Wednesday morning and we headed out for a little fishing with Capt Sonny on the Salinity Matters. Since a couple of us don’t do well with too much motion, we fished in the Mississippi Sound. The storms yesterday pushed our start time back a bit (which was fine with us to get another hour of sleep 😴), to avoid choppy seas. We ended up with the calmest water we’ve ever had but we kept a wind that seemed like it was coming out of an air conditioning unit 🥶. But given the choice between seasick or cold, I’m going cold everyday! .

We literally dropped our lines in the water, and the trout were on our lines! The larger fish were not as active as the smaller ones due to the colder water, but they were large enough to keep… and eat! 😉

We got tickled that the bait was as large as the fish 🤣

Leo wins for weirdest fish caught!

After 10 or so modest trout, Michael hooked a monster and the fight was one… he fought until finally this monster popped up – a 30 pound red drum!

Not to be outdone, Leo did the same thing… wrestling this 20 pound beast!

Mike caught an “eatable-sized” flounder that we kept, and good size catfish, who we threw back. (Delicious but slimy 😝) Otherwise, Mike and I just caught little trout.

And a tiny fish that was so fancy, you had to hold up your pinky finger 🤣

Perfect fishing for us… in the ocean, catching fish, and no sea sick! And even the wind cooperated and died down enough that we didn’t freeze. It was a great 4 hours on the water!

Back at the dock, the boys unloaded their monsters and posed for a few photos before Capt. Sonny took over with cleaning (well worth the money for this added service!) The trout were the perfect size for fish tacos (see later photos).

We headed to Walmart to re-stock Mom’s Cafe and prepare for tonight’s dinner special “Fresh Fish Tacos.” Then we headed down to enjoy the beach. The boys tossed a ball around, found a stingray and jellyfish, and reminded me that they are still little boys at heart by literally burying their head in the sand and diving into the pier trying to catch a ball 🙄🤣

Not the ideal beach day… It was a little chilly and that blowing stinging sand, BUT I got a few hours at the beach with my boys – yes please, Anytime!

Back at our AirBnB, it was time to repack and freeze most of the fish for the trip back to NC, and then open Mom’s Cafe Special Edition – Dinner Time! For everything the lunches have become, this dinner was AWESOME! (And yes, I do say so myself 🤪)

Bellies oh so full – time for a few hands of garbage, and then we were done for this day!

Tomorrow we are heading up to Natchez, Mississippi and then on to Vicksburg. Nothing definite planned so we will see where to road takes us…

We said goodbye to N’Orluns this morning and hit the road with the strongest coffee we have ever tasted. Seriously, we were afraid to pour it out on ground for fear that genetically modified supergrass would grow or that the spot would be dead for carbon half-life… Look, there is a skull in the coffee if you look closely 😳

We crossed decades-old bridges and watched the New Orleans riverfront fade away.

Our last stop for now in Louisiana was in Slidell, Louisiana for the Cajun Encounter in Honey Swamp.

Should we be nervous that the boat’s name is Gator Bait?

The tour was definitely less dramatic than our last gator interaction, but it was fun and pretty interesting (Leo said we couldn’t get too sciencey on Spring Break… of course, he also asked why I took him to museums and made him read on break too 🤦🏻‍♀️). The guide, Capt. Matt, was a former marine who was stationed in Jacksonville, but originally from Slidell (properly pronounced SLY-Dell)

And then the alpha predator showed up, and started swimming right to us.

These alligators were much smaller than the ones we saw back in Natchitoches, but these are wild and not fed hotdogs on a daily basis. We also learned that if we came back in about 3 months, these gators would be about 30 pounds larger. When the water is less than 70° the gators don’t eat. At less than 70°, the gators stomachs can’t metabolize food so anything they eat will sit in their stomach and rot. In light of this, the gators were not terribly interested in the food we were throwing out.

Now, the raccoons on the other hand were VERY interested in anything we were throwing to them. They were so cute and not at all scared of people, who they clearly associate with food. We were fascinated by them, especially the sibling pair who wrestled over food, and their human like fingers/digits.

