In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
Oh my goodness. It’s been so long since I’ve blogged that I almost forgot how this whole blog website works! Remember Louisiana, when we had to head north to avoid Tropical Storm Beta? This week we are going back to see what we missed in Louisiana. Only thing different is that we are not outrunning hurricanes and Bruce is NOT biking this time. Well of course Bruce will be biking, his bikes go on all vacations with us, but he will only be biking for recreation. Big difference!
We got Harvey all loaded and ready last night so that we could leave bright and early at 6 AM this morning. But Bruce being Bruce, he woke up at 4 AM so we left at 5:02 AM. Needless to say, he drove and I went back to sleep on the bed. Perks of traveling with Harvey! By the time we got to Tulsa, I was ready to drive. I was a little nervous at first, but soon Harvey felt like an old friend. I should mention here that I had our route planned out, straight down I35 to Dallas and then over through Shreveport on I20 to West Monroe. Bruce nixed my boring route and took us through Tulsa and on mostly back highways across Oklahoma, through the tips of Texas and Arkansas and in to Louisiana to eventually connect to I20 just east of Shreveport. Such a better route! I loved driving through all the little towns and beautiful country. This is America! I need to get back into my photo taking groove. We passed 4 state signs and lots of interesting sites, but without a picture to remind me, I can’t remember what we saw. I would like to blame this on old age, but it’s been my life story.
Beautiful sunrise over Kansas (but terrible pic)Louisiana marshes? No, just Oklahoma after a good rain. No alligators in sight.I couldn’t help myself and had to take a picture of the road and shoulder. Bruce was glad to not be riding on this shoulder!
We rolled into West Monroe around 4:30. Why West Monroe? Duck Dynasty! Although we didn’t actually watch the show because we didn’t have cable back then, I thought it would be fun to check it out. As seems to be the theme in our life, I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought that it would be kind of a compound or something with several out buildings or whatever. It wasn’t. It was a very unassuming building that was basically just a store. They did offer some kind of tour that told about their history, but the last tour was at 3:30. Apparently they have downsized a bunch in the last few years. I guess since the show is over, Duck Commander is only a fraction of what it was, and sells most of their duck stuff online. That’s ok. I’m still glad we stopped.
Bruce and I in front of the Duck Commander sign.Me, looking like a dork as I try to impersonate the guys in the picture. Why is it so hard to fold your arms right?
We had dinner at Warehouse #1. It was fantastic! I forgot to take a picture of my delicious Catfish Sienna & whipped sweet potatoes, but oh my gosh it was good! Ok, in full disclosure, I DID take a picture, but I had already devoured part of it and it really doesn’t look all that appetizing, so I’ll let you use your imagination. Bruce had a seared Tuna salad. We also had Fried Green Tomatoes for an appetizer. Yum! I had never had them before. Probably the reason they were so good was because they were fried (duh!) and had a great horse radish sauce. Apparently this restaurant usually has a long wait but since it was just 2 of us, they found us a little table in the bar, back by the bathroom. This was good for 3 reasons: 1) we got in & served immediately 2) we were by the TV and got to watch the Kentucky Derby 3) we got to see the constant parade of prom girls (who were dining with their dates out on the patio overlooking the Ouachita River) on their way to the bathroom. It was a win-win-win (& one more win if you count the food. Did I mention it was delicious?) This building is around 200 years old. When they restored it and were thinking of a name for the restaurant, they decided on Warehouse # 1 because that’s what was on a sign already on it. Clever!
Our fried green tomatoes. Also notice the “reserved” sign. Haha like we asked for the table by the bathroom.Bruce with our hush puppies and his Ghost in the Machine double IPA made from a local Louisiana brewery, Parrish Brewing Co.Thank you to the family outside waiting for their table who took our picture and we took theirs.
The RV park where we thought we might stay was full so we decided to boondock back in the Duck Dynasty parking lot because it was level and empty and dark. Perfect for boondocking.
We got up this morning and went to church at the White Ferry Road church. I love going to different churches in different places because it reminds me that God’s people worship the same God even if they do it a little differently. We went to a Sunday school class first on forgiveness. As we were leaving, a man, who we later learned was Mike, stopped and asked us if we were visiting. We ended up talking to him and his wife Christi for a long time and then sat with them at church. I think she would be my best friend if I lived there. Although I’m sure that position is already taken. I met her dear friend, Debbie after the service. Mike & Christi seemed to be loved by everyone there. Mike got ordained as an Elder at the service. All the music was a cappello. It was cool to hear all the harmony. I enjoyed it even though I don’t have a musical ear. But my husband, Mr Music, really loved it! It was also Senior Sunday to honor all the graduates and Alan Robertson, one of the Duck Dynasty brothers, gave the message. So inspiring!
The White Ferry Road Church of ChristOur new friends, Mike and Christi.A cappella music.Pastor Robertson blessing the Elders,
After church we had leftovers for lunch in the parking lot and then headed to Alto, which is about 25 miles from West Monroe. Remember John & Anne, Bruce’s friend from high school (hint – they met us in Texas on our bike trip and were the first recipients of BuzzWTR)? Well this trip we planned to stay at their home in Alto, LA. As soon as we walked in to Anne & John’s house we could smell the delicious blueberry-something-yummy-that-I-can’t-remember-the-name that she had just whipped up. It had started raining during the night and had been raining pretty steadily ever since. So we all just sat in the kitchen and told stories. John & Anne are rice farmers and it is so fascinating! When John told us he also has a business “moving dirt” I pictured a back hoe scooping away. But oh, not so! John has a laser precision machine to make the field zero grade or whatever slight grade they might need to move the water from field to field after they flood the rice fields. The fields have to be flooded a few times and then the water “taken off” during various stages of growth. I honestly had no idea what a rice plant looked like. It looks a lot like wheat but the stalks are heavier. Then once it’s harvested, it is kept in these bins that have to be temperature controlled with fans and stuff. Very complicated!
A few hours later the rain stopped and the sun came out so we all jumped into their neighbor’s old Army jeep and took a tour of the area. Anne pointed out the Boeuf River, which surrounds one of their properties on 3 sides. She said that she likes to kayak there in the winter, but not in the summer because you see more alligators in there in the summer. What!? I would be afraid that the one alligator who decided to stay for the winter might get a little hungry for the red meat in the kayak. Yikes! She’s a brave woman!
The Boeuf River. It looks so peaceful. Hard to believe gators live there.And gators could even be in here!Cool bridge we went over. Possibly over the Boeuf River.Zipping along in the jeep. Can you say wind blown?
When we got back, Anne made us Shrimp & Sausage over rice and a yummy salad. And for dessert – that yummy blueberry thing. I wonder how many times I can say yummy in one post? Probably time for that thesaurus. But you know, sometimes delectable, luscious and succulent just don’t convey the right feeling.
Peppers, onions and celery are the Holy Trinity of Cajun cooking.
Soon we were all yawning (or was it just me yawning – I have not been getting my 8 hours lately) and so Bruce and I headed out to Harvey. It was very tempting to accept the king size bed in the guest room that Anne offered, but sometimes it just feels easier to stay in Harvey.
Harvey, in front of Anne & John’s house, ready for the slumber party.
One interesting thing about where Anne & John live is all the history. Anne knows so much history on the original families who had owned the various homes and farms. Their house had been owned by the Sartor family. Mrs Lucy Sartor was locally famous as an artist who had painted mostly scenes from her life growing up in the area. In the attic Anne had found a sketchbook filled with pen sketches done by Lucy. What a treasure!
One of the pages from the sketch book. Lucy Sartor’s neighbors & friends. Aren’t these amazing!
After breakfast we said our good-byes and headed off to Natchez. As we got close we recognized the turn to the RV park where we had stayed right by the Mississippi River. Of course we had to drive by. And by “drive by” I actually mean drive into the park and take pictures of where we had been and reminisce about the last time we were there. It seems like such a long time ago! I can’t believe it was just a little over 6 months. We got so excited as we crossed the Mississippi bridge!
Riverview RV Park in Videlia, LA. See the Mississippi River in the background? I wonder if the sidewalk is fixed yet.Fond memories traversing this bridge on the little cycle in the rain during the tornado warning last time we were here.
We were pretty hungry by the time we got to Natchez, but we wanted to stop at one of the many interesting restaurants that had been closed last time we were there. We went to Natchez Midtown Grill, thinking it was a restaurant. When we got to the building and realized it was a walk up, we were disappointed but we decided to stay. The girl in front of us said they had great burgers so Bruce got a burger. I got the Voodoo Poboy, filled with chicken, shrimp, steak, onions & peppers. Which is kind of funny because onions & peppers are 2 of the things I always pick off of anything I’m eating. But now I’ve had them by choice 2 days in a row!
Half of my Voodoo Poboy because as you’ve noticed, I am not doing so hot on remembering the food photos.
We missed out on the Under The Hill District last time we were here because our little cycle wouldn’t have been able to make it back up the hill. Since then Bruce fixed her so that she now has more power. I think at this very moment I am going to name her Little Jo because I’m sick of just calling her the little cycle. She needs a name. Sadly we were not able to ride her through Natchez this time because somehow the key did not make it on the trip with us. Bruce was sure that someone stole the key out of her ignition, but alas, Annie found it in the street in front of our house. So we’ll just say it’s a mystery how it got there.
