Although the rest of the country is in the deepest throes of winter, where Southern Bayou Grill sits on County Road 32 (just west of the intersection with County Road 33), it looks as welcoming as spring sunshine, with its Mardi Gras colored umbrellas and brightly trimmed picnic tables.

Niall Fraser, pronounced “Neil” to his American friends and associates, hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, but moved to Edmonton, Canada, when he was 6 years old. His older sister was born in Troon, Scotland, as were his mom and dad and many, many other family members. 

In addition to the Top 5 below, don’t miss our breakdown of the upcoming weekend events across the Scenic 98 Coastal Area in the newsletter’s Tidbits and Best Bets section every Wednesday morning. The Tidbits and Best Bets calendar is also hosted on the Scenic98Coastal.com homepage for easy access all weekend long!

In a renovated 100-year-old cottage behind the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs. Ms, a quaint new restaurant, The Traveler, stands ready for 4 hungry traveler friends who are visiting from Fairhope. The Traveler’s concept is inspired by Walter Anderson's adventurous spirit and his travels around the world. Almost everything at the restaurant, from furniture to native plantings to coffee cups, is artist-designed, curated, or made. 

I do have some regrets in life, and two of them are connected to an unforgettable evening in a hotel room in Vicksburg, Miss. What I mean is, I can't find the cassette tape of me playing music there with the blues legend Willie Dixon, or the handwritten lyrics he gave me as I was leaving.

Jeff DuBois is a guy who doesn't smile a lot, even when he's having a good time, and it's just the way he is. But if you catch him breaking into a grin, it might be because the dance floor is full of people having fun at his Lucky Horseshoe Saloon.