A GOOD DOSE OF VITAMIN B4

Without a car, how does one get around in Biloxi?  I wanted to take a tour of Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis Home and Library. 

Entrance to Jefferson Davis Home and Library

Although google maps show the distance at only 6.2 miles, I wanted to experience local transportation from Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino to Beauvoir. 

Coast Transit Authority provides a nice selection of schedules for their buses and trolleys, thus giving me the freedom to move around the area without the need to drive my rental car.

I boarded the Casino Hopper Trolley on the west side of Harrah’s Casino at 10:30am.  Harrah’s is a scheduled stop and The Hopper comes by every 25 minutes.

Casino Hopper Route

With lunch time just around the corner I felt a quick stop at Le Bakery was in order.  Located at 280 Oak Street it’s less than a mile from Harrah’s but takes several minutes to get there due to the route the trolley takes via all the casinos.  

 

Entrance to Le Bakery

Don't let the outside appearance keep from you walking in.  Le Bakery opens from 8:30am-5:00pm and this small chill-out family-run bakery specializes in French & Asian desserts, Vietnamese eats, Vietnamese ice coffees, smoothies & bubble tea.

The doors were opened in 2000 by owner Sue Nguyen-Torjusen.
All of their breads and bakery items are made in house, by hand, daily.  You will not find processed foods in any of their recipes.  Vegetables are all chopped by hand daily and even their garlic mayonnaise is a home-made recipe.   When I asked one of the daughters what nationality best identified their business, her only comment was “Basically we make what we like to eat.”

The story of owner Sue Nguyen-Torjusen

You will see a heavy French influence as the owner is from Vietnam which was a French colony from 1887-1954.  But just glance around and you will also find Greek baklava, southern pecan rolls, king cakes, pies, petit fours and a number of other items.  You will want to arrive early as they typically sell out daily.  If they do find they have left over items at the close of the day, the items are donated to various organizations. 

Just inside the front door

Pastry display

Pastry display

Inside seating area

After perusing the menu for some time I opted for one of the Vietnamese sandwichs along with an Almond/Chocolate/Coconut pastry.  I had already spent 20 minutes at this stop so I asked for my order “to-go” with a plan of having lunch at Beauvoir.

The Trolley arrived right on time at 11:00am.  I stayed on the trolley until I reached the Transportation Center at which point I transferred to the Beachcomber bus. 

Beachcomber Route

I needed the Westbound Beachcomber and the next departure was 11:30am, dropping me off in front of Beauvoir at 11:45am. 

First order of business was to have lunch under the giant oak tree
that sits right in front of the library.  

Entrance to Beauvoir

Large Oak Tree in front of the Jefferson Davis Library

Marci claiming our table for lunch

After lunch I felt refreshed and ready to tour the main house of Beauvoir. 

Main house at Beauvoir

On a scenic plot of land facing the Gulf of Mexico about halfway between Gulfport and Biloxi,  Beauvoir now enjoys the privileged status as a National Historic Landmark.  

The Beauvoir story began in 1848 when a Madison County planter named James Brown, wanting a summer home for his family, bought the land for $3,000.

Mr. Brown used brick for the pillars and wood for the house, painting it white with green shutters.  He paid close attention to the quality of the building materials, many of which were imported and quite expensive at the time. With only eight rooms, it has a very simple floor plan.

Beauvoir is a raised cottage, meaning its foundation is placed on massive pillars, not flat on the ground.  This allowed the flood waters to flow through the ground level. With wide porches all around, high ceilings, and big windows, Beauvoir was designed to welcome the cooling breezes from the gulf in the days before air-conditioning. 

In addition to the main house, Mr. Brown constructed two smaller cottages in what is now the front yard.  One was used as a schoolhouse for his thirteen children and the other for guests and circuit rider ministers.  The Brown family owned Beauvoir for twenty-five years.

Schoolhouse at Beauvoir

Mr. Brown built the house out of cypress instead of oak, making it impervious to rot.  The floors were made of pine and are three and a quarter inch thick tongue and groove with so many layers of oil it has become water proof.  Case in point - Katrina left eighteen inches of water inside the home for 8 hours but when the water receded the floor suffered no damage.   

