Travel America: Biloxi: seen the city? Then head on out for the following attractions

Biloxi, Mississippi's nine casino resorts provide nonstop gaming action here on the Gulf of Mexico. The world-class Beau Rivage Resort & Casino put imported marble in each of its hotel's 1,740 guest bathrooms and boasts one of the best-equipped theaters in the country for productions like Lord of the Dance. While the sun shines, hop aboard the Biloxi Shrimping Trip or learn about sea life at the Scott Aquarium. Soak up history and culture at Beauvoir (estate of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis), the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum, Mardi Gras Museum, and 1856 Tullis-Toledano Manor.

5 Just across the Biloxi Bay Bridge, Ocean Springs reveres its own naturalist-artists at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art and 75-year-old Shearwater Pottery. Nearby is the Visitor Center for the Mississippi portion of Gulf Islands National Seashore. To enjoy the national seashore's pristine beaches and tour an intact historic fort, take an excursion ferry to Ship Island from Gulfport. At the city's Marine Life Oceanarium, some of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that populate adjacent waters perform high jumps while sea lions clown around in daily shows. The $8-million Gulf Islands Water Park opened in July and features the Master Blaster uphill water roller coaster along with a beach, wave pool, and tubing trail.

20 Cross the Bay of St. Louis and explore Old Town Bay St. Louis Art galleries, antique shops, emporiums, coffee houses, and cafes nestle among more than 500 houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sportfishing charters and Captain Fox's Bayou Tours offer wetter entertainments. At the nearby Casino Magic Casino & Golf Resort, all guest activities are right on the 600-acre site, including two hotels, five restaurants, 100-pad RV park, spa & fitness center, and theater complex lot top-name acts.

45 One major attraction on Mississippi's coast is free, the Stennis Space Center. At the Stennisphere, indoor and outdoor exhibits trace America's exploration of space, plus visitors are guided through the space shuttle main engine test complex.

60 Mobile, Alabama is within easy reach to the east. You can board the U.S.S. Alabama, celebrated World War II veteran, in Battleship Memorial Park on Mobile Bay. After touring the city's historic districts and museums, including the Mobile Museum of Art, most folks will head out of town for Bellingrath Gardens and Home, with its 65 acres of year-round blossoms. On Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico, you can walk through the Audubon Bird Sanctuary or visit Fort Gaines Historic Site. Westward into Louisiana, Slidell offers boat tours through the Honey Island Swamp.

Contact: Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 6128, Gulfport, MS 39506; (800) 237-9493; www.gulfcoast.org.

At A Glance

The 1848 Biloxi Lighthouse is the only one in the middle of a four-lane highway (Beach Boulevard).

A center for seafood canneries in the late 1800s, Biloxi was shipping more oysters than anywhere else in North America.

The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art features the life's work of George E. Ohr, the "Mad Potter of Biloxi," renowned for his curving forms and brilliant glazes. The museum moves into a new complex designed by Frank Gehry in 2005.