Capt Matt told us the story of the Whiskey Tree: Moonshiners and bootleggers used this tree as a marker when they were running whiskey during prohibitions. Of all the places officers were patrolling, Honey Swamp was probably the safest place for a bootlegger.

We saw blue herons who are the biggest threat to baby alligators. These birds will swoop down and take the baby alligators in their beaks. And Woodpeckers who were not the least bit concerned by the boat floating right underneath him (or her?)

These fishing camps can only be gotten to by boat, but this one may have been our favorite. The sign said, “It’s not crooked, you’re drunk.” 🤣 and this one was like a catch-all of all random of yard-art.

Once we finished our tour, the boys went to explore the old drawbridge and Mom’s Cafe opened for business!

State number 40 – Mississippi!

As we drove toward Gulfport, Mississippi, our RoadsideAmerica App suggested a detour to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi to see the Angel Trees. According to the plaque (so it has to be true), in 2005, when Katrina made landfall in Mississippi, seven people remained in the Bay Town Inn. Four of those folks were rescued by the afternoon but 3 people and their Scottish Terrier made to this tree after the storm surge and clung to the tree for hours as the eye passed over. The trees were saved after their and brought to Waterfront to be memorialized. Absolutely worth the stop!

Welcome to Gulfport, Mississippi!

All Michael and Leo have wanted to do since we left home was get to the beach. Once we checked into our AirBnB, and started a load of laundry, off we went. I don’t know how they swam in the water, it was freezing on land. They swam and wrestled, and tried to throw a frisbee which was impossible with stormfront. But they didn’t seem to notice the temperature or the wind.

Showered and ready for dinner (with another load of laundry in the washer), we headed out for dinner at Half Shell Oyster Bar. We all agreed that of all our meals so far, tonight was the best. In fact, we had serious discussions, that this may be the best meal we have every had on vacation… although they have all voted that my picture taking is out of control 🤣 (I love that they think I am going to stop 🤣🤣🤣)

Tomorrow we are headed out into the expected choppy water for inland fishing, so hopefully we are grilling our own fish tomorrow night 🎣Wish us luck!

We started today oh so slowly with coffee and rest… which was nice since it sounded like they were rolling dumpster down the alley by our window at 5am 🥴 After we finally got moving, we headed out for breakfast at the Zesty Creole.

We may not do anything else on our vacations, but we always eat well. The boys had seafood omelets – I think we’ve created some crawfish loving monsters! Bellies full, we headed out to do all the touristy things of New Orleans despite the complaints of the teenagers, “could we look anymore like tourists?” Um, we are tourists.

Canal street ✔️

Street Cars rides ✔️✔️ (Double check for embarrassed teenagers)

Very cool New Orleans architecture ✔️

French Market ✔️

Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral ✔️

Cafe Du Monde ✔️

Aunt Sally’s Creole Pralines ✔️

Bourbon Street ✔️

We have to be the most efficient tourists ever. We had a list of spots, and other than 2 that were closed, and 1 that we decided we didn’t care to see, we saw them all!

We came back to the room and were so so lazy. We watched an ESPN special, the Big Bang Theory, and had an unexpected visit of some folks who were also assigned to room 310… glad it wasn’t the middle of the night. Thankfully, they were really nice and went back down to the lobby to get their correct room.

Since yesterday was Mike’s Disney day, tonight was for the boys as we headed to the Smoothie King Center to watch the Pelicans v. Suns NBA game.

We decided to truly sports’ fan it up and have dinner at the arena – Chicken wings and fries with souvenir cups (we can add that our collection). We checked our wingspan and despite my suggestions, the boys would not get their photo with the Pelican Cheerleaders 🤣 Of course in New Orleans, we have some jazz before the game.

The Introduction of the team was quite the opening especially when Zion Williams came in…

If possible Zion Williams was even bigger in person, and Grayson Allen was even more of a whiny baby.

Pelicans tried to comeback after a 30 point deficient and got it within 7 but it was too little too late. We still had fun and I even caught a shirt they threw into the crowd (although technically I picked it up off the floor when a guy behind me deflected the throw 🤣 but whatever, I still got a free shirt).

