The Utah Connection
Day 3--Mississippi, Louisiana
It took some time getting going this morning for all of us. That drive across Texas wore us out! We finally got our butts in gear and headed out the hotel at 10 am--a little later than we planned. Shanon and I were tasked with getting everyone's luggage down to the lobby on a luggage cart. Everyone else had gone ahead of us so it was just the two of us in the elevator with the luggage of 11 people. Some guy got on and his eyes about bugged out of his head. He thought it was just our stuff. We got such a good laugh!
We had made friends with the overnight desk manager because Shanon can literally make friends with anyone. He loved the story of us crossing the country with our children and got such a kick out of our traveling troop. It's been so much fun going around and meeting all these people. It's completely out of my comfort zone but with a little bit of Shanon next to Heather and me we can usually tag team pretty good.
Our first stop was going to be Natchez, Mississippi. There is a lot of civil war history there and there are some really cool plantation homes to look at. But, on our way there, we realized we were going right by where Steel Magnolias was filmed, so we took a little detour. None of our husbands would have stopped there, which made the side trip that much funnier. It was in the cutest town and we wished we would have had more time to explore. Only one kid got out of the van so, maybe not high on the kids' list of return destinations.
On our way out of town, we stopped at a gas station and the attendant talked us into trying some local cuisine.
Oh. My. Snot. Whatever it was that I ate was SO good. I wish I would have bought three or four of them. Some kind of chicken, cheese, deep fried thing. Everything is deep fried down here. It's amazing!
We made it to Natchez and did a driving tour of the town. It was hot and muggy and buggy and all sorts of not pleasant. And the kids were not entertained at all. So kind of a disappointment. It'd be fun to come back and do a tour of the inside of one of the homes and actually spend some time on the history.
Since we got going so late, we were late getting into New Orleans. We didn't want to be downtown after dark with the kids. So Shanon--who has more guts then the other 10 of us in the van put together--took us on a driving tour of the French Quarter in her 12 passenger van with the luggage carrier carting all our camping stuff strapped on top. We were a roving spectacle! It was such a hoot and got us laughing so hard we were crying. It was the best way to see NOLA without having to get out of the car. People will be talking about us for a long time to come.
After we checked in at the hotel in the warehouse district, we went down to grab some local cuisine in the little restaurant at the hotel. The executive chef came out to talk with us and we found out we are all from Utah. And then...after some more talking, we found out that she grew up in Heather's neighborhood! She's about 15 years younger so Heather didn't know her personally, but knew her family.
What are the chances?
Everywhere we've stayed, there has been a Utah connection. The owner of the first motel was born in Logan and grew up in Burley, ID. The friendly guy from Shreveport declared Mesquite, NV as the best place on earth and spent 10 years there, traveling to St. George on occassion. Then tonight.
This car ride wasn't suppose to be as long, but it was still pretty long and the chicklets were starting to get restless. Luckily tomorrow, we are off to the beach for a few days of down time! I am having the time of my life. I'm not sure about the kids, but so far not too much complaining going on. Free reign with video games and screen time will do wonders.
It took some time getting going this morning for all of us. That drive across Texas wore us out! We finally got our butts in gear and headed out the hotel at 10 am--a little later than we planned. Shanon and I were tasked with getting everyone's luggage down to the lobby on a luggage cart. Everyone else had gone ahead of us so it was just the two of us in the elevator with the luggage of 11 people. Some guy got on and his eyes about bugged out of his head. He thought it was just our stuff. We got such a good laugh!
We had made friends with the overnight desk manager because Shanon can literally make friends with anyone. He loved the story of us crossing the country with our children and got such a kick out of our traveling troop. It's been so much fun going around and meeting all these people. It's completely out of my comfort zone but with a little bit of Shanon next to Heather and me we can usually tag team pretty good.
Our first stop was going to be Natchez, Mississippi. There is a lot of civil war history there and there are some really cool plantation homes to look at. But, on our way there, we realized we were going right by where Steel Magnolias was filmed, so we took a little detour. None of our husbands would have stopped there, which made the side trip that much funnier. It was in the cutest town and we wished we would have had more time to explore. Only one kid got out of the van so, maybe not high on the kids' list of return destinations.
On our way out of town, we stopped at a gas station and the attendant talked us into trying some local cuisine.
Oh. My. Snot. Whatever it was that I ate was SO good. I wish I would have bought three or four of them. Some kind of chicken, cheese, deep fried thing. Everything is deep fried down here. It's amazing!
We made it to Natchez and did a driving tour of the town. It was hot and muggy and buggy and all sorts of not pleasant. And the kids were not entertained at all. So kind of a disappointment. It'd be fun to come back and do a tour of the inside of one of the homes and actually spend some time on the history.
Since we got going so late, we were late getting into New Orleans. We didn't want to be downtown after dark with the kids. So Shanon--who has more guts then the other 10 of us in the van put together--took us on a driving tour of the French Quarter in her 12 passenger van with the luggage carrier carting all our camping stuff strapped on top. We were a roving spectacle! It was such a hoot and got us laughing so hard we were crying. It was the best way to see NOLA without having to get out of the car. People will be talking about us for a long time to come.
After we checked in at the hotel in the warehouse district, we went down to grab some local cuisine in the little restaurant at the hotel. The executive chef came out to talk with us and we found out we are all from Utah. And then...after some more talking, we found out that she grew up in Heather's neighborhood! She's about 15 years younger so Heather didn't know her personally, but knew her family.
What are the chances?
Everywhere we've stayed, there has been a Utah connection. The owner of the first motel was born in Logan and grew up in Burley, ID. The friendly guy from Shreveport declared Mesquite, NV as the best place on earth and spent 10 years there, traveling to St. George on occassion. Then tonight.
This car ride wasn't suppose to be as long, but it was still pretty long and the chicklets were starting to get restless. Luckily tomorrow, we are off to the beach for a few days of down time! I am having the time of my life. I'm not sure about the kids, but so far not too much complaining going on. Free reign with video games and screen time will do wonders.
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