Our first day on the trip to Bountiful...I mean Brookhaven. We have opted to take the slow and steady road trip and we are having loads and loads of laughs and fun. Oh yeah, we got serious once, but thankfully that moment passed. 8:00 am was our appointed time for Sequisha and me to pick up Dena. On time, loaded up Sequisha and down the road we went. Light traffic to Baytown, where we stopped for a few minutes to visit Dena's mom. A pleasant visit and then a much needed stop at Shipley's afterwards for sustenance. Ya need sugar to drive the likes of I 10 through Louisiana. My friend, the 18 wheelers were out a plenty and made driving interesting to say the least. Our first stop Sulphur LA at CB. We stopped to use the facilities and bought a few needed items for the trip and as is our custom went to the Chevron station nearby to gas up for the trip across the swamp bridge and into Baton Rouge. I have to report on myself that filling up the car was a comedy of errors. I think that Dena finished reading War and Peace by the time I topped off the tank. Our goal to get across the Mississippi Bridge in a timely manner. The later the day the farther the backup to go over the mighty Mississippi. We were not disappointed to wait but there have been other trips where the wait was much longer. Once we were on the bridge LSU was running their light sequences at Tiger Stadium. It was a nice way to pass the time behind an 18 wheeler and barely moving.
So today, I made another convert to Burger King. Dena did not know you can have the mayo cut and mustard added on Whoppers or Junior Whoppers, so we did a quick drive through and the sign above the drive-through was the theme of the moment..."you have clearance today to have it your way." So on October 31, 2014 she officially got the clearance to have it her way and this was also the first time Dena had ever gone through a Burger King drive through. She tried to throw growing up in Baytown under the bus...but I wasn't fooled for a minute. For a brief moment I thought we might have to stop at every Burger King along the road because Dena was delighted by the flame broiled taste.
We also did something that we have said on almost every trip we would like to do and since this is October 31st, what would be more appropriate than to take a trip through Baptist Pumpkin Center. Take it from me, don't waste your time...we can't get back that ten minutes or half a gallon of gas. Pumpkin Center needs a different name...we saw, no not one pumpkin...not one on a porch, not cardboard cut outs of pumpkins in windows, just a bunch of vote for______ signs. Discouraged we turned around in the Baptist Church parking lot which turned out to be ironic but we didn't know it yet. There was a guy weed eating the church lawn and we also noticed that the parking lot was drug free lot or so says the sign. We then made our way to Baptist Louisiana. I would like it duly noted that in Baptist Louisiana there isn't a Baptist church, a LifeWay Bookstore, Baptist college or univesity...there is a Jiffy Mart and a Dollar General Store which was our turn around point in Baptist. Being the litigious people we are, we called Jim Adler, the Texas Hammer, the tough, smart lawyer and asked that a suit be drawn up for deceptive name practice. No pumpkins, no Baptist, no Center! We have mental distress and mental anguish over this cruel, cruel joke of the promise and delivery of named things. You go to Sugarland, you can get sugar...you go to Baytown and you get bays, plural and a town..pumpkin center...you are out of luck. We were the Baptists in Baptist. Fortunately, Judge Judy had an opening to hear our case and even though we lost ten precious minutes of life, we did win a lesson learned and one item worth $5.00 at Dollar General or Jiffy Mart. So let me warn you, don't take the Baptist Pumpkin Center exit...it if full of woe and heartache. The sign on I 10 is the best part of Baptist Pumpkin Center!
Next on our schedule, a stop at the mall in Hammond. Actually, we only went to Books A Million and then had an early dinner at East of Italy because there is no place to eat in Brookhaven. We had salads and spilt a veggie pizza. Oh my goodness, delicious. We had a great waitress which made our visit fun. She even gave us this foccacia bread that was awesome and on the house. Brookhaven is only a little over of an hour away from Hammond. We checked in and have settled in for the night. We have snacky snacks for Fall Festival Night.
Tomorrow will also be a fun-filled day. We are stopping at Dreamland BBQ and meeting Hailey O'Neal and a friend of her choice for an all expense paid lunch. You always, always do that for college students, let them buy you lunch. It teaches responsibility! Ha, just kidding, it teaches them nothing...no not really, Dena and I are treating these fine, fine students of Sammy Fordy in the B'ham.
So for now, here's wishing you and yours a happy, happy fall festival day!
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