I still wanted to go down and see the Under The Hill District. Apparently this was the district where the men of ill repute hung out back in the day. Saloons and brothels and the like. Now although a saloon is still open down there, it is just a few little shops and restaurants. We parked Harvey on the street above and walked down to check it out. We saw the bar where Jerry Lee Lewis got his start. Hopefully this will satisfy Bruce’s music fix because I totally forgot about going to the Delta Music Museum in nearby Ferriday until we were too far past it to go back.
The next best thing to the Delta Music Museum.
In the saloon we met a guy named Doug who has been hitch-hiking around the country for 11 years. He is journaling all his adventures as well. It’s wild to think of all the people who have been in that saloon during the past 200 years.
Bruce and Doug, who has been hitch-hiking around the country for 11 years. I asked if people still would stop and pick him up and he told me that surprisingly he has been picked up by lots of women with children in their car. What are they thinking?The Saloon in Natchez. Can you imagine how much beer has been spilled on these floors in the last 200 years?The husband of the lady who owns the shop (who happens to have been a huge cyclist in her day) plants 100s of red poppies by the river. Wait that may be redundant. Are all poppies red?
Our next stop was the cute little town of St Francisville where we had planned to stop and see some plantations. But since it was 6:30 by the time we got there, nothing was open. We drove around a bit and admired the quaint old houses and then headed on down the Blues Highway to our RV Park near Baton Rouge.
A cute church in St Francisville. One of the few pictures that actually turned out. I am going to blame it on all the trees in the yards, hiding the cute houses. Or maybe my fault. Whichever.
Bruce, me, Bob & Evelyn. Please notice the beautiful orchid in my hair 🙂Harvey tucked safely out of the way.
After breakfast this morning we gassed up Harvey, popped in to Costco for another bag of Stacy’s and then headed over to our friends, Bob and Eveyln. Bob and my dad had been Army buddies since they met at Ft Sill over 60 years ago. Bob was the best man in my parent’s wedding. When we got there, Bruce did an amazing job backing down their really long drive way. With awesome instructions from me of course. Evelyn made us some sandwiches for lunch while we hung out and heard stories from Bob about escapades with my dad, as well as lots more escapades without my dad. Bob is a first class story-teller. He told us how he earned his 3 purple hearts in Viet Nam and about being the Ball Judge for a Baton Rouge Mardi Gras parade and walking with Pete Fountain’s Half Fast Walking Club in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parades for 20 years. I didn’t totally understand all the Mardi Gras stuff, but it sounds like he has sure done some fascinating things! He also carves intricate birds from wood, grows orchids and makes jewelry and fly hooks. I’m sorry I didn’t get pictures of everything.
In the afternoon we drove around Baton Rouge and they showed us the LSU campus, where Bob had worked as an Army ROTC instructor. We ate dinner at George’s Grill and then went home for more stories. Pretty soon Bruce & I headed out to Harvey to hit the sack.
Hello there, Mike! I think this is Mike #5, the LSU tiger.We saw lots of Magnolia trees everywhere.
Our beautiful breakfast spread minus the biscuits, which weren’t on the table yet.
After a shower and a delicious breakfast, we climbed back into Harvey and headed for New Orleans. On the way, we stopped at the Houmas House Plantation. There are tons of old plantations around here. It was hard to decide which one to go to. This one also had a museum dedicated to the Great River Road. We toured the beautiful gardens and then enjoyed the museum until Bruce had had all the information he could handle and went to take a nap in Harvey while I finished. Well, knowing that your other half is “done” will definitely speed you up.
St Mary’s church on the way to Houmas House.This Live Oak tree is 600 years old! It’s the 2nd oldest on the property, but the other wasn’t as magnificent. Some of the branches are on the ground.Welcome! Please come join me for a cup of tea in the garden…just watch where you step.Houmas House. These oak trees were planted along the walk several hundred years ago. Someone actually still lives in this house. But there are cottages and a hotel and 3 restaurants and an event center here now as well.Our late lunch in one of the restaurants there.
This museum had lots of info about all the plantations that had been around this area, as well as civil war info and information about slaves. According to one exhibit, the Civil War was NOT started because of slavery, but because the north was imposing unfair tariffs on imports that greatly hurt the economy of the south. It said that the idea of ending slavery only entered the picture 2 years later when the north was trying to evolve it into a war about morals instead of a war about economics. Either I wasn’t really paying attention in history class or else they teach it a little differently in the south, but that’s not how I remember learning it.
Looks like everyone is heading to Juno RV Park.
We got to our RV park around 4:00. I did a fantastic job backing Harvey in, if I do say so myself. Pat, pat, pat. While Bruce was hooking up the water and electric he got a quick lesson on red ants. They bite. It hurts. And then it itches. And leaves big pink welts. That continue to burn/itch for a few days.
And here it is! Juno RV Park. Can you tell that there was no “Resort” in the name?Eradicating the red ants.
Since it was still early, we decided to take Little Jo for a quick spin down to the French Quarter. Our park was only 5 miles away, but somehow it took almost 20 minutes. We cruised down Bourbon street, Royal street, Canal street and the rest, checking out places to come back to tomorrow. We didn’t stay long because we didn’t want to be riding home in the dark.
Bourbon Street
Once we got home we dined on leftover spaghetti. No pictures available on this gourmet dish in tupperware containers. Luckily my hubby is not picky. I’m pretty sure he even heated it up himself.
One thing I’ve noticed about sitting in an RV after dark with all the shades down. Sometimes it takes me a minute to remember where I am and what is actually outside the window. Weird, huh?
We had a leisurely morning and then headed to New Orleans on Little Jo around 9:00. Of course you’re wondering how in the world we have actually been riding our cycle since the key failed to make the trip. Harriett, Bruce’s mom, was kind enough to mail it to us at Bob & Eveyln’s house so it is once again reunited with Little Jo.
Bruce gave a little toot to every worker we passed. They each gave us a little nod.
Caroline called us right before we left and told us about this website she and Chris (her boyfriend) had found called Earthcam.com. Apparently they have cameras in various places throughout the earth, including one on the corner of St Peter & Bourbon St in New Orleans. Which happens to be the corner where Preservation Hall is, which is where we were heading. So when we got close, we face-timed Caroline & Chris which was really fun. They could see & hear us live on their tv. And through face-time, we could see & hear ourselves live on their computer as well. Technology! Also maybe a little bit creepy since we wouldn’t have known that we were being broadcast unless they had told us. But honestly, more cool than creepy.
Bruce & I cruising the French Quarter on Little Jo, as viewed on the earthcam.This guy is just plain creepy! I mean crocs, really?Bruce was thrilled to see this mannequin dressed in a seersucker suit just like the one he has at home. Does that mean it’s still in style? Or back in style?Preservation HallBourbon Street
Preservation Hall was closed and locked up so we just peeked in through the windows and planned to come back later. As we were heading to Cafe Dumonde, Bruce noticed something funny and thought we might have a flat tire. We were going over these bumpy strips in the road and I assured him that it was just that. But no. We pulled over and did indeed have a flat tire. Rats! It was the back tire which would be alot harder to get to. What to do? Bruce thought he might be able to do a temporary fix with a bike pump. We asked a few of the guys who ride those bike cart taxi things but none of them had a pump. We were just across the street from Cafe Dumonde, so we decided to call AAA and enjoy a beignet while we waited. We found a good pole to lock the cycle to and got in line to order. We didn’t know how big beignets were so when we saw that they came in a bag of 3, we thought maybe they were more like donut holes. We asked the server if they were small and we should each get our own bag or share a bag. She said definitely get our own. Well, she must have a big appetite because these were big! We each ate 2 but probably should have only had one. Bruce also got a black coffee and I got an iced cafe au lait. As we munched our sugary delights, we decided that instead of calling AAA we could just get a ride back to the RV park and drive Harvey back to pick up the cycle. And if we were going to do that, we may as well enjoy New Orleans first and come back later.
This is Bruce faking a smile when he’s really thinking, “I can’t believe I just paid $16 for coffee and donuts!”Good thing I used splenda.
I also need to mention how God protected us yet again. On the way to New Orleans we drove through some sketchy areas and drove on some highways, including a big bridge over the river and another big bridge over the railroad tracks, that we were a little nervous about the cycle making it over. If we would have flatted in any of those places it could have been really bad. But instead, we flatted in the French Quarter, going about 10 mph, right across the street from our destination, with a place to sit and a secure place to lock up the cycle.
Little Jo safely chained to a pole to await her pick up.
We walked around Jackson Square and took a pic with the statue in case it’s on the list of southern statues to come down. We were looking for some local artists but mostly just found local tarot readers. After getting instructions to the street car from Velvet, I asked her if I could pray for her. She said “yes, but do it later.” It was not necessary, she informed me, to come close to her or put my hand on her head. Apparently she has been prayed for before. But that’s the beauty of silent prayer … I can do it whenever or wherever I want and say whatever I want! No hand on head needed. We headed down Bourbon street to Canal street to catch the Green car. I found 2 people who were happy to have our extra beignets. You would be surprised how many street people told me that they are diabetic and can’t have sugar. One guy I talked to, Alla, was from Ethiopia and writing a book about the differences between life there and life here. I asked what he thought some of the biggest differences were and he said freedoms. In the US, he said, “you have freedom to become”. Profound.
