December on 2nd Street: a first Christmas one block from the beach

December is the month this block glows. The Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival returns to Jones Park the night after Thanksgiving, the decorated boats of Christmas on the Water parade along the Biloxi shore in early December, and the Mississippi Aquarium, an easy walk from the cottage, lights up after dark. This year the glow means a little more at 1620 2nd Street: the red-walled cottage curated by local artists is coming to HGTV this fall and winter, and the cameras are due somewhere in these glowing weeks. Here is what a first December looks like from one block off the beach.

What is on Gulfport's December calendar?

The season's anchor is the Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival at Jones Park, which opens the night after Thanksgiving, November 27, and runs through January 3. Mississippi's largest holiday light display, it pours more than 1.5 million lights across the 40 acres of Jones Park and the harbor: the choreographed Dancing Trees, Santa's Village, carnival rides, a train, and hot chocolate stands under the oaks. It opens nightly around 5:30 and stays glowing until about 10:30, with tickets from $14 to $22 for adults depending on the night and less for children 4 to 12. From the front porch at 1620 2nd Street it is an easy walk, which means you can visit as often as you like and never once think about parking.

A week into December, the water gets in on it. Christmas on the Water sends a parade of decorated boats glowing along the Biloxi shore on Saturday, December 5 at 6 p.m., the 41st year of the tradition, with this year's theme Disco Glow Christmas. The boats gather south of the Biloxi Lighthouse and drift east toward Point Cadet, past the marina and the casino towers, with fireworks at the end. It is a short drive east on Highway 90 from the cottage, and the best free seats are along the seawall between the Small Craft Harbor and Oak Street.

And the aquarium joins in. The Mississippi Aquarium, within walking distance of the cottage, runs its Magical Mississippi Christmas on late November and December evenings: a ticketed night event with a glowing light display, nighttime dolphin presentations, Santa's Workshop, and a projection show that puts penguins on the walls. It closes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the exact nightly dates shift a little from year to year, so check the aquarium's own calendar before you go.

Counting birds between the lights

Not every tradition here involves lights. Between December 14 and early January, the Mississippi Coast Audubon Society leads its Christmas Bird Counts across the coastal counties, part of the longest-running community science project in the country. The counts here are routinely among the highest species totals in the state, because the coast is where the Gulf meets the oaks: in December, songbirds, woodpeckers, and wading birds keep the live oaks along 2nd Street busy all day. It is a gentle way to spend a winter morning, and it costs nothing but a little patience.

A first Christmas on the red walls

This is the part that belongs to the house. The cottage at 1620 2nd Street is what we call Curated by Local Artists: warm tomato-red walls in the living and dining rooms, a hallway that reads like a small gallery, and heart pine floors worn smooth by a century of Christmases. December is when that character does its best work. A magnolia-and-live-oak wreath on the red door, a few handmade ornaments carried home from the holiday markets and downtown galleries, candles in the windows, and the red walls turn into the warmest backdrop on the block. The corner fireplace earns its spot in the living room, the high ceilings give the tree room to reach, and the shotgun layout means you see every glowing strand the moment you step through the door.

It is also the winter the whole country gets to meet this house. The cottage is coming to HGTV this fall and winter, with the show name and air dates to be shared here the moment they can be. There is something quietly lovely about walking the rooms while the cameras are still a rumor: deciding for yourself what belongs on those walls, knowing you saw it first, and understanding that the block outside the door is part of the story too.

The quiet between the lights

For all the glow, December here stays mostly calm. The Gulf water cools, the beaches empty out, and the weather does the opposite of shutting down: sunny days in the 60s and low 70s, cool evenings built for a sweater and a fire. Mornings on the sand are quiet enough to hear the gulls. Afternoons under the live oaks run long and golden. It is the season's best argument, really: the holidays are festive here, but they are also gentle, and a home one block from the beach gets to be part of both.

What December means for buyers

Winter is the gentle season in the Gulfport market. The busy fall crowds have come and gone, the buyers still looking are usually the serious ones, and a character cottage one block from the beach stands out all the more in a quieter market. You have read the wider picture before in our market notes; the short version is that homes like this do not wait long. Add the HGTV feature, airing this fall and winter, and there is a soft argument for visiting before the year turns. Once the show airs, this red door becomes one of the more recognized on the Coast, and this is your chance to walk through it before the rest of the country does.