. However, the beach was nice, the pool relaxing, good places to eat nearby so we stayed on for a few days.