St Louis Cathedral in Jackson SquareBruce and Andrew Jackson
We took the Green street car through the Garden District and saw lots of beautiful houses. We also passed a sign for the WWII Museum. Bruce wanted to go there, so we hopped off and caught the next Green car going back.
Patriotism in the Garden DistricA Catholic School in the Garden District. Aren’t these uniforms cute?
This museum was great! So many interesting exhibits! It was also a little overwhelming. We could have spent 2 days there. It certainly piqued my interest to read more about it. These things always reinforce the knowledge of how little I know. I had no idea that our military devised this whole scheme of deception, including fake tanks & tents, phantom field armies & maniquin paratroopers. They got help from movie set people to come up with all the stuff. Anyway the ploy worked and Germany thought that we were planning an invasion near Pas de Calaise, France and in Norway and were not prepared for our invasion of Normandy.
WWII Museum
Our RV park provides a shuttle to New Orleans but the place that they pick up was 2 miles from the museum. We were going to walk but realized we couldn’t make it in time for the last pick up at 5 PM. So we ubered to the pickup spot. Then shuttled to our RV park. Got Harvey and headed back to rescue Little Jo. Conveniently the Uber drove right by Cafe Dumonde so we could see that the cycle was still safely locked to the pole.
While we were waiting for the shuttle a guy saw us looking at our phones and pointing and asked if we needed any help. We told him about our deliemma and that we were trying to find a place to park our RV when we come back since most of the streets are so narrow. He said that he had seen lots of RVs parked along this one street not far from there. Fast forward to when we got back with Harvey. We cruised over to that street and indeed saw multiple RVs parked along there. Unfortunately the RVs parked there looked like they had not left in quite some time. And possibly were no longer able to leave. We opted to skip that option. Bruce was determined to get closer anyway. Next thing I know, he’s pulling over in this huge empty parking area on the side of the street with signs saying “no parking. Reserved for tacks.” But it was right across the street from Cafe Dumonde so he decided to take his chances. When we had been there earlier today the space was filled with horses and buggies. Now they had mostly all gone home. I stayed in the RV in case we needed to move or I needed to give someone our sob story. It brought back memories of the billions of times I sat in the RV waiting on Bruce on our original trip. I think I’ll start calling it the OT. Haha.
Harvey & I waiting on Decatur StreetHarvey in the French Quarter.
When I got out to take a pic of Harvey in the French Quarter I met a guy named Tinho who was at a little booth raising awareness for Doctors Without Borders. I told him we had friends who had been a part of that organization and I knew it was wonderful. While we were standing there, a girl walked by and he said, “Have you heard of Doctors Without Borders?” “No thank you!” she answered as she walked on by. You at least have to give her points for politeness.
When Bruce got back we asked them for restaurant recommendations for dinner. Tinho’s friend said hands down Mr Ed’s Oyster Bar was the best. They had various locations and we all decided that the one in the Garden District would probably be the easiest place to park, rather than navigating more narrow streets and attempting to find parking in the French Quarter. It was perfect. We found easy parking near the restaurant. The streets weren’t too crowed. The restaurant wasn’t too crowded. And the couple coming out recommended the Taste of New Orleans combo plate which we ordered. Red Beans & Rice, Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee and Smoked Sausage. All the cajun dishes in one spot! Delicious!
We planned to go back to the French Quarter and listen to some live music after dinner but it was going to be too complicated to get there and after our long day we were ready to head back to the RV park.
Our RV Park is so classy they even have fleur de lis on the fence around the park. It’s a gated community.We discovered that there is more to New Orleans than the French Quarter.
All of our destinations are pretty close together down here. We got to Breaux Bridge around 11:30 with no real specific plans. I had heard that it is the “Crawfish Capitol of the World” and we needed to check it out. The restaurant that we were definitely not to miss was closed for good. Bummer! But there were several others that looked good on yelp so we picked one of them, Cafe Sydnie Mae, that had outside tables and served southern food. We shared a Muffeleto and an order of Chicken Andouille Gumbo. Now we have had Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice, Etouffee, Jambalaya, shrimp, Poboys and Muffeletos. We have pretty much tried all the local food. But not really. Each place had several obscure menu items like Crawfish Spinach Dip or Shrimp Stuffed Chicken that sounded delicious but we were sticking to the basics.
Our waitress told us we should come back tonight because they have live music and several other close restaurants do as well. Maybe Bruce can hear some live jazz here to make up for missing out in New Orleans. She also recommended a Swamp tour in St Martinville that we decided to take.
Looks like the Lovebugs that we met in Florida on the original trip are still at in.Wish we could have stopped at this Flea Market in Breaux Bridge.
The swamp tour guy didn’t answer so we decided to drive out to Martin lake/swamp anyway. When we got there he was no where to be found but his cousin (and competition) Wendy, offered to take us on a swamp tour. Her grandparents owned property on one side of the lake so she was VERY familiar with it. I’m not exactly sure the distinction between lake and swamp. Best I can tell, a swamp is a lake with grass & algae at the edges and Cypress trees growing in it. I think the Spanish moss is just a bonus. We saw an alligator sunning on a log right off the bat. In all we saw about 15 alligators. Usually just heads swimming in the water. Wendy told us that if you measured the inches from the eye to the end of the snout, that translates to the number of feet long the alligator is. We also saw a pink egret. It was in a tree in a protected section so we could only see it at a distance with the binoculars. I think they are kinda rare.
Wendy said this guy was a monster!This is an alligator nest. The mom deposits the eggs in here and as the debris deteriorates it makes compost which keeps the eggs warm.Gator on a logWendy and her boat
After the swamp tour we went further south to Broussard to Parish Brewery, where they make the Ghost in the Machine IPA that Bruce likes. Since I’m not into tasting (or drinking because then you would also have to taste it) beer I decided to hang out with Harvey while Bruce went in.
We think this is sugarcane because Wendy said it was the main crop grown around there.The Parish BreweryArt display in St Martinville
From there we headed back north to Poche’s (pronounced Po-shay) little market that several people had told us about. It had all kinds of meat and sausage and chicken and crawfish. We bought a frozen shrimp stuffed chicken to take home. We had been told that they had great hot dinners that you could get to go. We ordered a fried fish and shrimp dinner and some Crawfish boudin balls. The fish and boudin balls were good, but the fries, shrimp, cole slaw and potato salad got thrown away.
No calories or cholesterol here.
We went back to the restaurant where we had lunch today to hear some live jazz. Since we found a good parking space around the corner, I hung out in the RV for a little bit working on the blog while Bruce went on over. He sat outside with the owners, David & Cheryl for a while shooting the breeze. I guess the bridge on their street has been out for over a year. David said that Covid had hurt their business, but the bridge out had hurt it even worse. Tonight it seemed to be hopping. Our Alchemist/Mixologist, Lauren, made us fancy specialized mixed drinks. Bruce had a Manhattan with date syrup and I had a something sour with amaretto in it and egg whites because she suggested it and I decided to live on the edge. She said egg whites made it frothier but I was thinking I could now call it a protein drink.
Cheryl and David, owners of Cafe Sidnie Mae. You can see the bridge out sign in the back ground.
As we were heading back to Harvey, we passed this burger place where the owner, Grover, had the door propped open and was taking in food supplies. Bruce said, “No rest for the weary” which somehow sparked an hour long conversation with Grover. He told us all about how he cooks his food ALL from scratch, including grinding his own hamburger meat and alligator meat. We talked about how the quality of various products like plastic spoons, cooking oil, shrimp and onions is going down while the price stays the same. He said he could tell the shrimp had been in water to make them heavier since they are sold by weight. Apparently it makes them kinda pinkish instead of being “a pretty silver”. We talked about how the music around the town had stopped during Covid, but was now gradually coming back. He said that he was the first to come up with curbside delivery in Breaux Bridge. He had ideas about everyone and everything. I wish I had a tape recorder. I also wish we had eaten there. His dishes all sounded delicious. He gave me a can of his special cajun spice which I can’t wait to use! He also said we could park in his parking lot which was good because our original spot on the street had too much traffic. We really liked Breaux Bridge and hope to go back again some time.
sign in Grover’s restauranthello, little friendHunter Hays, that young kid who can play a million instruments, is from Breaux Bridge.
I kept thinking I’d skip or cut way down on some of the pictures posted because they take SO LONG to load on this program. But the pictures are my favorite part.
I know none of you will be surprised when I tell you that we woke up and headed north around 6 AM instead of 7:30 as we had planned. And by “we” I mean Bruce. I stayed in bed until the designated time of 7:30. Somebody has to stick to the plan, right? While I was in bed, Bruce stopped and took some pictures of the cemetery in Breaux Bridge. All the graves have to be above ground because rumor has it, if it rains alot they will end up above ground anyway.
His next stop was a cool little donut shop where he bought us coffee, donuts and these little bread loaves stuffed with sausages, cheese and stuff.
Somewhere between Willow Glen and Shreveport Bruce wanted to take a shower so we switched drivers. It was a bit of an odd sensation tooling on down the road driving Harvey in my pj’s and house shoes while Bruce showered. I waited until we stopped for gas to grab a quick shower and get dressed. No reflection on Bruce’s driving, but I didn’t want to take a chance on getting thrown out of the shower on a sharp curve or big bump.
I was passed by this tiny thing while going 72. That guy must have been pedaling REALLY fast!
