4-D Movie and Hot Stuff

Friday we drove to NOLA to see the National WW II museum which included a 4-D movie narrated by Tom Hanks.  You may be asking, "what in Sam Hill is a 4-D movie?"  The film included archived footage of WW II as well as a sensory experience when the seats we were sitting in moved and shook as tanks were rolling and bombs were exploding.  Smoke, and the smell of smoke, added to the intensity.  Snow fell on us as we watched the winter fighting action during battles in Europe, and a concentration camp guard tower rose out of the stage floor. 

This museum is an extensive display and history lesson of what led up to the war and how it changed not only the world, but the culture of our country.  Women joined the work force, and minorities took active parts in all facets of the war effort.  After Germany and Japan surrendered, things would not go back to the way they were and the Civil Rights and Equal Rights movements began. 

This experience was sobering and intense. I left the museum with a greater understanding of the history of WW II, but am still baffled at how Hitler and the Emperor of Japan could get so many people to follow them on their power seeking agenda, and not only going along with, but taking part in the horrific and brutal assault and massacre on other humans. 

Yesterday, Sunday, we spiced things up by taking a 380 mile round trip drive through Cajun Country to Avery Island, LA to tour the Tabasco pepper sauce factory.  We drove over miles and miles and miles of bridges that not only crossed rivers, but also wild swampland.  These bridges that cross the bayou and swamps are 4-lane highways built on concrete stilts. 

Avery Island is located on top of a gigantic salt dome (the size of mount Everest (or so I hear tell) and is also home to the Jungle Gardens and a colony of some 20,000 Snowy Egrets.  Cargil operates the salt mining operation.The 5th generation of the McIlhenny family still owns and operates the Tabasco Pepper Sauce factory on Avery Island, which was started post-Civil War.  Edmund McIlhenny invented and patented the sauce that is shipped to over 100 countries around the world, has been on the Space Shuttle, and has graced the dining table at the White House.

The sauce making process and history of the family business were fascinating but the best part was trying samples of the different flavored pepper sauces, pepper ice cream, pepper soda pop, chili, and pepper jelly. It was all mighty tasty and some so hot it would make a whore sweat in church on a Sunday.  Now, that thar is some Hot Stuff, HEE HAW!

Where The Legend Began

About 15 miles from our campground is Kiln, Mississippi the small town where Brett Favre, football legend and local hero, grew up and graduated from high school.  His family still lives in the area and his dad owns the Broke Spoke, the local dive biker bar where we stopped for a cold one and to get a look see at what everyone had been jabberin' about.  

The Broke Spoke is crazier than a road-runnin' lizard,and is the place where Packer fans stop and leave a token of their visit tacked to the ceiling or wall.  The place is full ta burstin' with pictures and posters, hundreds of bras and underwear in every type, size and color imaginable hanging from the ceiling.  Most have a person's name and where they're from written on them.  The garments are full of dust and yellowed from cigarette smoke; most looked like they had made this their home for many years. Inside and outside of the building are autographs of visitors either carved in the wood, or written with a magic marker.  The homemade bar stools are painted green and gold with GO PACK GO painted on the seats.

Purty quiet at the Broke Spoke on a Sunday.

We  drove back to Kiln today and had lunch at Dempsey's Steak and Seafood.  Inside the door is a cardboard cut-out of a guy holding a sign that says "Please Wait to Be Seated".  The waitress standing across the room hollers "How MINy?"  I held up 2 fingers and said "two".  She grabbed a couple of menus, headed to a table and hollers "Come over here y'all".  Everyone going into the restaurant got hollered at.  The chandelier in the entry was a Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling, and lampshades on the rest of the ceiling lights were metal buckets and washtubs.  What a hoot!

Fat Tuesday - NOLA

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!  Today is Fat Tuesday the last day of Mardi Gras and the day before Lent.  This is the day to eat and party like there's no tomorrow. 

We followed our next door neighbors, Joe and Ursula, into New Orleans with them showing us the way and where to park the car.  We arrived at 8 a.m. while the streets were fairly empty and quiet as people were starting to arrive for the celebration.  Thousands of people came in costumes that ranged from the wacky, to silly, to beautiful and elaborate, to obscene.  And, some I would laugh at and say "OH Mylanta!  What is that?"; or "is that a man or woman?"

