Dress: think khaki shorts and sun dresses (nothing you’re afraid of getting bar-b-que sauce on)
After the nuptials we invite you to stick around for the best bar-b-que you’ll ever have. There will be no shortage of sweet tea but beer and wine will also be available.
The airport code for Jackson, Mississippi is JAN. Southwest has a lot of direct flights from both Chicago Midway and Baltimore where many of you will be flying in from. Most people are coming in for the weekend arriving on 5/27 and leaving on 5/30.
This is a new hotel at a new shopping center in Ridgeland, MS. It’s halfway between the airport and the wedding. The hotel has a cool bar and is right in the middle of good restaurants and shopping. Use group rate code WEW1 for discounted rate of $109/night.
Much closer to the Watkins house (site of wedding). If you think you’ll be spending most of your time there or just want to be close, this is your place.
Lastly, If you are thinking to yourself, “Gosh, I figured that in good ole Mississippi, I’d be staying in some old Queen Anne mansion with an elderly couple serving biscuits and gravy for breakfast” then look no further… just be aware that there’s an upcharge for staying somewhere old. And remember… watch out for ghosts. Here are a few bed and breakfast type places in the area.
Gluckstadt Inn
Fairview Inn
Old Capitol Inn
Millsaps Buie House
Best catfish in the world! This should be your first stop after your plane lands. We prefer the one on Old Fannin (1183 Old Fannin Road Brandon, MS 39047) but there are a few in the area. If for some reason you are traveling with someone who doesn’t like catfish, they also have chicken (served on a stick). Our standard order is 1 family size catfish dinner, 1 order fried pickles, 1 order mushrooms, and sweet tea all-around. You’ll need comeback sauce for the mushrooms. Enjoy.
141 Madison Landing Cir, Ridgeland, MS 39157 – This is where you should go for catfish in the evening. It’s great because it’s right on the reservoir. You can get there a little early and hang out by the water and then grab a bite to eat. They’re known for their cornbread tossing...fun stuff.
970 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, MS 39157 – If you’re looking for a nice ($$) Italian dinner, this is your place. It also happens to be right by the Hyatt Hotel listed as a recommended place to stay. Make sure you save room for dessert.
Hopefully this place is standing when you arrive. It’s burned down twice. They boast having the best chicken salad in the world and I really have to agree. If you are going for lunch, try to get there before 11:30, otherwise they might be out of bagel chips. Kathryn’s usual order: chicken salad on sun-dried tomato bagel with bagel chips. *news flash - a new beagle bagel has opened in Madison.
This is our go-to mexican place. Service is super fast and everything is good. Kathryn’s mom usually gets the mushroom quesadilla. As a bonus, they have margaritas the size of your head.
This place often has live music. It’s a BYOB crawfish restaurant. Make sure to go in the evening. It’s an outdoor restaurant that can get too hot during the day. If the idea of crawfish is a little too ‘foreign’ for you... they also have boiled shrimp. This place is in the same parking lot as the agricultural museum which will be in the “fun stuff to do” section. You’re likely to find the maid-of-honor here. She’ll be the southern bell sucking the heads of every crawfish she devours.
We weren’t sure if we should put this in the food or nightlife section. Good food. Good Music. Outdoor seating. It’s the only place like this in the area.
A pricey but fun restaurant on Lake Caroline (the same lake as the wedding). The name "Van Morrison" is in the first sentence of the website so we approve.
We love this place. It’s not in the best part of town, but it’s right off the interstate so you’ll be fine. It gets pretty crowded so get there a little early and claim a booth for the night. The backroom usually has music around 9 or 10:00. It’s a small place so that room can get pretty loud. If you just wanna hang out with friends I recommend the main room right when you walk in.
They have hundreds of beers. It’s not going to compare to your big city favorite brew-pub but it’s a good time.
This is where the locals go. It’s your standard bar and restaurant. It’s in the same parking lot as Martin’s. Martin’s is truly a dump of a bar.. so you must go there. Make sure you have a designated driver and then order a walk-me-down.
There will be some fishing poles at the Watkins house. If you go to one of the other sites listed below or anywhere else, you can grab a fishing pole for less than $20 at walmart after you arrive. Worms can be found in the ground.
98 Talbot Ct, Madison, MS 39110. Kathryn’s parents just built a house on a well stocked pro bass fishing lake. Uncle Jimmy will probably have the good pole by the time you get there but there should be others.
This place is right in the middle of the city, but rarely ventured to. Navigate yourself to 2085 Lakeland Drive in Jackson, MS. That’s a Penn’s restaurant, it’s an added bonus on this one :). as you can see in the map that you drive past the restaurant to where the road ends. You then trek down a big hill and just fish under the bridge or down one of the paths. I highly recommend just parking where the road ends. One time Kathryn drove her dad’s truck down the hill and thought she’d never get the dang thing out of there (she was ~26 and apologizes to her father finding out now).
This place is kind of hard to tell you how to get to. Although Kathryn has fished here many times, she’s only caught one fish. There’s a little corner that’s shaded and there’s rarely anyone else there (probably because there aren’t any fish). Basically you go to the end of Spillway road and take a left. Go past the trading post and it’s the next parking lot on the left. the wooden walkway thing is sometimes shielded by trees, so just walk through the trees and you’ll see it.
Go across the spillway and take a left at the first light. There’s a McDonalds on the right and a gas station on the left. So take that left and then take the second right into a neighborhood. Then take the second left. The street will dead end at a little park area. Park there and then just walk to the right. There are some great trees to sit under for a picnic and then there might be other people fishing there too.
Every grade school kid in the Jackson area has been to the Ag Museum. Kathryn’s sister even got hitched in the chapel there. Skip the indoor portion of the exhibit (except to get your picture taken in the giant rocking chair), and head outside. The idea is that they move really old agricultural buildings to the museum. There’s a blacksmith area, an old school house, an old gas station, cotton gin, barn, smokehouse... and an operating general store. It’s really fun for kids.
Ok, Lets face it... You are in Mississippi. Might as well go to the petrified forest Great for kids.
Fun place for the history buffs, a quite tolerable place for their significant others. You can drive through this place on your own with a tape player tour guide. It’s fun because you can get out and look around when you want, or just zoom on through.
Ok ok... it’s not Vegas.. but it is still fun (so we hear, neither the bride or groom have ever been). There are a few casino’s in Vicksburg so use the google.
Madison and Ridgeland do not sell alcohol on Sundays. Plan ahead or you'll have to drive to Jackson
Although the cops will be out in full force for memorial day weekend, the Judges mostly get the weekend off. Prepare to have a designated driver or you’ll probably miss your Monday flight waiting for a judge to let you out of jail.