We had planned to have dinner with our friends Terri & Roger and their daughter, Emily. But sadly Terri’s mom had a stroke this morning and so of course they needed to be with her. I am glad to report that she is out of the hospital now and doing well. I guess Bruce is right when he says I’m not realistic about time. I’m not sure how I planned for us to leave at 7:30, drive to Tulsa for dinner with our friends and THEN stop and see my aunt, THEN head home. We probably would have had to pull Harvey over and sleep at a truck stop.
Oklahoma almost looks like a painting here. So pretty!
Driving through Oklahoma on the Indian Nation Turnpike reminded me of when we were on it last Saturday heading to Louisiana. I was driving Harvey and the gas needle had passed 1/2 and was getting precariously close to 1/4. From there it is a pretty fast drop to E. The gas stations on the Indian Nation Turnpike are few and far between. We were getting a little nervous. Bruce got on his favorite app, Gas Buddy, and found a fairly close gas station, but it was about 20 cents more a gallon than another station 25 miles down the road. So when we pulled off and stopped at the close station Bruce decided to only put in 2 gallons, so we for sure had enough to get to the next station and fill up. We forgot to order a KTag so we have to stop at all the toll booths and pay the toll person. When we got to the next toll booth, I paid the lady and asked her what they were actually using all that money for since they clearly were not using it for the roads. She agreed that the roads were terrible and said that they had been told to say “infrastructure.” Our little conversation ended, she gave me my change and I drove off…right past the exit! Now we were really sweating! We were trying to come up with a good plan if we ran out of gas, since the cycle was not an option without a key. Hitchhike or Bruce could jump on his bike and pedal to the next station. Hitchhiking was not really an option because I am way to chicken to let Bruce do that. We turned off the A/C and radio and anything else that could possibly require gas and I slowed down to 55 because we decided that was the optimum speed for low gas consumption. Luckily we made it to the next station! And vowed once again to NEVER let Harvey get below half. But we are slow learners. Due to a combo of far apart gas stations, Gas Buddy and my thrifty husband we had a few more nervous moments heading to the best priced gas stations on the way home.
We got to Tulsa around 4:15 and had a delicious dinner with my Aunt Mart at Charleston’s restaurant. After a short but nice visit, we were on our way.
Since I haven’t gotten around to printing my Bruce and Pam Coast2Coast Adventure blog yet and I had to pay for another year of service, I decided I may as well blog some more, right? I’m going to attempt to blog my new adventure if I have time. I’m not sure how being responsible for 15 additional people will change my available blog time, but we’ll see.
I know you’re all wondering what in the world is going on NOW? Well, here’s the back story: About 5 years ago I went on a really fun bus trip with my mom up to Michigan and through Canada to Niagra Falls and back. It was so much fun that when I got back I told Bruce that we needed to be hosts for one of these trips. It didn’t end up working out then, but the company (which is based in Rolla, MO – my home town) called me a few months ago and asked if I was still interested. Um …. YES!!! Bruce is not able to go now (because he went on bike trips to Missouri, Texas, Colorado and Arkansas already this summer, and well, he DOES still need to work sometime) so my friend, Mary is accompanying me as hostesses on a bus trip to the Southeast Atlantic States.
I know you are all picturing us at the front of a greyhound, wearing little hats and scarves and holding a pennant. Well just stop! Our bus has had a little work done on the inside. The first 6 rows or so are regular seats facing forward with a little table in front of each of them. Then there is a row of seats facing backward so that people can play games along the way. In the middle there is a kitchen (where Mary & I will fix lunch for everyone each day) and then sofas and an easy chair in the back. And of course a bathroom.
the seats, looking towards the back of the busour kitchenthe couches in the back
We will stay in hotels each night, travel and visit interesting (although sometimes a little unusual) sites during the day and end with dinner at a restaurant each evening. Although from what I’ve heard it doesn’t really end there. Some of these travelers are avid late night game players, so we’ll see how this all pans out. I love games. My family plays them with me occasionally (like at Thanksgiving and my birthday) to appease me. But we’ll see how I stand up to the pros.
In an attempt to have a little practice cooking in a roaster and electric skillet for 20 people … did I mention our kitchen only has a roaster, crock pot, electric skillet and microwave? … I have tried a few recipes at home. Since we are going south, I wanted to add a few southern dishes into our menu. Some were successful. Some were not.
Chicken Pilau, attempt at Pecan Pie in a skillet, Sweet potato pie in a skillet
One important fact I need to point out … I am NOT driving this bus. Thankfully we have an awesome bus driver, Saul, who will get us everywhere we need to go.
Mary and I figured out our recipes for the week and went to Sam’s, Walmart, Costco and Dollar Tree yesterday to buy ingredients for all our recipes. We got the car loaded and headed to Rolla today. Tomorrow we load the bus and Tuesday we head out! Can’t wait!
our routeI decided to decorate cookies for all our passengers because who wouldn’t want to be greeted with a name-tag cookie. Am I right?
Whew! What a long day! I did a terrible job of taking pictures, but honestly does anybody care to see a picture of the poptarts we had for breakfast? – which by the way were the bomb! It’s been a LONG time since I’ve had a poptart for breakfast. We headed over to the USA Tours office around 9:00 and began rearranging the cabinets on The Bus to be the way we wanted them. Shout out to my husband who did such a fantastic job packing all the nonperishable groceries in my Pilot. Wish I had a picture. Made it so easy to transfer to The Bus.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23
We thought that loading The Bus might take us until noon. But at 1:15 we decided to take a break and eat lunch at Maid-Rite. For those of you uninformed about Maid-Rite, it is the cousin to Nu-Way and my high school hangout. So I have to go every time I’m in Rolla.
After lunch we bought the rest of our refrigerated groceries. And by the rest, I mean, enough for the first 4 days. We will hit the grocery store again on day 4 in Savannah. Some how the little task of shopping and loading the rest of the food took us until almost 5:00. After our boss, Nick, went over our final itinerary with us it was 7:00 by the time we finally got home. Oh ok, I guess I should admit that we had to make another grocery stop at Price Chopper on the way home because WalMart was out of Coconut Creamer. If you followed our other bus trip, you know that this is an essential part of my daily sustenance.
Once we got back to my mom’s we washed some fruit (did I mention The Bus does not have running water in the kitchen? Details.), hard boiled some eggs and made a tomato pie for tomorrow’s lunch. One of our “southern touches”. Then my mom made us a delicious dinner of salmon, asparagus, spinach & strawberry salad, and wild rice casserole. YUM! I wish I had taken a picture of that! Are you beginning to see a theme here?
Don’t these tomatoes look delicious?This was my job – cut the tomatoes & put them in the shell.Mary preparing the filling for the tomato pie.All ready to go in the oven.Ta-Da!Should I be embarrassed that we had to google how to hard boil an egg? We followed the instructions to a T including the ice bath at the end.
Now it’s off to bed in anticipation of our early morning tomorrow! Hopefully I will do a better job taking pictures tomorrow. It should be a little more interesting day.
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
2 Corinthians 4:17
Beautiful sunrise across from my mom’s farm.
This morning started off with a beautiful sunrise and lots of energy. There were 2 bus trips leaving the office this morning so the place was hopping. We had 8 passengers leaving from Rolla and planned to pick up the additional 7 in St Louis. As a little perk, USA Tours will pick people up from anywhere in Missouri. We headed East toward St Louis on I44 around 8 AM. Right on time. For almost an hour. Then the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road. Uh oh! When I asked him what was going on, he said that we had thrown a belt, but no worries because a mechanic was coming from the office in Rolla with a belt and they’d have it taken care of in no time. Sure enough, the mechanic arrived in about 45 minutes and put on a new belt. But unfortunately that wasn’t the problem, just the symptom. They decided it was something else and called for someone else to bring the needed parts to fix it. Since this was going to take a while, in an attempt to save time, we decided to have the people in St Louis bussed to us to eliminate the St Louis stop. Every time a semi truck went by it rocked the bus so we told the passengers that this little thrill ride would be thrown in free of charge and tried to convince them to yell, “whee” every time a truck went by. Plus luckily we broke down along a stretch lined with trees almost about to kinda start changing colors. Everything went as planned and so after a little 3 hour Fall Colors Viewing/Semi Truck Thrill Ride we were on our way. By skipping another bathroom stop as well as the St Louis stop, we got to Metropolis to see the Superman Museum only an hour later than we had planned.
Sadly even the hope of winning a piece of this delicious candy did not spur on much excitement for our trivia games.Mary up front for the Superman Trivia.The prize for most correct answers today.
The bus began moving right as we were seating everyone at the tables for lunch. We served a delicious lunch of pulled pork, tomato pie, green beans, cream corn and Southern Pound Cake with strawberries for dessert. The tomato pie was a big hit.
Southern Pound Cake with strawberries & whipped cream. Yes, it was as good as it looks!The Superman Museum in Metropolis, ILThere was not much enthusiasm for the Lois Lane statute down the street.
After Metropolis, we went through Paducah, KY and on to Nashville. Since the passengers had all been such troopers this morning the company paid for everyone’s dinner tonight at Cracker Barrel.