The first parade (Zulu) arrived at the corner of Canal and Royal streets about 10:00.  It was almost impossible to see anything since we were were about 8 rows of people back from the street, and we didn't bring our step-ladder (LOL).  We left the parade route and walked down Bourbon Street; it was like we  had walked into an invasion of creatures from another planet, or maybe the inmates had escaped from the insane asylum.  People were dressed up in everything imaginable and by noon the streets, bars, and restaurants were full of music, and wall to wall people having serious fun.  This is not a place for claustrophobics.

Call us party poopers, but by 3:00 our feet were tired and we were on sensory overload so we left the excitement and got out of there before the really wild and crazy antics started.  Experiencing Mardi Gras in New Orleans was a blast and now we can cross one more thing off our bucket list.

Clowning around on Bourbon Street with Ursula and Joe.

Bourbon Street partiers throwing beads from a balcony.

King Cake and the Baby

A few nights ago, we went to the park clubhouse to play Bingo, and to experience another Mardi Gras tradition…King Cake.  I hear tell, Mardi Gras wouldn’t be Mardi Gras without King Cake; I guess it’s pert near for me like Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without lefse.  Any who, the cake is delicious; it’s a cross between a coffee cake and fruit fill pastry and the top frosted and decorated in the royal Mardi Gras colors of green, gold, and purple.  Inside the cake is hidden a tiny plastic baby, and whoever gets the piece of cake with the baby is declared King for the day and is obligated to either host a party or provide the King Cake at the next party.  Jim got the baby!  He was grin’in like a coon dog chewing on a catfish head.

This morning we picked up the banana cream filled King Cake Jim ordered from a local bakery and will be bringing it to the chili cook-off this evening.   It smells and looks purtier than an angel sent from heaven.

 Here's the wrapped up King Cake.  See the little naked baby toward the back right?  I guess after we cut it, we put the baby in one of the pieces.

Yesterday, we headed west to Louisiana and got back on the Great River Road going down the west side of the river (Louisiana highway 23) and drove to the end of the Mississippi Delta. The levee blocks the view, but we could see the tops of ships cruising up and down the river.  This area is agricultural with citrus groves and cattle farms; further south were several oil refineries, and fishing lodges and fishing charter companies.  We had lunch at a harbor cafe in Venice, LA before heading north again.

We made a quick stop at Fort Jackson, or what remains of it, which is pretty much the brick foundation and tunnels.  The fort was built in the early 1800’s and used for about 20 years to defend the mouth of the Mississippi. In 1960 the property was purchased by a private party and turned over to the National Park Service and is classified as a National Monument. Hurricane Katrina filled the fort with water leaving it and fort artifacts damaged.  Volunteers have worked to repair the damage and the fort reopened last year. 

This picture was taken from the bridge crossing the moat to the entrance of Fort Jackson.  Looking east over the levee is a ship cruising down the Mississippi River. 

At Point a la Hache we left highway 29 and drove onto a ferry which took us over to the east side of the river to drive on the GRR, Louisiana highway 39.  This route bi-passed NOLA (New Orleans, LA) so we were back at the park quicker than a rabbit in a carrot patch.

The devil must be beatin’ his wife with a fry pan, cuz it’s been raining cats and dogs since last night.  Holy shineola, we might need to put pontoons on the RV! 

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

A friend of ours, Becky Bents, gave us a tip for finding unique and fantastic places to eat; “check out the Food Network’s show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”.  I went on-line and found a restaurant in Long Beach called Darwell’s Cafe that had been featured on the show.  Darwell’s web page has a link to the Food Network segment.  We called Pat and Phip LaVenture (they’re staying near Gulf Port) and met them there for lunch. 