Inside the main house

Inside the main house

Inside the main house

Windows and doors were made from Italian glass but the majority of the windows were lost when hurricane Katrina blew through with recorded winds of 210 mph.  Fortunately, Mr. Brown left a paper trail so during reconstruction they were able to go back to Venice, Italy and locate the same manufacturer and have them reproduced.  

Photo  Public Domain

After the death of Mr Brown,  his wife was unable to manage the taxes and the property was put up for auction.  A Mr. Johnson bought it but only had it for 4 months and then sold it to a wealthy lady out of Louisiana by the name of Miss Sarah Dorsey, who bought it sight unseen.   When she finally arrived on the property she walked through the front door and headed straight to the back door.  When she opened the back door the first thing she said was “Beauvoir” which means “beautiful view” and the name stuck.  

Sarah Dorsey was friends with Jefferson Davis for a number of years so when she heard he was interested in a nice quiet place to write his memoirs she offered him the schoolhouse. 

The schoolhouse

At the time Jefferson Davis was married to Varina Howell and had a daughter but they were living in Europe so he moved into the schoolhouse, paying Miss Dorsey $50 per month.   

Miss Dorsey lived in the home less than 6 years when she developed cancer.  She gave Jefferson Davis the opportunity to buy the property for $5,500.  He didn’t have the money at the time so it was agreed that Mr Davis would make payments to Miss Dorsey.  He had only made one payment when Miss Dorsey passed away.  When they read the will she had given Jefferson Davis all of Beauvoir and also made him executor of her estate.  Mr Davis lived in the schoolhouse until he paid the balance owed to the estate. 

Jefferson Davis had 6 children with Varina Howell Davis, four sons and 2 daughters.  They also had one adopted son.  Three sons died by the age of eleven and 1 son died at the age of 21. 

Jefferson Davis, Member of the House of Representatives 1845-1846, 23rd U.S. Secretary of War 1853-1857, U.S. Senator from Mississippi 1857-1861, President of the Confederate States 1861-1865, died in 1889 of acute bronchitis complicated by malaria.  Over 50,000 people attended his funeral in New Orleans. 

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States

In 1903 the Sons of the Confederate Veterans purchased Beauvoir to preserve the mansion as it was when Davis lived there.  A section of the grounds were converted to house Confederate veterans, their wives and widows and currently has 780 graves along with the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier.  

Short walk to the Cemetery

Entrance to the cemetery

View from the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier at Beauvoir   Photo Public Domain

I had spent 2 hours here and it was now time to head out to the main road and catch the 1:55pm Beachcomber Eastbound back to the Transportation Center.  For some unknown reason the bus driver decided he didn’t need to stop so I was left standing on the side of the road with a storm cloud quickly approaching.  

Checking my schedule it appeared that another Trolley wouldn't come by for 30 minutes.  That was just too long to wait with a storm looming overhead so I began to walk to the closest business which was a Circle K.   By the time I arrived at the Circle K it was raining hard. Next order of business was to call UBER.  The black BMW arrived within 3 minutes and Raymond, my driver, drove the 15 minutes to Harrah’s, dropping me off at 2:32pm.  The total cost was $13.51.  Now it was back to the room to dry off.

Dinner found me at Blind Tiger Restaurant.  It was still raining slightly but you can walk to the restaurant using the over-road walkway from Harrah’s.   This restaurant serves a special beer called “The Blind Tiger Beer”.  It is brewed exclusively for the Blind Tiger Restaurant by Lazy Magnolia Brewery. 

After dinner it was back to Harrah’s to catch the Casino Hopper again.  This time I decided to get off at some of the casinos.  First stop was the Golden Nugget. Happy hour was still in swing at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company,  one of several restaurants located inside the Golden Nugget.  I ordered a beer along with chips and guacamole.

Back on the Casino Hopper and off at Boomtown.  They were still having Happy Hour also and they gave you the first beer free.  This place is known as “the original locals casino”.   

I had now consumed numerous beers during my Casino Hopper experience.  My good dose of vitamin B4 was now complete - Biloxi, Bakery, Beauvoir and Beer.  Time to call it a night.