Guess which meal was mine and which was Mary’s
After dinner we went directly to our hotel where most of the guests went right to sleep while Mary and I started the chicken enchiladas for tomorrow in our hotel room. We both felt like we were still swaying on the bus. Kinda like the sensation you get after boating all day. But this lasted longer. I’m still swaying. I guess balancing while walking up and down the bus isles did a number on my equilibrium. Or someone slipped me some drugs when I wasn’t looking.
Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love
Ephesians 4:2
We got up bright and early (but still AFTER all our guests had already finished breakfast) and headed down to the bus to finish preparing lunch. Since we had prepared the filling last night all we had to do was roll the enchiladas. And by “we” I mean Mary. I had the laborious task of opening the 3 cans of refried beans and dumping them in the crock pot. But mostly I was working on making coffee. Several people thought my French Vanilla coffee sounded good, so I made a whole pot. This is a VERY slow coffee maker! By the time it was done only one person still wanted some and I later threw his away. I guess I’ll be drinking alone from here on out.
Good thing that saran wrap held or this could have been bad!
At 8:35 we got to Belle Meade Plantation which opened at 9:00. Fortunately the girl working the front desk was just walking up and she graciously offered to let us in early. We got a tour of the mansion and then wandered the property. In it’s hay-day, Belle Meade was a premier thoroughbred race horse farm. They raised the great, great, etc grandpa to Secretariat, Sea Biscuit and 11 out of the 13 Triple Crown Winners. Impressive!
One of our passengers had not been feeling well and so stayed on the bus so I went back to check on him. After throwing up, he was feeling much better. Yikes. Hopefully it was just something he ate at the restaurant last night and not something we served. We are passing out so much junk food and chocolate, it’s a wonder more people aren’t sick. I hope I can still fit in my pants on day 10.
I think they are trying to tell us somethingBelle Mead Plantationthe finished product
After Belle Meade we served lunch on the road and basically just drove the rest of the day. We got to our restaurant destination, Piggy & Harry’s around 6:00. We had just served them Sweet Potato Pie at 4:00 before the time changed and it went from afternoon to dinner time. I really liked this restaurant because it had LOTS of character. But some of the passengers were a little underwhelmed by their food. I guess I have a pretty low bar when it comes to dinner. It may also have had a little to do with the fact that no one was even hungry when we got there. The back story on this restaurant: I was telling Bruce that we were spending the night in Hendersonville, but I couldn’t remember which state it was in. He told me it was North Carolina and he had been there with Randy Storms and his family when they were younger. He remembered getting ice cream at Piggy’s when he was there so I googled it and since it was only a mile from our hotel, we decided to go there. I figured any place that had been in business that long had to be decent.
Raelli and Jennifer did a fantastic job serving us.
After dinner and cleaning the bus, I was ready to crash. But somehow I ended up playing 5 Crowns until 10:00. THEN went in and crashed. After my shower. We are scheduled to leave at 7:30 in the morning (which I’m trying not to remember was 6:30 AM yesterday). When our boss had called earlier this evening I had mentioned that 7:30 was coming pretty early in the morning. Apparently he went back and checked and realized that it should have said 8:30. Oops! Since we had already told everyone to be ready to go at 7:30, there was not really a way to change at this point.
We also had groceries in another cooler at back and frozen things iced in a Yeti. We had 2 coolers up by the passengers filled with pop and waters. At night we poured out all the melted ice with this little contraption that Nick, the owner made. It’s a pan that catches the water coming out the spickets and then the water goes through a hose out the front door of the bus. Clever!
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.
Proverbs 3:27
First thing this morning we started the pork chops in the roaster and cheesy potatoes in the crock pot. We also decided to go ahead and cook our pecan pie in the skillet because we weren’t sure how long it would take to cook. We figured we would just take it off when it was done and serve it at room temp this afternoon. We forgot to take in to account that you can only have 2 things plugged in at a time without blowing the fuse. This meant that when we were trying to “cook the broccoli really quick” in the microwave, we had to unplug the crock pot and the skillet. The broccoli seemed to take forever to get hot. I guess because it was such massive quantity. We rolled in to Charleston around 12:15. Mary and I served our pork chops, broccoli, cheesy potatoes & rolls for lunch.
Crock pot cheesy potatoes – pretty yummy!
After lunch, we all immediately got off to board the ferry over to Fort Sumter. The appliances can’t be left on when the bus is off or it will drain the battery. So we either had to turn them off or Saul, our bus driver, would have to stay on the bus and turn it on every half hour. That would stink. Plus he has never driven on this trip before so we wanted him to be able to go too. So we turned off the skillet. Since we had turned the skillet off and on so many times, we weren’t sure if it was done, even though it had been on since about 9:00. The crust didn’t look like it was browned & felt soft along the edges.
When we got back from Ft Sumter we drove over to the Battery and looked around a bit. Some passengers were asking about this big stone monument. Mary explained that it was “an erection” honoring the men who died in a tragic ship collision. Although that truly is very sad, we all got stuck on the erection part and cracked up. Middle school humor anyone? As we looked at all the names, we noticed that there was one sailor from Rolla.
Mary explaining about the erection29 year old sailor from RollaWe saw our first palm trees today. But it wasn’t these.
We all went to dinner at a place called Swig and Swine. Apparently we seem to have a pig theme going. I ordered Whole Hog Plate which was supposed to taste like pulled pork but was really just code for We-are-serving-this-with-all-the-fat-still-included. Not so yummy. The people sitting across from me ordered brisket and ribs and boy did I have other-order-envy! Theirs smelled fantastic!
I kept cooking the pecan pie until we got to the hotel and had everyone come down for an evening snack. I told them it might possibly be pecan pudding or pecan ice cream topping. I was able to cut it. And it tasted good. On the top half. The bottom part was as dark as chocolate. Several people asked if it had a chocolate crust – um, nope just burned. But surprisingly it still tasted good. Kinda like toffee. Just watch out for your fillings or any loose teeth.
Why did I think poring a whole bottle of Karo syrup into this small bowl on a moving bus was a good idea?Much better!Ready to pop into the skillet for a few hours. Or all day. Whichever.Doesn’t look too bad. I wish I had gotten a picture of the toffee bottom. It was so hard I literally had to pick up some of the pieces and break/pull them apart because I couldn’t cut it with the knife.
The sweet girl at the front desk offered to make us some fresh decaf even though she was the only one working tonight. Unfortunately when she was rolling it out to us on a cart, she hit something and the whole thermos/dispenser fell to the floor and began gushing coffee. Poor thing! We tried to help her because 4 more people had come to the front desk and were now waiting for service. What a mess. She had the best attitude about it all though.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – REJOICE!
Philippians 4:4
First thing we did this morning was head to see the Angel Tree. It is a 400 year old Live Oak tree. I think it’s the oldest in South Carolina. It was definitely big and beautiful. And apparently it takes A LOT of signs to keep it that way.
Next we went to the Market in Charleston. This land was donated a hundred years ago (ish) with the stipulation that it always be used for a market.
In one of the buildings of the Charleston Street Marketbetter keep busy!
We had Beef and Vegy Soup with cheese and crackers and salad for lunch at the Magnolia Gardens before we went in. We finished with Banana Pudding as one of our traditionaly southern dishes. But we forgot to put the banana slices in and we ran out of whipped cream the day we made Sweet Potato Pie. So ours pretty much just tasted like Jello Banana Pudding. Which it was.
We took a tram around the Magnolia Gardens which included a lot of swamps, complete with alligators and snapping turtles. And lots of Spanish Moss. Which is not Spanish or moss. We learned that it is completely infested with chiggers, so don’t touch! After our 45 minute tour of the gardens we had a 45 minute tour of the mansion. I didn’t take any pics because it was against the law. It was pretty similar to the one we saw two days ago.
Our group having a picnic before going into the Magnolia GardensSpanich Moss is everywhere. Isn’t it pretty?Look closely and you can see a gator and a turtle on the swamp sun deckThis guy stopped by to try to sell me life insurance
It was around 5:00 when we got to Savannah so we decided to go directly to dinner before heading to our hotel. There were several places in this little shopping center near our hotel so we let everyone go their own way and met up an hour and a half later. Mary and Saul and I went to a Mexican restaurant. The waitress gave us the special chunky guacamole since Saul was Mexican (their words not mine – I was just witnessing this transaction) As opposed to the almost pureed guac most people usually get. Hmmmm …
See the difference in the 2 guacamoles?
After dinner we went up to our hotel room and relaxed. Haha. NOT! We had hard boiled some eggs at my mom’s so we brought them to our hotel room and made deviled eggs for tomorrow. We also made homemade (hotel-made?) pimento cheese for our sandwiches tomorrow.
So in case you (like me) thought this trip was kinda similar to the trip Bruce and I took last year, let’s just review:
B&P C2C – I drove Harvey. I enjoyed seeing everything that I drove by. I was basically on my own schedule (ok mostly Bruce’s schedule). I slept late and jogged almost daily. I made peanut butter sandwiches for 1 person. I traveled across the country.
USA Tour – I am not driving and Harvey is all alone at the storage unit. I see almost nothing that we are driving by because we are usually cooking. I do NOT sleep late – unless you mean getting up at 7 AM instead of 6 AM occasionally. I do not have time to exercise – unless you count balancing on a moving bus while cooking. We make dinner for 18. I am traveling the country.