We also managed to get a great photo of the Superdome, home to Leo’s New Orleans Saints. We couldn’t tour due to construction and remodeling inside in preparation for them to host the Super Bowl next year, but a great photo nonetheless

Tomorrow, we say goodbye (for now) to Louisiana and head over to Mississippi… one step closer to 50!

We headed over to New Orleans this morning, with the entire day set aside for the National World War II Museum. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how we would spend an entire day at a museum but everyone assured me that we would… and we did! This museum was outstanding… it was as well set up as any Smithsonian.

Originally, the museum opened in 2000 as the D-Day Museum, and since then it has added 5 additional buildings. This was Mike Brown’s Disneyland! ♥️

We started on a mock train – traveling like the enlistee after their enlistment, and then went through a typical home during World War II with their ration books and cookbooks, and the Blue Star flag reflecting that this family had a member currently serving.

We saw the treatment of Japanese Americans placed in internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Imagine officers showing up at your door and giving you one hour to leave our home with one suitcase each… and then watching other go into your home and take your things as you left.

We saw what it looked like from the Nazi’s western wall overlooking the beaches of Normandy.

Each significant battle was given its own area and accurate decor – Battle in the Pacific Ocean including Saipan and Guadalcanal in its jungle setting; and the Battle of the Bulge in its snow.

Remember the McIlhenney family who own the Tabasco company? Found the helmet and Navy Cross belonging to First Lieutenant Walter S McIlhenney.

The Boeing Center was really cool with as many planes as we saw at the Smithsonian. And getting to see the planes at different levels helped understand how huge these planes were.

Looks a little like Captain America shield 💙

Nothing says childhood like a toy atomic bomb kit 😬

So glad we spent the day here. We were all a little history-drunk by the time we left but the museum was a definite must-see in New Orleans!

We left the museum and once we were checked into the hotel, we caught the second half of the NC State/Duke basketball game. Apparently, the good luck voodoo was not with the Pack in the first half, but man, did it come on strong in the second half! And the Wolfpack is headed to their first Final Four since 1983!!! ♥️🐺♥️ It took all we had not to yell in the hotel room!

Still grinning for our W, we headed out for dinner to a nearby spot, Gallier’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar. Now, we have eaten well on our trips, but this is probably in the top ten of best meals of our lives! Charbroiled Oysters, Red Snapper, Jambalaya, Cajun Penne Pasta and Seafood Pasta – every single thing was fantastic. Then because we apparently wanted to be miserably full, we split cheese cake and caramel sauce and chocolate mousse pie. We are all miserable and it was all worth it.

As we left, we couldn’t help be complete tourists and get a photo with the police in the background… because hey, it’s N’awlins!

Tomorrow, we are sleeping in and going to all the touristy spots of the Big Easy! Wonder what kind of adventure awaits 🤣

Up and on the road early (well, vacation-early not actually early) to check out of the hotel and head to Avery Island to explore the home of Tabasco.

Someone did not appreciate my running commentary 😁

And someone took the “Start Tour Here” a little too literally 🤣

The tour actually started in the museum where we all received a tiny bottle of Tabasco Sauce. The folks behind us were military, and they received special bottles each designated for their branch of the armed forces. 🇺🇸

Eventually we learned that Tabasco was committed to supporting our troops, shipping flavoring to soldiers overseas to make MREs more tasty. “They waged war against blandness!” The McIlhenny Family, who still privately own the Tabasco Company, have had members in the military dating back to Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.

Tabasco started in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny using 3 ingredients: tabasco peppers, vinegar and Avery Island salt. He started bottling his sauce in empty cologne bottles (all that was available at the time) and gave to friends and family. As the sauce became more popular, he continued using the same style bottles because they made it perfect for sprinkling on food.

