2016 Road Trip.....May 16 & 17th, Last Day in LA and Driving to AL

I don't remember what we did on Monday, May 16th, on our last full day in Louisiana.  Probably a trip to the insurance agent to cut a check for house insurance, hanging out in the motel pool and a little shopping.
Speaking of shopping, the Daughter and I hit the Hancock Fabrics near her house.  Last Spring/Summer Hancock stores were having going out of business sales.

The trip to the Hancock Fabrics near her/own house turns out was the last time I spent money at that chain.  This loyalty card got pitched when I got home to PA. sigh.

Here are a few goodies I picked up there because at 50% off or more, what fabric-aholic could resist?!?

 A bunch of rayon prints, my favs.

More rayon and the green one is a cotton print.

Some novelty prints, Dr. Who in cotton and flannel and a craft beer print.

 We also hit the liquor store.  I got some cheap watermelon vodka and more of my frozen paper umbrella drink  packets.

I also spied a nice sale on Laphroaig 18 year Scotch for Hubs.  At the price it was at, I should have had Hubs buy a case of it!

I also hit Walmart and loaded up on Blue Plate mayo and sandwich spread.  This lot didn't last very long.......

On the morning we left Shreveport, we stopped in at Daughter's work as we headed out of town for home.

Daughter was a manager at a Jimmy John's sub shop in Bossier City.
She wasn't there when we arrived because she had to run to Sam's Club to pick up some supplies that they were out of........

After she and one of her workers got everything in the building they set to work getting ready for the lunch crowd........

Even with us there, Daughter is all business when she is working and we had to visit while she barked out orders and prepped for the lunch rush(even though it was barely 10 am).

I liked these signs they had in the eating areas.

We said our goodbyes and headed out East on I-20.

We made a pit stop(for both the car and us)before we crossed over into Mississippi at a truck stop in Tallulah LA.
While waiting for Hubs to finish in the men's room I wandered around the convenience store and found some Southern eats......

As the sign says, "Hot Boiled Peanuts", regular or spicy.....

And jackpot! a jar of pickled eggs too. lol

The guy working the register saw my flash go off and when I wandered up to the front he started asking me, in very obviously stilted English, a bunch of questions about what I was doing.  Could be that he thought I was a health inspector or INS spy or something.  Who knows?
He looked a bit calmer when he understood that I was a blogger and just take photos of interesting things for my blog and nobody from the state was going to shut his store down or cart him off for deportation.
Geez!

We rode straight through MS and next stopped in Tuscaloosa Alabama to gas up and then stretch our legs at a store.
No we didn't go into this store........

We headed to World Market in that same shopping center.

Ok, here is a great mosaic table on clearance this WM had on their front sidewalk....get it now because it's "The LAST ONE!".

Or is it?  LOLOLZ
Only in Alabama?......maybe.......

This shopping center also had a fancy Burger/Craft Beer joint.......
Lots of fancyfied stores in Tuscaloosa.

Between our trip to WM in Shreveport and this Tuscaloosa stop we picked up some necessities at a good price.  Those bags of coffee were awesome buys on clearance(not ground so they kept fresh longer)and I LOVE that hibiscus syrup added to my iced tea in the Summer as it's so refreshing.

Another hour+ back on the road and we made it to Birmingham and our hotel at the start of rush hour.
The Quality Inn we stayed at was not bad pricewise(considering it was in B'ham)plus they had a small pool and a nice breakfast spread.

The only not so great thing was that our room and window was on the back of the building and appeared as if the woods by our room was used as a hang-out drinking spot.  If you can't see it there are beer cans and glass liquor bottles in this photo I took.  I guess the motel management wanted us to feel at home.  *snort*

After settling in and taking a quick swim I called a fellow blogger who lives in the area to see if she was free to meet up and maybe have a little dinner with us.

About half an hour later up drives Anne in the Kitchen of New Happenings At The Table Blog in her van.
Quick hugs and hellos happened and I think I said something ever-so witty like, "Anne! You're not in the Kitchen!". lolz
After she finished rolling her eyes at me(and thinking but not saying, "Bless her heart", at me)Anne whisked us off to this place............

Well not their catering truck(which I took a photo of as we were leaving) but the Full Moon Bar-B-Que restaurant. It's a local chain that does BBQ and other southern specialties.
Their motto is "Best Little Pork House in Alabama".  Now how could you NOT like a place like that? hehehe

Anne got a plate of 5 non-meat items.....

I got a plate with 'Cue, Collards and Fried Green Tomatoes(of course).
While still in line ordering I saw they had grilled pimento cheese sandwiches on the menu, after I had already ordered a plate of 'cue.  Without a second thought I also ordered a sammich! lolz
Hey, we didn't have lunch that day so I didn't feel like a big ol' greedy slug, but maybe I should have. '-)

After a couple of hours of getting to know one another and chowing down, Anne had to take us back to the motel.
I had Hubs snap a few photos of us together for the proof that we really did meet Anne and this was the best of them where one or the other of us wasn't closing our eyes or had a big goofy look on their face(you decide who did which).........

It was so nice to finally meet Anne and she is such a sweetheart and full of that good ol' Southern hospitality and charm.

And I found out that she has VA ancestors too so once I actually do the work we may also be related. lolz

I would heartily recommend if you are ever in Birmingham to try out Full Moon Bar-B-Que.  Not only was the food good but even though it was well after the dinner rush the staff was mighty friendly.