Darwell (the owner) welcomed us at the door of his quirky and unique looking restaurant, with his larger than life personality and southern hospitality.  The motto of the restaurant is “Real Food for Real People” and he is proud that nothing he serves is deep fried like so much of the southern cooking. He gave us the low-down on the daily specials and a sample of his famous crawfish etofee, which Jim ordered for his meal.  I got the Yum Yum, which was the crawfish etofee with crab and shrimp served over angel hair pasta; YUM YUM! 

Darwell told us we could sit anywhere, “but sitting out on the patio is like being in Key West without having to drive there”; we sat outside on the patio.  This was definitely a fun place to eat with over the top great food and service. 

After having a fabulous lunch and visit with the LaVentures, we stopped at the casino down the road from our campground, and walked out with an extra $9.  If Jim would know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em we would have made about $90.  Good thing I know when to cash out and walk away from the machines.  Any day you can walk out of a casino with more money than you walked in with is a good day...even if it's only $9.

Green and Gold and Purple

Mardi Gras Parade – Waveland/Bay St. Louis, MS

I thought all the people down here were Viking and Packer fans with all the green, gold, and purple decorations everywhere.  It turned out that those are the official colors for Mardi Gras.

We went to our first Mardi Gras parade today.  US Highway 90 closed at 10:00 a.m. for the start of a 1:00 parade in Waveland/Bay St. Louis.  We arrived at the parade route about 11:00 and there was some serious tailgating going on!  Not only did people have their grills fired up and cooking great smelling food, some even brought their own full size Porta-Potties which were either in the bed of their pick-up truck or on the spot they had claimed for their parade party along the road.  A few had signs on them that said “Private Potty…Don’t Even Ask”.

We walked along the parade route while people watching, and stopped at a place selling boiled crawfish. 

This is how you eat the critters: with your fingers, squeeze off the head and suck out the juice, then grab the meat in the tail between your teeth and pull it out and eat it. If you’re a rookie like us, peel the shell off the tail then eat the meat.  They tasted good, but it seemed like a lot of work for just a little morsel.

The parade finally reached us about 2:00.  The first few floats were of local royalty and high school bands.  Next came the other crazy floats, with crazy dressed float riders throwing beads, silk flowers, other trinkets as well as some toys for the kids.

We got our share of beads without having to flash.  Anyway, it was too cold for that.  Jim even scored a noise maker.

Something I hadn’t seen before, and I think is a brilliant idea, were homemade parade viewing stands for little kids to sit on top.  A wooden seat was attached to the top of the step ladder and the kid could sit there watching the parade with an unobstructed view. The pluses for mom and dad were that the kid couldn’t get lost in the crowd, and they didn’t have to have them sitting on their shoulders to see the parade. The picture below shows mom standing on the ladder behind the baby while the dad is handing the little guy the stuffed animal he had just scored.

There are several Mardi Gras festivities and parades scheduled in the surrounding towns this week.  We are thinking about going to New Orleans (an hour drive away) to take in that experience.  We got the scoop from the locals about which of the N.O. parades are the best.

As our waitress said yesterday “Mardi Gras is ma favorite holiday of the year, y’all”.  We can certainly tell that she isn’t alone.

Deep in the Heart of Dixie

Deep in the Heart of Dixie…February 10, 2012

Hi Y’all. We arrived a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico in St. Louis Bay, MS early this afternoon, right before the rain started.  Lucky for us we got the RV set up at our site at the Bay Hideaway RV Park & Campground before the downpour started.  We are ready to settle into a spot for a while, so have reserved our site for a week.  Behind our campsite is a wooded area and pond.  I asked, and was told there aren't any alligators in the pond. You know that saying “you should have been here last week”?  Well, after unseasonably warm weather, this weekend a cold front is moving in and there are freeze warnings. The coldest temperatures for the year are expected.  I’m making hot soup for dinner.

Yesterday we left Memphis and started out on the GRR highway 1.  This rural region is the Mississippi River Delta, flatter than a pancake on a hot griddle (some southern lingo for ya); the main crop is cotton.  We never did see the river, but did see miles and miles of levees between highway 1 and the river.  It wasn’t the most scenic drive, but we were entertained along the way by the aerial antics of crop dusting planes. 