We explored the museum and greenhouse… and made it through without any bear sightings, which apparently does occur. We did however almost witness a caning🤣

The peppers are harvested and mashed on the same day, and then the mash is placed in these oak barrels (covered in salt to preserve and prevent bugs) for 2-3 years depending on the level of heat. Despite the mash being in barrels, the smell of the peppers was almost overwhelming.

We couldn’t go into the salt mines, but the exhibit was crazy… imagine a cave made of salt? And its got to be true, because there’s a plaque!

The bottling area, although not running over the weekends, made us feel like we were on Laverne and Shirley.

Back in the museum, we sampled Tabasco Jalapeno vanilla ice cream (Yuck!) and raspberry chipotle ice cream (ice cream with a smokey aftertaste).

There were literally every imaginable kind of Tabasco souvenirs

The Jalapeno ice cream required an icee to remove the aftertaste 😝

Then we were on our way through the Jungle Gardens. The Jungle Gardens were a conservation area created by the McIlhenny family for endangered egrets and other birds, and housed some pretty weird gifts given to the family, like trees, animals and a giant buddha… because who doesn’t have giant concrete Buddha on their wishlist?

And look! The Jungle Gardens had a Mom’s Cafe location 😀

Lunches made and delivered, and we were on our way to Baton Rouge. First stop, the Louisiana State Museum: great exhibits on the history of Louisiana from the Louisiana Purchase (best land deal EVER at $0.04 per acre) to modern day Mardi Gras (I’m definitely decorating my lawn mower next year).

Then it was on to the Louisiana State Capital. We were quickly told that the Capitol was closing in 10 minutes. We replied “No worries, we’ll be done in five.”

Pictures of gorgeous ceiling ✔️

Senate chamber ✔️

House chamber ✔️

Family Picture ✔️

Once minute to spare… picture of a plaque ✔️

And found North Carolina in the steps listing each in the order then became a state ✔️

Now, if only government was as efficient as us 🤪

In all seriousness, the Capital was really beautiful. I hate to bad mouth my home state but everytime we visit different state capitals, I am reminded of how dreary and institutional the North Carolina state house is…

Next stop: Louisiana State University – Geaux Tigers! The boys were not really considering LSU and an 80° day in March solidified that. 🤣 But the campus is really nice and Tiger Stadium is the size of an NFL stadium! We especially love the placards along the tree line outside the stadium “They love nature. They love LSU.” 🤣 Besides, where else would you find a live tiger enclosure on a college campus!

After some downtime in the hotel, we headed out to dinner at Elsie’s Plate and Pie. Great food and desserts, and laughing! Mealtime is quickly becoming one of my favorite times as the boys get older and our conversations begin to shift from solely parent-child.

Tomorrow, we head to New Orleans, the World War II museum and whatever other adventures come our way…

One of my most favorite movies of all time is Steel Magnolias. Ask Mike, I can literally quote the entire movie from start to finish. (No wonder I can’t retain any new information, I have an entire movie on a loop in my head.) So, when we are in the town where it was filmed, oh yea. It was definitely a “just for mom morning” 😍

Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-tish) in central Louisiana and is the hometown of Robert Harling, an unknown playwright whose big break was a play centered around the loss of his diabetic sister, his mom and her eclectic group of friends. After the play’s success, the movie was cast and what better place to film it than Natchitoches!

We started off at the Rue Front (Rue is french for Street)… our photgrapher always manages to take a few selfies 🤣

YES – A Plaque! This brick wall stopped the town from being flooded during the Red River Flood of 1945, and the water reached this high!

And then we found Kaffie Frederick General Mercantile. Huge hardware store. The mercantile has been in business since 1863, and the 147 year old cash register is still in use! How many hardware stores can say they are listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior? The mercantile had everything: hardware stuff, kitchen items, toys, cookware – you name it, it was in there including little bottles of coca-cola ♥️

Re-Caffeinated and now back to Steel Magnolias…

The boys loved my quotations throughout the day…

Just the best day 💕💕 Very thankful my boys entertained their mama’s excitement!

Then it was time to fill the clothes cooler with supplies for Mom’s Cafe. And the boys made sure to show dad a little love in the middle of the aisle, which he loved!