It was back to the motel and we waved as Anne drove toward home.  We went to bed that night with 'cue in our bellies and the satisfaction of having met another online friend.

Sluggy

April Louisiana Road Trip.....Day Four

We spent the night at a Choice branded hotel in Tuscaloosa. How do I know it was in Tuscaloosa? Because these guys were hanging out by the front door.....

This places was pricey for us(over $100 a night).
This freestylin'/not having reservations thing works but only if you are willing to go in with set criteria and stick to it.

My criteria on this trip was.....

A--either a king sized bed or 2 queens
B--free breakfast
C--free wifi
D--less than $60 a night

Good criteria, right?
Except that once Hubs stopped at a hotel/motel, if it cost more than $60 a night, he took the room anyway.
So much for keeping our lodging costs low......lolz

The breakfast fortunately was very good here....not sure if it was worth an extra $40 but still.
#2 on our breakfast hit parade this trip.
Excellent yogurt, such that I took two(one for later).

We were out of there by 10ish.
I had googled and found that a Hancock Fabric Store was nearby, so we hit that before getting back on the interstate.

I got this great kitchy fabric on the clearance table......

It's a rayon so drapes wonderfully and it was .50¢ a yard!!

This will make a great fun shirt!


An hour or so after the fabric store stop, we were in a new state......

And we took a potty & leg stretching break......

Me doing my "Why I do declare, we ain't in 'Bama no more!" impression.

 

Not sure why the Mississippi Welcome Center had a carousel horse in it but it made a nice photo op.

 

Some lady offered to take our photo together....

 

We got back on the road quickly and were off heading west again.

We stopped in Meridian Mississippi at this place HERE , The Brickhouse Bar & Grill because we had seen a brochure/flyer in the Welcome Center.
It was a nice find.

They claim to have the largest selection of craft beers on tap in the state I think.
They had many LA, MS, AL and AR regional beers.
Hubs could have stayed here a week trying them all but had to make do with 2 choices.

 

They also have a list of "BEERTAILS".....cocktails they made using beer and various other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Though I was tempted to try the Crazy Bitch(shaddup!)and the 69...hehehe......I went for the Mudbug Mimosa....

It had hard cider, blood orange, Sprite and one of the local IPAs in it(I can't remember which).
I deemed it pretty good for someone who doesn't really like beer(except the porters and stouts).....but it was no Cosmo! lol

We had food too.  That was pretty good, not great, but what do you expect from a bar?
It was pricey though....

We'll have to make this a regular stop on our route to LA in the future.

And here is my gratuitous photo of the art in the ladies' room at the Brickhouse.....confirming that old saying that you don't buy beer, you merely rent it.....hehehe

Not long after getting back on the road we hit Vicksburg and the Mississippi River.....

Here's a shot from the interstate as we left the shoreline of Mississippi.  That's a riverboat casino past the railroad trestle bridge there.

And here is the next welcome sign.......albeit a bit blurry.....

It's funny that this part of the Mississippi crossing the land was so different, one side from the other.
The MS side was high with cliffs(during the War of Northern Aggression when the Yankees invaded Vicksburg, the local citizenry had to hide in caves along the cliffs to escape the shelling), but as soon as you crossed the river into Louisiana the ground level was quite a bit lower.  You had to drive a good 10 to 15 miles inland from the river to not be surrounded by boggy and swampy areas.

About an hour and a half into LA, we arrived in West Monroe.

Me with the boys inside the store.....

the world's largest duck call and Uncle Si.....

I picked up some shirts and tchotchkes.
I "heart" Uncle Si.....

Uncle Si Replica Tupperware Tea Glasses and miniature tea glass keychains....

It was BOGO that day so I got spares. lolz

Fans of the show will recognize "The Loading Dock".
Yes, it's a real loading dock.

Hubs and I got to the Duck Commander HQ right before the store closed....we were the last ones out of the building before they locked up for the day.

They had this big trailer out by the loading dock and people were milling around long after the store was closed and taking photos.

This woman came up to me and enthusiastically offered to take Hubs and my photo together if we'd return the favor and take her and her family's photo.
No problem.....

She asked me if I had been inside, when she saw my shopping bag, and about swooned when I said yes.

Okay......

Her whole family(a DH and 3 little kids, including a baby)were dressed in matching Duck Commander shirts.

Here they are over by the loading dock.
She seemed just a bit too excited to be there....lolz

Heck, I should have given her this self-guided tour brochure I picked up somewhere....

She could have gone all around Monroe and West Monroe and seen all the places seen on their show.

Hey Jack!  The sign....

Me and the sign....

and before things got any weirder we gone!

We had about another 1.5 hours of driving.

I must confess to Sonya Ann that THIS is about as close as I got to a casino.......

A Casino billboard.
I hang my head in shame.....

We got into Bossier City LA, to our motel, right before dark.
We settled in, called the Daughter to let her know we had arrived(she was working)and then we went HERE for dinner since it was practically across the street.


I was too tired to take a picture of our meal but I did get a photo of this ENORMOUS bottle of Tabasco Sauce on the table.....

I have never seen one this size but then again, I haven't been in Louisiana(if you don't count that time back in about 1968 when we took a family camping trip and were down near NOLA).

The daughter came over to our motel room after work and we talked for a few hours before hitting the hay.
Thursday morning was coming bright and early and we had things to do and places to go.

Sluggy