Just because...: Vacation and Visits 2/18/2013

Michael and I were finally able to schedule a (much needed) vacation. We took Feb 18 - Feb 23 to drive south to visit friends and family. We visited my godmother, Sr. Pat at her home in Morton, MS. Then we went to Baton Rogue, LA to see a friend and former co-worker of Michaels. Finally, we drove thru Memphis, TN just to cross another state off our list. (And listen to some good blues music)

Monday, Feb 18th - The LOOOONG car day. We left Iowa City at about 8am and arrived at Sr. Pat's around 8:30pm. We chatted with Sr. Pat and her roommate, Sr. Rita, for a little bit. Michael and I both woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain. It was raining so hard that we both thought that there was water running into the house! It was a little hard to get to sleep after that.

Tuesday, Feb 19th - We had breakfast, which included some of Sr. Rita's homemade bread - yummy! Sr. Pat packed a picnic lunch of tuna salad, chips, nuts and some fruit. We visited Excel, where Sr. Rita works. It is a community center with computer, art, and spanish/english language classes, and other offerings. Then we were off to Vicksburg, MS. There we went to the Vicksburg National Military Park. It is the site of the battle that was a turning point in the civil war. It has a lot of great memorials for the battalions that fought in the war and it has a burial site of some of the soldiers. They are beautiful grounds full of memorials. They also have one of the first armored ships, the USS Cairo. Then we visited the downtown Vicksburg and saw the Riverfront Murals and toured another boat. Finally, Sr. Pat showed us around Jackson, including Medgar Evers home. He was a civit rights activist in Jackson. Then it was time for a rest! :)
That night we had chili with Sr. Pat, Sr. Rita and some of their friends. Afterwards we had a lot of fun playing cards.

Wednesday, Feb 20th we had breakfast with Sr. Pat and Sr. Rita, said goodbye and headed to Baton Rogue. We arrived early to the hotel, and couldn't check in, so we went to The Chimes just outside the LSU (Louisiana State University) campus. The Chimes is a sports bar that serves great po boys. I had a shrimp po boy and Michael had a beef one. We then walked around the PSU campus and even saw the PSU tiger. Yes, they have a LIVE tiger on campus. And, small world, we talked to people that had University of Iowa ties.
That night we ate with Joy and her daughter Scarlett. Joy used to work with Michael at the Sheraton and is currently a hotel manager at the Renaissance in Baton Rogue. We had a really good dinner at the hotel, and as Michael can attest to, they have GREAT scotch.

Thursday, Feb 21st we went to New Orleans and walked down the infamous Bourbon St. First we had beignets (like the New Orleans version of doughnut holes with lots of powdered sugar) at Cafe Du Monde. Then we walked around downtown and went down Bourbon St. and stopped in to a couple of antique shops. Now, it may be that we were down there during the day, but I think Bourbon St. is pretty dirty and gross. And it is dirty in both senses of the word - yuck. It must be really crazy at night. I think I'm just getting too old for that stuff. We did get a great restaurant recommendation that was just off Bourbon St. It was called Oceana's. I had a great red snapper salad and Michael had a New Orleans sampler plate of red beans and rice with sausage, jambalaya and craw fish etouffe. It was delicious!
We went back to Baton Rogue and rested at the hotel for a little bit. That night, Joy was busy so we just went to a local bar close to the hotel and had blackened alligator, more red beans and rice and shrimp, AND blueberry bread pudding. It was all yummy.

Friday, Feb 22nd, in the morning we had breakfast with Joy at the hotel, said goodbye and then drove to Memphis, TN. That took about 8 hours, so once we got there and settled into our hotel room, we headed out to Beale St. in Memphis. There we went to BB Kings restaurant and heard some great blues music.

Saturday, Feb 23rd we left Memphis around 7:30am for the 8 hour drive to head back to Iowa City. We stopped in St. Louis for 5 Guys burgers. We got home early enough to pick up Meredith from the kennel. She was VERY happy to be back home. And boy was she tired - she slept for 2 days straight. And we had to wait until Monday to pick up Carver from the vet where he was being boarded.

Sunday and Monday was rest/recovery time. I also had Tuesday off, so it was more of a pamper day for me - get my hair cut and colored, go to a presentation and then go for a massage. It was a great vacation, but as always, it goes too fast.