We repaid the boys for being so wonderful during Mom’s morning… just make a right turn on the unpaved road by the Gater bus…

And welcome to Louisiana Gator Country!

This place a kitschy and corny and AWESOME!

Seriously, how many people can say they’ve feed hotdogs to an alligator??? Well, now we can!

Look how big they are??

And listen to them chomp and bellow!

Can you imagine seeing this monster smiling at you!?!?

We did think it was funny – how they chose a mate. The females lay on top of the males, and if she can’t push him under the water then he is an appropriate mate. If you can’t drown him, then things will work out.

They had other animals too – guinea pigs (who we think are going to end up as dinner), the fattest raccons we’ve ever seen, snakes, lizards, iguanas, and goats (we loved little Brownie who kept escaping from his pen)

But the gators stole the show. All of the alligators in the park have been removed from somewhere and since they clearly associate humans with food, they can no longer survive outside of captivity. However it doesn’t seem like they’ve got such bad of a life.

This is Big Lou. Currently, he is the oldest (70+ years old) and the Alpha Gator at the park. The managers did tell that a couple of the younger males are on pace to challenge him at some point. But for today, he’s the Alpha.

The tortoises we hilarious coming at a breakneck tortoise speed to get lettuce and eat.

Of course, getting to hold a baby alligator is pretty hard to beat!

We said goodbye to the gators, and headed out for our first stop at Mom’s Cafe – Cajun edition 😁

Bellies full, and still talking about the gators, we headed south to New Iberia, Louisiana. After checking into the hotel, we watched the first half of the Wolfpack v. Marquette, game, and then decided to treat ourselves to a true Louisiana dinner… Crawfish. R&M’s Boiling Point is a local favorite AND had TVs in every direction showing the NC State basketball game.

Great Dinner and Wolfpack Win – That’s about as good as it gets!

Tomorrow, we head out to Avery Island for a little spice and visit the home of the LSU Tigers.

Off we go checking off 2 more states on our Quest to 50! We are headed to Louisiana and Mississippi to fill in a hole at the bottom of our picture map.

This trip, rather than add another cooler to our cooler collection (seriously, Michael and Leo will never need to buy a cooler in college), I wised up 😉 … and packed my duffle bag and clothes in our cooler.

We got a few looks when we checked in at the airport… but once we told them the reason for packing clothes in a cooler, and then pulled out the travel notebook…

Well then they understood 😁

Bags and cooler checked… ✔️

Caffeine fueled thanks to Starbucks… ✔️

Running into our friend Karen…✔️

Onboard and on the way!

Landed in Charlotte, and did a little exploring while we waited on our connection… ever since our 12-hour layover in St. Louis last summer, we have made it a mission to find the “Pet Relief” areas inside airports. (Mainly because we never knew they existed until then.) So far, Charlotte definitely wins with most accommodations… sectioned off private areas per pet 🤣

And just like that… State #39 ✔️

Rental Car picked up and checked into Holiday Inn Express just in time to celebrate a Clemson win and anguish over a Tarheel loss 🏀. At least we can console ourselves with cinnamon rolls in the morning. Now to unpack the “Cooler” and pack the duffle bag.

Tomorrow we make our way all the way through Louisiana, including sometime in Chinquapin Parish 💕💕💕 (here’s a hint: if I were describing these hearts, I would say they are blush and bashful 🥰)

Fifteen hours after we walked into the St Louis airport, we walked out of the Raleigh Durham airport! What a day! We made it home, and its only 12:50am and Leo needs to be at drop off for camp in 6 hours

We made the best of a very long day, and after a life time (and sleep) this will be a great story 🤣. “Remember that time we were stuck in the St. Louis airport for 8 and a half hours!”🤪

And we saw an amazing sunset from the air

We made it to North Carolina!

Special special special thank you to Natalie who spent the last hours of her birthday (with her co-pilot Drew) driving to Raleigh to pick us up.