After a stop for lunch in Greenville for a crab cake and black eyed peas, we got on highway 61 on our way to Vicksburg, MS.  Highway 61 is known as the Blue Highway because of its history of Blues Music legends that played in little clubs located along the highway.  The scenery along highway 61 was exactly the same as highway 1 – big, flat, cotton fields.  About 10 miles north of Vicksburg it was like someone hit the switch and we were in an area of heavily wooded rolling hills.  We had planned to stay 2 nights and do some sightseeing in Vicksburg, but the campgrounds were full and we could only stay 1 night.  This turned out to be OK with us, since the Magnolia RV Park sites were so close together we were crammed in like 100 sardines in a 2 ounce can.  I also had a weird vibe at this place.  It may have been from the history of horrific violence and suffering from the Civil War battles fought here.

Just to back up a bit; when we arrived in Memphis I was embarrassed by how our home looked; the road dirt the RV had collected along the way was pretty disgusting.  The RV park wouldn’t allow us to wash our vehicles in the park, but they gave us a number to call for a guy to come with his mobile wash truck to clean us up. He spent 2 hours cleaning the outside of the RV, and It looked great when he was finished.

   

Also, in case you’ve been wondering, Jim found a loose wire on the water heater, and after getting it connected we have hot running water.  Yes, I am a bit demanding; not only do I want water running from the faucets, I want it to be hot when I want it hot. 

Tomorrow we plan to do a recon of the area.  We want to locate the beach and are optimistic the weather will warm up so we can use the snorkel gear we brought with us.  We also have hopes of finding a fresh seafood market as I’ve had visions of shrimp cooking on the grill dancing in my head. . 

I also have to say that we really miss our old traveling companions, Contessa and Steve Marine.  It just isn’t the same traveling down the road and not seeing the “Silver Bullet” Airstream in front of us, as well as getting to a campground and not having them with to share, and laugh about, our day's adventures.

Memphis, TN -- February 8, 2012

Hi ya’ll.  We arrived at the Graceland RV Park yesterday.  Our address is 50 Shook Up Lane. The park is located right behind the Heartbreak Hotel and adjacent to the Elvis Presley complex and across the street from Elvis’ home, Graceland. 

Today we took a tour of Graceland, Elvis’ car museum, and airplanes.  Elvis bought Graceland on 26 acres in 1953 for just over $100,000. Coming through the front doors, the living room on the right had white carpet and furniture.  Beautiful stained glass windows of peacocks were on both sides of the large doorway into the music room which had a grand piano.  To the left of the entry was the dining room.  The kitchen had been redone in the early 70’s in typical 70’s colors; so it had an avocado colored sink, wild kitchen carpet and harvest gold appliances.  Off the kitchen was the Jungle Room…green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling and fake fur covered furniture and lamp shades. His parent’s bedroom suite was also on this floor done up in purple .  Going down the stairs to the basement TV and billiard room, the walls and ceiling were mirrored.  Yikes, we had to hold on the hand rails because it was like being in a fun house; I think that was the point, it was a fun house.  The TV room had 3 TV’s and mirrored walls and ceilings.  The billiard room walls and ceiling were covered with tightly sheered printed fabric.  He actually paid someone to decorate!  We weren’t allowed on the second floor as this was Elvis’ private space and they continue to respect that...bummer.  

Outside the main house, we toured the office, and the racket ball court he had built, as well as the building by the pool which now displays many of his gold, platinum, and Grammy awards;  even Priscilla and Elvis’s wedding clothes as well as some of his touring outfits are on display.  Remember the jumpsuits with all the glitz?  Well, for about $2,000.00 on up, you can be a proud owner of a replica. 

The Meditation Garden is now the resting place for Elvis, his mom and dad.  While his twin brother’s remains are not here, there is a memorial also to him.  Apparently, fans leave flowers and other memorial items as you can see in the picture.

After touring the car museum we toured his 2 private planes.  The largest plane, Lisa Marie, had a bedroom, 2 bathrooms with gold flecked sinks, as well as a dining room and living room area.  Now, that’s the way to fly!

We loved seeing all the cars from Rolls Royce’s, the famous pink Cadillac, to a snowmobile he put wheels on since there isn’t much snow in Memphis. 

