Beach Days

We started our trip west by driving to Perry, Carlene's hometown, and meeting her sister Dot and Dot's husband, Dozier, at a restaurant next door to where their grandmother Cana used to live.  Good country Southern cooking in a pretty little Georgia town.

Carlene 93, Dot, 87

Perry Methodist Church--where Carlene,
Dot, and their three brothers grew up. 

Then we headed toward Alabama--spending our first night in Eufala, followed by lunch in a Harry Potter-themed cafe called Black Cat, then spent the next night in Evergreen--trying to keep our stops alliterative, all in E-named towns!

We enjoyed miles of cotton, corn, cows--to keep with the alliteration of natural resources in Alabama.  I love looking at cotton fields and barns....

Yesterday, we drove along the Mississippi Gulf Coast through Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Pass Christian, and Bay St. Louis.  I had hoped to poke around in my favorite of these towns, Ocean Springs and have lunch there, but the town was literally impossible to reach by car--a huge crafts festival was going on downtown and we were unable to find parking.

We had the best cheesecake ever at the independent book store and cafe on the Pass Christian overlooking the water.

Me and My Shadow, Biloxi

The Pass Christian Book Store

The Blue Dog, Lafayette, Louisiana

One of George Rodrigue's many Blue Dog paintings in the restaurant.

Then, last night we had dinner here in Lafayette at a Cajun Creole restaurant I remembered from last trip, The Blue Dog.

It's been a great trip but we're ready now to hunker down and take the main roads back to San Antonio--where the speedometer will register 7000 miles, a few more or less!