Best American Beach Towns for Fourth of July: Waveland, Mississippi. This little Gulf town west of Bay St. Louis entered a national competition to win itself an all-expense-paid Fourth of July bash, complete with BBQ, entertainment, and fireworks, worth $50,000. Resident Donna Estopinal, co-owner of Roger’s Sports Bar and Grill, wrote the prize-winning essay about how Waveland has had to pull itself back from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Coastalliving.com