Of course there was a lot of Elvis music to hear and videos of his life to see.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and I came out of there with a new appreciation for Elvis' life as an entertainer, humanitarian and all of his achievements.  

On The Road Again!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN…

This picture was taken in Muscatine, Iowa.  We are on the lookout for those green Great River Road signs to guide us on this first part of our adventure.

Yes folks, we are doing another road trip.  Our plan is to go south through the heart of the U.S. traveling along the Mississippi River on the Great River Road (GRR) from Wisconsin to Louisiana, then head east to the Gulf of Mexico areas of Mississippi and Alabama. 

After getting the RV serviced with fresh motor oil, tire air pressure checked, loading up the tool box, battery charger, jumper cables, hitching up the Jeep, Jim was packed and ready to go.  I was in charge of packing the household items we will need for the next 2 months.  Once we made our final trip from the house to the RV loading up the last minute gear, we pulled out of the driveway about 8:30 a.m. on February 4^th.

The visibility was poor due to the fog, but the fog also treated us to spectacular hoar frost that made the trees and grasses frosty white.  We drove to Prescott, WI to get on the GRR taking Hwy 35 down the Wisconsin side.  While we have been on this section of the GRR in the past, it was a beautiful drive through the rolling Wisconsin farmland and tiny river towns.  There were several places on the river where ice fishermen had set up their ice shacks or were sitting out on their white plastic 5 gallon buckets trying their luck fishing through the holes in the ice they had just drilled.

We stopped in Pepin, Wisconsin to get a bite to eat at Two Old Guys…Restaurant, Bakery, Grocery Store, and Wine & Beer.  The front of the building was a small grocery store that not only sold food staples, wine and beer, but also sold the ingredients to make home brew and wine.  The restaurant was in the back of the building with a few miss-matched tables and chairs.  The food was good and the place had character.  Oh, on the way out there was a hand printed sign by the door that read “$100 Reward for information about who broke into Two Old Guys”; sorry, I didn’t write down the phone number, but you can probably find it out if you have any information and want to collect the $100 reward.

We noticed three guys in a pick-up truck pulling a boat and motor.  Jim said “those guys are optimistic” and we laughed about them pulling a boat in Wisconsin in the winter.  The laugh was on us a few miles down-river where the there was a boat landing and the river wide open and free of ice.  There must have been 20 boats out on the river.  From then on, depending on whether there was ice or not on the river, we saw people fishing either on the ice, or in boats in the open water.

We crossed over to the Minnesota side of the river at Wabasha – Jim’s birthplace.  We followed highway 61 and then crossed back into Wisconsin at LaCrosse getting back on highway 35 and continuing south before crossing the river again at Marquette, Iowa to make a stop at The Effigy Mounds National Monument.  This area on the bluffs of the Mississippi River contains several burial sites built over thousands of years by Mound Builder civilizations.  Some of the mounds in this area were built in the shape of bears.  

Because we dilly-dallied too long at Effigy Mounds, we decided to use the GPS to find a faster way to our next destination – Jim’s sister’s house in Muscatine, Iowa.  We got off the GRR, driving east through rolling hills of farmland.  Who knew Iowa had so many hills?

Our first day on the road, we drove 383 miles, which took us about 8 ½ hours.  Jan welcomed us into her home where we will enjoy her hospitality for 2 nights.  Muscatine is located on the Mississippi River, so we are back on the GRR.

February 6, 2012

We left Muscatine and arrived in St. Louis, MO this afternoon.  Barge traffic on the river was spotted at Hannibal, MO.  Missouri highway 79 is a scenic drive ascending and descending through densely wooded bluffs.  It must be beautiful in the fall with the blazing colors.

We pulled into the Cahokia RV Parque (fancy French name for “park” I’m guessing) in E. St. Louis on the Illinois side of the river.  The first item of business after getting to our ca mp site was to de-winterize our home.  We got the anti-freeze flushed out of the water lines and have running water; ahh, the simple pleasures.  The hot water heater is refusing to start, so until we figure that out, we’ll be heating water on the stove… just like campingJ.