Day 3 of Jeepin’ the Coast takes over Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - Thousands of Jeeps took over South Mississippi as Day 3 drew to a close for Jeepin’ the Coast, but drivers were far from putting on the brakes for the weekend-long event.

This year, the sandy beaches of Long Beach were open to four-door off-roaders.

“We come every year,” explained event-goers Jaime Paige of Pass Christian. “We like to participate in the scavenger hunt, the Poker Run . . . the Beach Crawl, definitely, is one of the biggest, best parts of the whole entire thing.”

Jeeps perched along the shore as far as the eye could see. Brand enthusiasts banded together.

“Everybody’s friendly,” said participant Mindy Engelhorn. “You can stop and talk to anybody and anybody will help you out. If it’s raining, they’ll give you bungee cords to cover your Jeep up.”

“Jeepers are a family,” said Jeeper Aaron Edwards. “It’s a great crew. It’s great to bring your family down here.”

As Jeep after Jeep sunk in the sand, it only exemplified the crew’s camaraderie.

“Everybody just gets together, sits on the beach, tries to help other people,” said Kayla Eskew.

Over at Jeep Central, vendors line the street as an estimated 4,000 vehicles cruise through.

“We bought Jeeps and fixed them up, and we call ourselves the Bayou Jeep Mafia,” said Jesse James with Envy Jeep Outfitters out of Gonzales, La.

The group consists of about 20 Jeeps.

“Jeep people are a special breed, anyway. So, we all like to hang out, cut up, show our stuff off, have a good time.”

James and his ride-or-die crew traveled from Louisiana for the fifth year of participating.

“The skeleton thing is, if you ride with some of these people, you die, too,” he explained. “So, that’s why they got skeletons on most of them, because if you ride with them, you’ll probably die, and they’ll just leave you in the backseat anyway.”

“It’s not Jeepin’ the Coast unless you have one leg that’s burnt,” said Engelhorn.

An estimated 4,000-5,000 Jeeps are participating in this year’s Jeepin’ the Coast. Festivities continue Saturday with another beach crawl, a block party, Jeep parade and a concert.

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