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
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......
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
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.
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....
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
