We finally got on the road at about 2:00 Wednesday afternoon. (June 18th) I really wanted to be on the road by noon, but packing and trying to get videos for Dance Craze kept us too busy. After a trip to town for a few things, we finally set out.
Our first stop was Mammoth Spring in Arkansas. By the time we got there, we were all in need of a restroom and a leg stretch. The park is very pretty. Stef and I managed to get a few good pictures. We saw some kind of little critter in the water that we first thought was a beaver, but after we noticed that the tail was not right, we decided it was something else. We also saw a water snake of some kind.
We arrived in Grenada, Mississippi without incident and grabbed a good rest. The next morning we slept in a bit and got around in time to take advantage of their free breakfast. We have already booked a room at this Hampton Inn for our return trip next weekend.
Thursday, we took a leisurely pace in getting to Louisiana. We stopped in McComb, MS for a late lunch and arrived in Slidell, LA at a decent time. When we got to the LaQuinta in Slidell, it was immediately apparent that we were not going to be spending the night there. It is an old style motel with all outside facing rooms. It was also pretty run down. Becky called the Hampton Inn back in Hammond and made alternate arrangements for us there. It was a nice place, but not quite as up to date as the one in Grenada.
Our plan for Friday was to see Bob, Judy, and Aunt Aileen during the day and then go see David and Jennifer that evening. When I called to check in with Judy, we found out that Aileen had been admitted to the hospital early that morning with chest pains. They were still running tests on her and were not sure what her status was. We ended up spending much of the day in Ponchatoula. That evening, we had dinner at David and Jennifer’s house as originally planned.
Saturday, we slept in again. This time, we got ready and checked out so that we could go next door to Cracker Barrel for a big breakfast. We decided to have a bigger breakfast and then drive to Destin without the need to stop. The trip to Destin was uneventful, until Becky’s stomach started bothering her. We had to make use of both the Mississippi and Florida visitor’s centers. Once we arrived in Destin and found our condo, we went to TGI Friday’s for dinner. After dinner, we unloaded the van and headed down to the beach to just walk around a bit. We didn’t see any sea creatures this time, but apparently sea turtles are nesting during this time of year, so we may see some if we continue to look.
This morning, we slept in again. (This is becoming quite a habit.) After a quick breakfast, we headed off to the beach. It was already very crowded by the time we got there at about 10:00. We didn’t swim this time, because the water was full of junk. We weren’t sure if the junk was from the high tide, or from the thunderstorms during the night. We did wade into the water a bit and Dorie enjoyed playing in the water and sand.
After about two hours, we decided to get out of the sun. We got cleaned up and went to Joe’s Crab Shack for a late lunch. It was very good. We do want to try one of the local restaurants at some point this week. I think you really don’t have good seafood until you get away from the chains and got to the local spots.
More thunderstorms rolled in this evening, so we didn’t make it back to the beach. We picked up more beach gear, so we are ready for tomorrow.