But both are good. I think I just need to take time to fill my inner introvert. The pluses to this trip are getting to know all the passengers on our bus (all of whom I really like) and enjoying this adventure with Mary. I don’t know how the other hostesses do this by themselves. Mary and I tag team the cooking and announcements and stuff. Although we have very different MO’s.
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears.
Zephaniah 3:17
We started the day with a visit to Tybee Island to see the light house. You know Mary and I had to climb all 178 steps to the top. Once we were back down and feeling kinda proud of our accomplishment, one of the guides mentioned that the original guys working the light house had to climb up at least 3 times a day, every day. I bet they had some awesome legs. On a separate note, the girl taking our picture at the top (random girl, not paid photographer) said that you are supposed to say “Bennett” to get the best smile for a picture. Has anyone ever heard of that? You know that is my maiden name, so I feel like I should have been using this little bit of info all these years.
The ones that made it to the top. Most likely saying “Bennett”View from the top, with the Big Bus waiting obediently in the parking lot.I had to take a picture of Mary taking a picture of a group of us.Mary & I at the beach on Tybee Island. Not the best of either of us but we had to document the moment.
We left Tybee Island and headed to the downtown Historic District of Savannah. We had a picnic lunch in a nice grassy area under some trees near the parking lot by the Visitors Center where the bus was parked. (Now that’s a lot of prepositions!) I didn’t get a picture of the sandwiches, but we made some delicious ham & cheese “Ham Delights” on Hawaiian buns with a yummy poppyseed-worcestershire sauce (recipe from my North Carolina friend, Cori) AND our home made pimento cheese. We also served deviled eggs, fruit cups, bags of chips, carrots & celery with Ranch dressing. It was a hit. I also learned an interesting fact. Did you know it’s possible to eat a cheeto with a fork? I saw it with my own eyes.
How bout a close up of our home made pimento cheese?Mary proving to the world that a cheeto can indeed be eaten with a fork.
We hopped on the trolley and began our narrated guide around the area. We all started on the same trolley, although we knew people would end up hopping off at different spots. We had a guide named Thomas who had a really great southern accent. I was sad to leave his voice when Mary and I were the first ones off. Every time Mary has talked to her mom this week, her mom has asked if she was going to see the Juliette Low house. We didn’t even know where it was. So when the narrator announced that the next stop was the Juliette Low house, we knew this was our stop. Mary tried to facetime her mom with no luck, so I took pictures of her to send.
Mary & Juliette
We walked through one of the 22 squares in Savannah where they were celebrating Wag-O-Ween with people and dogs dressed up in costumes. We saw dogs dressed as sea creatures, a hotdog, dogs in tutus, of course ghosts and witches and lots more. I only managed to get a picture of 2. But I think they were my favorite anyway.
Aren’t these cute? The big dog has on a hat and bandana. The little dog has a cowboy riding him.
While we waited for the next trolley a group of people on segways with funny hats came tooling by. We thought it was a parade and took some pictures, then realized that it was actually just some people on a segway tour. And judging by their faces and the face of the guide, I’m guessing the hats were his idea. Once we hopped back on the trolley, the narrator pointed out that that very park was where the famous scene of Forrest Gump on the park bench was filmed. I wish our first guide had mentioned that. We ended up hopping on and off 3 times which meant we had 3 different narrators who used the same material. We heard all 3 narrators say that when Ford Motors first moved to the area, Ford ignored all the warnings and used the Spanish Moss to stuff the seats of his cars, “resulting in the first ever automotive recall” (remember what I told you about the chiggers).
Is it a parade?This is a statue of the Waving Girl. This girl would come out and wave to every single ship that came in. It made the sailors so happy that lots of them sent her money and cards. Enough that she was able to buy herself a nice house.
Our 2nd hop off was near the waterfront. We walked around to a few shops and then Mary and I each decided it was time for us to get a tattoo. She picked a pattern and asked the guy if he could make it about 2 inches long. He said “sure”. I asked for mine to be about 1 inch on my ankle. He said, “no problem”.
Um ..I think he needs a new ruler. This isn’t exactly 2 inches.Not 1 inch or on my ankle. Glad it’s only a henna!This motel is the busiest in the state (or maybe just in the town – I can’t remember) because they put moon pies on your bed.
While we were waiting for everyone to hop off their final trolley we went back to the shady, grassy area and served snacks. Our southern special snack today was peanuts in coke. Only one person wanted to try it.
peanuts in her coke
For dinner tonight we all went to a southern restaurant called Sweet Potato Kitchen. I had Pecan Encrusted Chicken, a sweet potato and green beans. Mary had Blackened Mahi Mahi, a sweet potato and brussel sprouts. I didn’t sit at her table so I didn’t get a picture of hers. A lot of us had Banana Pudding for dessert. So they got to taste what it was supposed to taste like.
My dinner. Not sure why they put butter on the chicken.
The Lord has no equal. Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Isaiah 40:12
Today was a good day! We got to sleep in today because the bus didn’t leave until 9:00. And since we were having taco bar for lunch today there was basically no prep. I had already browned, seasoned and frozen the meat in Wichita before we left. We had bought shredded cheese and lettuce so the only things left were cutting up tomatoes, making guacamole and opening cans of black olives. Easy peasy!
Our first stop of the day was to hit a WalMart really quickly for us to grab a few groceries and for some of the passengers to buy a swimsuit or flip flops. When I got back to the bus I reached in my pocket to pull out the 2 Halloween cards that I’m sending to Chris’s boys and was shocked (no, really … I WAS shocked) to find only one card. I checked back in Walmart but no one had turned a card in and I didn’t see it on the floor anywhere. I had been all over the place this morning, loading the bus and going back and forth to the hotel. So what to do? I couldn’t really send just one card. What would Channing think if I only sent one to Cullin? But the card to Channing had been addressed, sealed and stamped. What would Cullin think if I didn’t send one to him and then someone found the card to Channing and mailed it? Such a dilemma. In the end, I called Caroline and we decided that I would mail an extra card that I had to Channing and if the original card didn’t show up, she would go buy him another gift card, since I had sent one in the card to Cullin. Problem solved!
Our 2nd stop of the day was Peach World. With a name like that, I had a little more grand expectations than what we drove up to. But it was still fun to see all the peach stuff they had. Lots of salsas and jams and lotions and sweet concoctions. I bought some stuff called TOE Jam. Sounds pretty yummy, huh? It’s made of Tangerine, Oranges and Elderberry. Get it? Pretty clever. They also had FROG Jam and a couple others. We sampled everything and bought some peach ice cream even though it was only 9:30 in the morning.
So here it is: Peach World. Unfortunately no peaches because they are out of season.My favorite! Scuppernong Cider! Fresh off the Scuppernong tree.
As we drove along through all the swamps it again made me think how much we take roads and bridges for granted. It’s no big deal to drive along here, but without the bridges, even though the water may only be a few feet deep, it would be impassable without a boat. I’m guessing they used barges or something. You couldn’t walk or ride a horse through because of the alligators.
Swamps every where!
Our next stop was the Florida Stateline Visitors Center. We all got out and took a group picture by the Florida sign. Then went in to get our free juice.
Free juice. The yummy looking dark orange one was actually grapefruit.Captain Citrus. Really? What’s his super power? Umm … spreading sunshine? Giving canker sores?
When we got back to the Big Bus our driver, Saul, was talking to the guy parked next to us, who was towing a huge boat. Saul told us that the boat belongs to Bruce Springsteen and he (Bruce, not Saul) pays that guy $10,000 a couple times a year to haul it across the country. Saul didn’t ask the obvious question. Why? I would think it would be cheaper to just buy another boat.
Bruce Springsteen’s boat
We got to our hotel around noon and had our taco bar lunch in the hotel breakfast room. Once we got everything cleaned up and cleaned the bus (in case you are wondering, every night we have to wipe down all the surfaces with anti-bacterial wipes, sweep the floor, drain the water from the 3 coolers and fill them back up with ice. Sometimes we restock the pop and water at night, sometimes we wait until morning) anyway, after all that was done we headed for the beach. It was kinda cloudy and not super hot, but warm enough to be in a swimsuit. The ocean water was warm. We played in the waves for a while and then headed to the hot tub. We talked with a couple who actually live in Jacksonville and were having a stay-cation at the hotel to enjoy the beach. In her opinion, the best Florida beach is Key West. As I was relaxing in the hot tub I happened to look down at my foot and notice the water was making it look dark around my little toe. Weird. So I looked closer. Somehow I had an ink stain between my baby toe and the next one over. How in the world? I had shoes on all day until we went to the beach. Has this been there for days and I never noticed? I have no idea. I scrubbed it and it didn’t come off. So maybe I have a real life tattoo. In a very odd place.
As we were heading to the little outside restaurant to get an app and a marg Bruce called me. So I headed up to our room and enjoyed a little chill time talking to him, while Mary went to the Tiki Restaurant with some others from our bus. It was such a treat to be finished at 3:00. I showered then worked on the blog and then chilled (which is code name for played Spider Solitaire). Mary came back to see if I wanted to play games with some of them. I declined. I was enjoying my alone time thoroughly. For those of you non-introverts, this probably seems weird, but I think all the introverts get it.
View from our room. Yea baby!