Regardless of today, its been a great trip! Only 12 states to go…

Here’s our stats:

One new cooler (the boys will never need to buy a cooler in college);

Traveled through 5 states covering 3,396 miles;

3 loaves of bread;

5.5 pounds of turkey;

1 pound of ham;

2 pounds of various sliced cheeses;

2 heads of lettuce; and

6 avocados.

Not to mention the bags of cookies, chips, hummus, salsa, cases of water, and other meals.

We stayed in 5 AirBnBs, 5 different hotels and ate fantastic food. We met some neat folks along the way and realized that as much as we like travel, I still haven’t found anywhere we like better than home.

In my ongoing quest to find positive things from the hot mess that today has become I’ve been doing a little exploring. Plenty of time to do that with 8 1/2 hours to kill in the St Louis Airport 🤣

First thing we learned is that Southwest has GOOD deals on day-of flying. It was actually cheaper than the American Airlines flight I booked in May. Now granted, everything we saved we have probably spent on the extra meals/food in the airport, but maybe we found a new favorite airline 🤷🏻‍♀️

Second thing we learned is that you cannot check bags more that 4 hours before you depart. Our choices became either stay in the outer area of airport… were there are no restaurants, few chairs and extremely crowded, or as the nice Southwest attendant suggested, if they’ll make it through TSA, just gate check it all. Try to picture us in the TSA line with Leo’s steamer-trunk of a suitcase, two average rolling suitcases and a cooler stuffed with laundry and souvenirs. A large bottle of shampoo/body wash caused a bit of hiccup, as well as bottles of Dimetapp and Robitussin, but we made it through… so here we sit, like vagabonds 🤣🤣

Third, did you know that every airport has a “Service Animal Relief Area?” I guess I never thought about it, but they will need to go too during a day of travel. I’ve never checked these out in other airports, but I am thinking St Louis may win the award for best one. This may be a new search item for me in traveling…

Fourth, I had no idea there is a Interfaith chapel in the airport. Again, I may start checking these out. It wasn’t huge, but listen, I about lost my religion in front of the American Airlines gate. So maybe this is just what I need.

And – I thought of another reason for sunshine in this mess… normally I wish the boys were little again. But not today! Can you imagine if they were 8 and 9 right now? We would spend be trying to keep them from bouncing off the walls??? 🤣🥴 Thank the Lord for YouTube and ESPN.com

Two and half hours to go…

It was bound to happen one day… we wake up on time, brush teeth and get ready for a day of travel. Arrange dirty clothes in a cooler, grab the hotel shuttle, check bags, start walking to your gate, and KA-BLAM! The dreaded your flight is cancelled email 😬

According to American Airlines inside the terminal it is due to weather in Washington, D.C. but according to the news networks, American Airlines’ CEO said it is due to staffing shortages. So… we waited in line and spent that hour online with Jonah the most unhelpful agent who kept finding great flights for us… tomorrow.

Me: Jonah, I have a child who needs to be at church to leave for camp at 7:30 tomorrow so I have to have a flight tonight.

Jonah: I see. Let me check. Extended pause... okay, so I have a flight to Charlotte at 6:30.

Me: Great! Lets book that for tonight.

Jonah: Okay so tomorrow will work?

Me: NO. Today, Sunday, July 9th.

Jonah: I see. Let me check. Extended pause... okay, so I have a flight to Charlotte through LaGuardia at 7.

Me: that’s perfect. Please book that.

Jonah: okay, so leaving tomorrow at 7.

Me: NO!!!

Finally found a Southwest flight to Raleigh that leaves at 7pm and arrives at 11:15. Bless Natalie for being our shuttle. So now we get to hang out in the St Louis Airport for the next 6 and half hours. And PRAY that no issues on Southwest.

But let’s be honest, and find a little sunshine in this:

1. We have traveled a whole lot, and we’ve never had a cancellation before;

2. We are all together, healthy and safe;

3. We were able to get another flight;

4. Leo will be home in time for camp drop off tomorrow. He’ll be really tired, but he’ll be there;

5. I love an adventure and time together… so were technically getting both… all about perspective; and

6. Someone somewhere wishes this was their only problem 😉♥️

Another update later…