With gasoline prices showing no signs of coming down and the vacation driving season approaching, it might be a fine time to check out the Gulf Coast.

Saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon well, which spewed an estimated 5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. Dire predictions followed, but thankfully many of those predictions did not come true. Coast residents, businesses and wildlife were affected. Many volunteer hours went into cleaning oiled beaches and saving marine life.

Now, two years later, the Gulf Coast is continuing its rebound from Louisiana, through Mississippi and Alabama, and into the Florida panhandle.

The Coast has not returned to pre-spill days, and the scars from Hurricane Katrina still blot the landscape. But recovery is continuing and people from around here can aid in that recovery.

We can plan a long weekend, or longer, on the Coast. We can eat the food that made the Coast famous. We can sit on the beach, visit the shops and spend our money in-state.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast has taken two extreme hits over the past seven years. Recovery has been slow, but steady.

When looking for vacation spots this year, look into visiting the Gulf Coast. In turn, you will be helping the state’s economic growth as well, not to mention seeing how much progress has been made in the Coast’s recovery.