Some of you have asked about clean up after cooking our meals. We try to take every precaution to minimize our mess. When we cook in the roaster we line it with tin foil and then put a turkey pan in the bottom to hold the food. Or for smaller things like warming up the Ham Delights, we use a disposable lasagna pan. We also use a disposable lasagna pan for inside the electric skillet and a crock pot liner for the crock pot and sometimes crock pot liners for the bowls. Then to wash the silverware and the dishes that need it, we heat water in the coffee pot and wash in a tub in the sink. We can empty the water out the drain in the sink directly outside. So there you have it!
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
Galatians 5:13
Good morning Jacksonville Beach!
We (Mary & I, not we the bus load) started the day bright and early by crawling out of bed and starting to assemble lasagna. I had already browned the meats and gotten the tomato part ready in Wichita before we left. It’s been in the freezer. Last night we mixed the cottage cheese/parmesan part in a baggie. Since we had bought the kind of noodles that don’t need to be boiled first, all we had to do was assemble and cook. We had brought the roaster into our room last night. Wish I had taken a pic of us scooting the hot roaster full of 2 pans of lasagna out of the hotel on their luggage cart.
Making lasagna in the hotel room. Never done that before.
Our first stop in St Augustine was the Light House. I climbed the 219 steps with a 77 year old man. Each time we came to an open window, he leaned out and waved to his wife. So sweet. After around 200 stairs, he stopped at the landing and said, “this is as far as I can go”. I looked up the stairs and saw daylight. “We are almost there!” I told him. “You can’t stop now!” He made it all the way, but then decided not to actually go out on the outside part. I’m still impressed he made it all the way up. For some reason this light house didn’t seem as much of a climb as the one on Tybee Island. When I first started climbing the other one, a little claustrophobia started kicking in. Every now and then in certain situations it hits me and I have to remind myself that there is no reason that I will need to get down in a hurry and I will be just fine. This lighthouse was a walk in the park. So to speak. Maybe because they had fun stuff to read on every other landing, which kinda broke it up. I didn’t get a picture of the ones that climbed it because every body went up and back down at their own pace.
St Augustine Light HouseThey had a mirror set up so that you could take a selfie with the lighthouse. Notice all the spectators witnessing this amazing feat.My friend, Doc, waving at his wife.Fun info on the landing wall. That climb seriously only burned 24 calories?the stairs. Your educational section. You’re welcome.
We decided it was too hot to have a picnic today since there was no wind, so we ate lunch on the bus. That’s easier anyway.
Yes, I’ll have a lasagna to go please. With a side of broccoli and applesauce.
After lunch we did another Hop-On-Hop-Off trolley. Except that these were actually not trolleys. More like those cart things you ride through garden tours. Maybe called trams. Our tickets from the Savannah trolley had an advertisement that you could save $2 per ticket if you showed them your ticket when you bought your new ticket for the St Augustine trolley. Always looking for the bargain, I called the company and asked if we had to actually have everyone’s tickets or if I could show my receipt for all 18. She was very nice and said, no problem I could just give her my receipt number and she could take care of it all over the phone. I asked if $2 off would be better than their group rate and she said that they didn’t have a group rate. Then I asked if they had a senior rate since we are mostly seniors. Nope. This was the best we could get. So I gave her the credit card info and we finished the deal over the phone. She emailed me a receipt and texted me something to scan for our tickets. Perfect. So we arrived and Tyna came out and gave everyone a map and a sticker to show that they had paid. I showed her the scan thing on my phone and she got a funny look on her face. Uh oh. She took me to the office to talk to Kathy. Big uh oh. Kathy looked at the scan thing on my phone and said. “That’s not us. You were supposed to come in here to pay.” What!?! I pulled out my flyer and showed her the number on the front that I had called. Apparently it was two different phone numbers for the same company, different departments. “No. We have a contract with USA Tours and you are only supposed to get tickets through us. We are the group ticket sales.” WHAT!????! I told her about my conversation with the other lady and that no one had mentioned that I had to buy the tickets from her. The last trolley ride I just bought them all from the kiosk. Bottom line: I had paid $180 too much for non-refundable tickets. Yikes! Luckily Kathy was on the ball and she offered to go talk to her GM and see what could be done. A few minutes later, she came back and said that they would issue USA Tours a check for the difference and mail it to the office. Yay for Kathy!
We hopped on the tram and learned lots of interesting info that I have already forgotten. But luckily we heard the Henry Ford/Spanish Moss story again. A few stops before we came to the fort, it started to pour down rain. The trolley driver pulled over and handed out rain ponchos to everyone. That was a thoughtful, unexpected little perk. Fortunately two stops later, when we got off at the fort, it had already quit raining and gotten hot again.We decided to just walk around the outside of the fort a bit and then get back on the trolley.
A street in the historic district of St Augustine. See the rain clouds coming in.I know there was a great story about this because I took 3 pictures. Umm….Me and Mary, on the tram, ready for any weather.the oldest street in the countryThe gates to the city, back when it was walled in. On a separate note, doesn’t it look like that couple is holding hands … but that she’s walking the other direction. Or maybe just doesn’t have a head.The waterless moat around the fort, Castillo de San Marcos.the steps Mary and I used to climb up to the next level where we saw the sign that said …oops!This horse was commissioned to celebrate the Broncos vs the Giants Superbowl game. But unfortunately, the Broncos lost, so the horse is now stabled in the back parking lot of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.I am shocked. I’m just not sure I can accept this as a fact. This drawing appears to be the original invention of the toilet paper roll. And they have it on backwards! I’m sure it was just a mistake. Or maybe they hadn’t figured out yet that it really flows so much better the other way.That’s one way to describe it.haha
After everyone arrived back from the trolley ride we boarded the Big Bus and headed back to Jacksonville Beach. The passengers were on their own for dinner tonight so I offered some of our leftovers to them and ended up making about 6 to go plates. The pimento sandwiches and the lasagna were in high demand. I also made a few peanut butter sandwiches. Imagine that. Saul and Mary and I walked over to a seafood restaurant called Salt Life because we had a hankering for some fresh seafood. It did not disappoint.
One of our passengers bought this for me, and one for Mary, because she said that we were the first hostesses to be understanding and discreet about her eating needs. About made me cry.Mary and I both got Crab Stuffed Grouper. Of course I did not eat that big pile of vegetables. I think they were just for decoration.Mary & Saul at dinner at the Salt Life
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.
Psalm 62:5
We are starting to see lots of cotton fields.
We were on the road a lot today. Our first stop after leaving Jacksonville Beach was for lunch in Albany. We went to the visitors center and then walked down to Ray Charles Plaza for lunch. We didn’t really see much more of Albany than just this block. For some reason turtles are a big thing in Albany. The people at the visitors center said that they have painted turtles all over town and they had a turtle park in back of the visitor’s center. For some reason I envisioned this kinda like those fairy gardens that people make, only for turtles. I was quite surprised (and a tiny bit disappointed) to find that it was actually a park for CHILDREN decorated with a few painted turtles.
Ray Charles Plaza had a full size statue of … Ray Charles, of course. The side walk was also painted to look like piano keys. I think Ray and his piano statue were supposed to be spinning around, but they were stationary. We were serenaded by multiple Ray Charles songs from the speakers, while we ate. I didn’t get any pictures from our lunch, but we had a picnic of chicken pot pie, our last nod to the south, along with oranges and salad. I was so impressed with myself for finding precooked biscuits at Sam’s. They were delicious on top of the pot pie. I think the chicken pot pie was my favorite lunch so far. So far … haha … it’s Day 8! There are only 2 more lunches left.
Sing it Ray baby!See the piano key sidewalk.It takes a lot of canned goods for this chicken pot pie.Just like mom used to make.
A few hours later we arrived at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, GA. So who remembers a fun fact about Columbus? I was born there 57 (ok almost 58) years ago and had not been back until last year on our coast to coast trip. And now here I am back again. This museum housed huge sections of 2 huge ships that had been used in the civil war on the rivers. I think that they were both part of the Confederate Navy. The Confederate Navy was the first to re-enforce their ships with this special armor, which I can’t remember what it’s called. But it was a game changer. Canon balls would basically bounce right off these ships. Plus they had ram rods on the front and so they would just ram the wooden ships. They were beasts!
This is the thickness of the armor on those ships. About 3 feet.They also had lots of old flags in the museum. Most with an important story about them.Life of a sailor
Our next stop was just across the Chatahoochee River in Phenix, AL at a park along the river. We had bought a few bottles of wine at Belle Meade Plantation and thought that this would be a good place for a little wine and cheese. We brought cheese and crackers out on little plastic trays and poured the wine into clear plastic wine cups (aka the same ones we had used for fruit cups, pudding cups and snack cups – we bought a huge bag of them at Sam’s). It was a pretty place to walk along the river. They had a zipline along there which had been converted into a Zombie Zip line. Possibly it was only alive at night (get it? – haha, I’m so funny) because no one was using it. No one else was even in the park except us.
Way down yonder on the Chatahoochee, it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie.
We all had dinner at a local restaurant called Ezell’s, recommended by the guy at the museum. It served lots of fried stuff and fish and Po Boys. Mary and I split an order of Grilled Shrimp because we had filled up on so much wine. Not really. We just didn’t want to be stuffed. Again. Saul got an order of Fried Alligator to share. It wasn’t bad. Tasted like chicken. I probably won’t ever crave it.
Decorative boat motors on the wall at Ezell’s.A Gardenia bush outside Ezell’s. It smelled so good. Not overpowering, just nice.
