Things To Do in Jackson MS

The Mississippi Museum of Art, 201 E. Pascagoula St. (tel. 601/960-1515; www.msmuseumart.org), includes everything from folk art and photography to pre-Columbian art and American landscapes.

Elsewhere in Jackson, a visit to the Eudora Welty House and Garden, 119 Pinehurst St. (tel. 601/353-7762; www.mdah.state.ms.us/welty/index.html), is a must for literary fans. The late Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was one of Mississippi's most beloved writers and photographers. The Pulitzer Prize winner and her mother, Chestina, lived in the historic Belhaven neighborhood, where they cultivated a backyard flower garden bursting with camellias, roses, iris, jonquils, hyacinths, day lilies, and other perennials. The house is open for tours by reservation only Wednesday through Friday at 9 and 11am and 1 and 3pm. The house itself, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a two-story Tudor Revival-style residence built in 1924. For more information, call tel. 601/353-7762 or e-mail weltytours@mdah.state.ms.us.

History buffs will want to see some of the city's old buildings downtown. The Mississippi State Capitol, 400 High St., is a Beaux Arts beauty that resembles the nation's capitol in Washington, D.C. Free tours are conducted weekdays. Nearby, the Mississippi Governor's Mansion, 300 E. Capitol St. (tel. 601/359-6421), is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture dating from 1841. Free tours are held Tuesday through Friday mornings.

For antiques shopping, gallery hopping, and myriad drinking and dining options, take State Street north from Woodrow Wilson to Meadowbrook Road to the Fondren District, 3318 N. State St. (tel. 601/981-9606; www.fondren.org).