Hi there! I’m Kathryn Ferrell and I was born and raised in Hattiesburg, MS. I moved away after high school and ten years later, I’ve found myself back in The Burg, married, and living my best life. I stopped fighting that old cliche hometown narrative a while ago and once I did, I realized that Downtown Hattiesburg was the exact type of town I had been booking plane tickets to find years earlier. An artsy, quirky, historic, and welcoming community that has everyone’s best interest in mind. With all that said, I’m here to give a run down of a typical date night for my husband, Brendan, and I!
Our Post-Work, Friday Date Night
Most of our date nights happen on a Friday as soon as Brendan steps off the soccer fields. We normally meet in downtown on Front Street at The Author Shoppe to get a warm cup of coffee or tea (I’ll opt for the hot cider when its in season). This place is so cute and I love starting out here for a number of reasons. The shop has street parking right out front with romantic twinkle lights strung overhead in between the historic buildings. Once inside, it has books stacked to the ceiling and usually has some sort of live performance happening in the corner (live readings, guitar music, a cello). It’s a good spot for us to get warm and let the week go without a ton of people around. To be honest, this place makes me feel like I’m Rory Gilmore in Stars Hollow and I have no shame leaning all the way into that.
After we’ve warmed up and gotten a little caffeine in our system, we’ll walk down to The Porter for a giant pretzel, beers (or cocktails), and live music. This cozy pub has a relaxed, genuine atmosphere with exposed brick, leather couches, excellent lighting (I’m a pisces so IYKYK), and a ton of board games. Their food, all sourced locally, is AH-mazing. We mix up what we order here because everything is so good you can’t go wrong. They also offer dinner pairings and their Christmas ones are always fabulous. (Ps, this could double as a Tuesday night date night for themed trivia at 8pm!)
If we do eat dinner at The Porter, next we’ll walk across the street to Alley Cats, throw a few axes, and have a couple more drinks. I wish I could say there was equal competition in our household.. but Brendan’s hand-eye coordination is annoyingly accurate and he ends up getting a Unicorn Throw most nights.
If we don’t eat at The Porter, we’ll skip the axes walk back down to Hattiesburgers and Blues for dinner. Their food hits every time and it is always super lively and fun. They often have live music, a few different sports games on, and just overall a great vibe. We love sitting at the bar and meeting up with friends towards the end of our night but you can always grab a table as well.
We love our Friday nights strolling Front Street, and it really is Hattiesburg at its best to me. All our stops listed above are within a 2 block radius of each other and on the same street. No need to drive once there, just park and enjoy your evening together!
See you soon in downtown Hburg!
xx Kathryn