Once we dropped the passengers off at the hotel, we went to get groceries. We decided that Mary would clean the bus while I got the groceries at Piggly Wiggly & Saul went to get gas. I finished before them and sat outside to wait. The security guard who had sacked my groceries came out to make sure I was ok. I said I was waiting on a bus. Soon the teenage checker who was now the parking lot cart retriever (clearly not in the union) came over and asked if I was ok. I told him that my bus would be here soon. He was a little skeptical but went on about his business. Soon a random customer going into the store asked if I was ok and if I was waiting on a taxi. I said thanks, but I was fine. Just waiting on a bus. He too looked a little skeptical that a bus would indeed be stopping at the bench in front of the Piggly Wiggly. I think they were getting vague Delta Dawn vibes. But low and behold, my bus soon arrived. The security guard came out and said, ” Boy, you’re going in style!” I think I’m a celebrity now at the Piggly Wiggly. They are probably still talking about the lady waiting for a bus.
Me and my groceries chilliin’ at the Piggly Wiggly.More bathroom wisdom
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
We woke up to the most beautiful sunrise this morning!
Barbers Motor Sports Museum. The museum started with Mr Barbers private collection of over 200 motorcycles. Now this place is loaded with motorcycles, scooters, a few cars and other random stuff. It was laid out immaculately. Very clean and easy to get around. They used alot of stainless steel and glass. The elevator was all glass with a black fast looking car sitting on top of it. But then they also had gradual sloping circular ramps (think streets going up a mountain) to get from floor to floor. The pictures don’t do it justice. The bottom floor was also an event space. Plus they had a track out back which I think was also used for people to train to get their racing license. There were a few cars zooming around it while we were there.
This is the car on top of the elevator. It’s kinda hard to tell what you’re looking at.Their boat motor display blew the one at Ezell’s out of the water!This car was on the cover of a Beatles album.Clearly bicycles were 2nd class citizens here. They were all hanging from the ceiling.This was my favorite.Just your random security guard and tiger keeping things orderly.Wouldn’t you love to see this little cutie cruising through your neighborhood? I’m sure it’s only driven by grandfatherly types or clean cut high school boys.Great grand-daughter to my little cycle. 2019 Honda Cub.And for your listening entertainment … all motorcycle places have someone playing a grand piano, right?
While we were in Birmingham we drove by the Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball stadium in the US. Or maybe the oldest still being used. I believe it was built for the black baseball league. I took a quick picture as we drove by, assuming that we would actually stop and I could get a better one. Not so. For unknown reasons we just cruised on by. OK, well thanks.
The blur of Rickwood Field
For lunch we served a potato bar. We weren’t sure the best way to do a “bar” on a moving bus, so we put up a table by the bus at our bathroom stop and had everyone load their potato as they got back on the bus. While they were off the bus, we set the tables in the bus. It worked perfectly. We made this chocolatey gooey mess for dessert and served it with vanilla ice cream.
We arrived in Memphis in the rain which made it a little complicated to get everyone and all their luggage off the bus and into the hotel. We got a little tour of the area as Saul tried to turn around and get us lined up closest to the hotel on the one way street that went along side it. At one point we turned onto a street with a sign indicating 2 way traffic and drove about a block before it turned into one-way the OTHER way with no place to turn off. People in cars parked right where it started being one way were flashing there lights and waving at us. But seriously what choice did we have? No oncoming traffic, no place to turn, cars parked all along both sides of the street. We were in a giant bus, so we just slowly motored on through. It was only about a block, so not really a big deal. Just kinda annoying that they thought it was a good idea to change the status half way down the street.
two way traffic (just kidding)
After our several wrong turns and around-the-blocks, we finally ended up along side the hotel. We had all the passengers get off and go on inside and then brought all their luggage in for them to grab. One of the disadvantages of a hotel built in a small area, we had to go up 2 sections of 3-4 stairs to get to the main floor with the front desk. This was a little difficult for some of our passengers, so we were trying to help get all the luggage up to the front desk. Another guest saw us and started grabbing luggage and taking it to the top. I love nice people!!!!
Most people opted to eat in the hotel restaurant instead of venturing out to Beale Street in the rain. But not us. Mary and Saul and I headed out with umbrellas and ponchos. My pretty little plaid umbrella was pretty much worthless because it kept blowing inside out, but at least it kinda kept the top of my head dry. As we were going in, there was a couple coming out of Blue’s City Cafe with no rain gear of any kind. I said, “Would you like to have an umbrella that’s not very good, but better than nothing?” They happily accepted it. Which worked out well because by the time we left the restaurant it had stopped raining. Thanks God!
Our waiter suggested the ribs and the catfish, so we got an order of each and a bowl of gumbo and all 3 shared them. We listened to the band in our restaurant for a bit and then wandered down Beale St to the Rum Boogie Cafe. We stayed there a bit and then I hit a wall and had to head back to the hotel.
The gumbo had a little (actually a LOT) of kick but it was so good I kept eating.These ribs were just the way I like them. Not saucy and not too spicy. MMMMM!Beale Street was lined with lots of Notes in cement along the sidewalk. Apparently these are like the Stars in Hollywood.Beale Street is actually only about a block long.This was the guy in our first place.
When we had first gotten to the hotel, my key didn’t work to open our door so I got it reprogramed before we left. When I got back to the hotel, my key opened the outside door into the hotel, but not my room door. So I went back down and got it rekeyed again. Went back up. Still wouldn’t open. This time I decided to take the stairs down, just to mix it up a bit. Unfortunately when I got to the first floor, the door was locked and you couldn’t get out. So back up I went (we were only on the 2nd floor) and then came down the elevator. Got the key programmed again and went back up. Still no luck. The next time I went down and said, “This will be the 4th time I’ve had this key reprogrammed. Can I have a different key card?” The guy threw my card away and reprogrammed another key, but also called maintenance. When I got back to my room my door was open and there was a guy working on the lock. He said it needed a new battery. Who knew these things were battery operated. I just thought it was magic.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4
I woke up around 6:00 and decided to go ahead and get ready and then start the Cheese Grits in the crock pot. I had been dreaming/worrying about it all through the night for some reason. When I got to the bus and looked at the recipe it said it had to cook for 6 hours. Well that’s a problem. It was already 7:15. I threw all the ingredients in the crock pot and got it turned on as quickly as I could. Mary had already cut up all the veggies so we were just going to saute them in the electric skillet and then throw them in the roaster with some pre-cooked chicken to stay warm until lunch.
Good morning Beale Street. I doubt anything was open yet.
We loaded every one’s luggage in the bus around 8:45 and then we all walked down to the Rock and Soul Museum. It had a great little intro video telling about how Soul music came about and how Memphis effected it and it effected Memphis. It was a great little museum but I expected it to have a little more about Rock. It just had a little about Elvis and Jerry Lee Jones.
The last exhibit was this wall with giant picks with famous guitar players’ names on them. I didn’t see one for Bruce. Must not be added yet.Some goodies in the gift shop. I refrained from buying them.
On our way out of town we stopped at the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot. It looked so normal. It’s hard to imagine such a huge loss at such an innocent looking place.
There is now a Civil Rights Museum on the other side of the street where the shooter was.
Once we left Memphis is was pretty much just driving and bathroom breaks until we got to Rolla. I tasted the Cheese Grits after a few hours and they tasted fine except that they needed alot more cheese. I added another block of cream cheese and the rest of the bag of shredded cheddar. Now that’s more like it. I thought our lunch was delicious. A few people loved the Cheese Grits, but we threw away a lot of plates with Cheese Grits still on them. You can’t please everyone.
Our veggies in the skillet.Crock Pot Cheese Grits (after 3 hours)Our final lunch
We passed lots of cotton bales along the way the last few days. They were all wrapped in pink, light blue or yellow wrappers. Similar to big bales of hay.
One of these things is not like the others …. I have this weird thing where I lose my big toe nails periodically. It doesn’t hurt. I usually just look down and it’s gone. (also note I still have the inky pinky. I think it’s there for the rest of my life.)
We dropped off the first passenger in the Missouri boothill around 1:45. Then the next stop St Louis (Fenton) and then to Rolla. We got back around 4:45. everyone wanted to hear how our first trip went. Ronda who had trained me was there waiting for us. We finished unloading the bus around 6:15. They apparently had complete faith in us because Saul left the bus on so that we would have light and heat. We had turned if off before, but it felt very final this time. Saul left around 5:30. Next all the office people left and told us just to pull the office door shut when we left. Nothing says small business like being the last one to leave a place you’ve “worked” for 2 weeks. It was a fun trip, but we were very glad to be “home”. We spent the night with my mom in Rolla. After dinner I told my mom I was going to go ahead and go to bed because I was exhausted. Then I looked at my watch and it was 7:25. What!?! So I stayed up a few more hours until it was an acceptable time for bed. We got every thing sorted and ready to take off for Wichita tomorrow.
The empty office. We didn’t even know where the light switches were.
I haven’t mentioned much about the guests or posted many pictures of them because I feel like it would be disrespectful to them since they didn’t sign up for the blog. But I really enjoyed all the passengers. We had 5 single ladies and 5 couples ranging in age from 60 on up. We had several former nurses and teachers, a chiropractor, a farmer and business people. A great group! And I think they liked us too because they tipped us very generously!
