Whirlwind weekend for the nomads traveling to Texas!
Here's what's been going on...
Thursday - We left
Vicksburg at 7:30 AM. After crossing
the bridge we were in Louisiana and 1 hour later in Monroe, where State Farm
had a regional office at one time. Mark
remembers visiting there in the mid 1970’s and that was his first plane ride! And this is home to the Duck Dynasty family!
We stopped for lunch in
Mineola, TX and found the Eastern Texas Burger Co. – real funky place, very
popular and absolutely delicious – we split a big burger! Walked around a bit – cute town with nice
shops, lots of antique places and 3 bakeries.
Saw the sign that “Million Dollar Quartet” is coming Saturday night at
the civic theater in Mineola (love that musical). We arrived at the “Johnson B and B” around
2:00 – Barb and Roger had arrived about ½ hour earlier. So good to see all of them – we visited in
the garden (WOW – this had not been started yet when I was here with Claire in
September) It is right out of a
magazine!
We settled in, had drinks
on the patio (spectacular day/evening) and later enjoyed a fabulous dinner
(pork tenderloin, rosemary potatoes, roasted veggies and asparagus salad topped
off with fresh cherry pie that Barb brought). Barb loves to cook/bake and her
pies are soooo yummy so this was a real treat!
Good times reminiscing and visiting!
Friday – Kathy set out yummy
muffins, cheese and fruit for breakfast.
Mark and I left around 8:45 for downtown. Fort Worth. We stopped at the Hilton to pick up passes
and visited with 3 of the Blues – did not see Ryan. Off to the historic stockyards and really
enjoyed waking around this area, full of shops, lots of restaurants and long-horn
steers. Met our friends, Sue and Gary
from Oklahoma (fellow RV'ers we knew from Okeechobee) at Joe T. Garcia’s for a fabulous Mexican lunch out on the patio
bursting with flowers everywhere, big fountain and a just a lovely
setting. Off to the Joint Reserve
Naval Base for the Blues practice. This
was Gary and Sue’s first experience to see the Blue Angels – gorgeous day and
we had so much fun!
Sue, Gary, Pat, Mark at Joe T. Garcia's
Sue and Gary at their first Blue Angel show
Long trip back to
McKinney, but cold beverages were waiting and we sat on the patio on another
lovely evening. Kathy had all kinds of
goodies for dinner including the mini sandwiches of pork tenderloin (from night
before) with lime sauce and cilantro – wow!!!
The Johnsons’ and Helblings’ had a good day of taking in all the historic
stockyard hoopla and lunch at Billy Bob’s.
Saturday –
beautiful…..after breakfast, we 6 were on the road to Fort Worth for the air
show. Stopped at the Hilton, visited
briefly with Ryan and then joined the caravan (with police escort) of Blue Angel pilots to the show
with Ryan driving Paul’s car. A fun way to travel to the show WITHOUT all the crowds as we zipped thru red lights, past intersections, etc. We all enjoyed this nice perk. A shuttle took us right to our tent and enjoyed another awesome show .
(1st time for Barb and Roger to see the Blue
Angels).
Kathy and Barb whipping up goodies
Waiting for show to begin....Roger, Barb, Paul, Kathy
In line for pictures - Pat - Barb - Kathy
Barb and Roger relaxing on the patio
Had picture taken with pilots
afterwards and then long drive back to McKinney. We arrived home at 7, jumped in the shower
and at 7:25, we were on our way to downtown McKinney for a wonderful dinner at
“Harvest”. So fun to sit and visit,
reminisce about years past, with lots of laughs and memories. We strolled around the square – love
McKinney and it’s old-timey charm – a very happening place with lots of people
enjoying dining outdoors, wine bars, etc.
Home at 10:15 and we all collapsed into bed. What a big day with all the sunshine, nice
breeze and excitement of the Blues!
Sunday - Up at
7:45…….Paul, Kathy, Mark and I went to 9:00 Mass at Our Lady of Angels. Afterwards we stopped at Starbucks for
coffees and then picked up Barb and Roger and off to Harry’s Harborside for
brunch. We ate here last April when
Claire and I were visiting – all of us enjoyed our breakfasts. It is cooler today and very overcast. Paul and Kathy drove us all around Frisco,
Allen, McKinney and beyond. We stopped to
visit their daughter and family (Elizabeth, Mark, and the kiddies Sydney and
Jacob) and then picked up some Papa Murphy’s pizzas. We arrived back to
their house around 4:30, fixed some drinks and played 2 rounds of dominoes with
Barb and Mark the winners. Off to bed
after another very full, very fun day!
Our wonderful host and hostess - Paul and Kathy
Monday – Up and going, and
after breakfast, got the car loaded up.
We left same time as Barb and Roger (9:00) and said our good byes
with tears and hugs! What a very
enjoyable weekend with these long-time friends and so appreciate Paul and Kathy’s
warm hospitality. Their B and B
(seemed like we were in one with all the pampering and amenities), would rate 5***** in our book!
It was cloudy most of the
morning, but travels were good with a stop for lunch in Monroe, LA. We ate at “Cotton”, a downtown eatery rated
#1 by Trip Advisor. We arrived at 2:10
and they were ready to close (open from 11-2 and then 5-?). But the lady was very nice, told us to sit
at the bar and she would check with the kitchen. Yes…. The kitchen would serve us and we enjoyed
our fresh, delicious shrimp and
catfish (with green tomato mayo) sandwiches.
Very neat place in old building with so much charm!!!
Just before we crossed the
Mississippi and back into Vicksburg, we exited at Delta, LA and there was the Delta
Daiquiri Bar which is a drive-thru bar serving daiquiris. When I was getting my nails done last week
by Hailey, she told me about this place that is very popular. The Vicksburg folks cross the bridge to get
their “Daquiries to Go”!!! The drinking
age in LA is 18 - the only state to allow
teenage drinking! Just don't let the driver drink and drive!!!!! It was pretty tasty!
We arrived back on Daisy
at 4:15, got our things unpacked, stuff transferred back to car and off to do
laundry. Never know what kind of facilities (if any) we’ll find along the way and need our Blue Angel
garb clean before the weekend! After
that task was done, we went to Kroger for a few groceries and now unwinding and
finishing up this blog ….
Tomorrow we are off again
with 900 miles to Cherry Point, NC (near Havelock) for Blue Angels this
weekend. Planning to drive 300 miles each
day and arrive Thursday!
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