Monday, March 12, 2018

I didn’t know if I would have time to publish my Journal this morning since we were going out for Breakfast with Cookie and Bill.  And in fact I didn’t, and I published it after we got back.  The new way of publishing means that I can get it done in just a few minutes if everything works just right.  And this morning it did just fine.

Cookie and Bill left this morning almost as soon as they got back.  Apparently they had everything ready to go before we left for Breakfast.  And we actually didn’t even hear them leave when they drove out.

We also got a text from Dennie, Sharon’s Brother asking us if we wanted to go for Breakfast tomorrow and the Tour de Bay St. Louis.  We quickly replied that we were excited to go.  It’s always better to get the perspective of someone whose been here already for a couple of months.

For the rest of the day we sat and relaxed in front of the TV catching up on recorded shows we have been accumulating for the last few days.

For Supper tonight Sharon warmed up the leftover Stuffed Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes and we also had some of Cookie’s Apple Salad that she gave us after last night’s Dinner.  She also gave a couple of servings of her Banana Dessert that we also ate last night.  Supper turned out to be quite good with all the extras.

We settled into our favorite spots for the night watching Jeopardy and some of the stuff we had recorded.  We actually watch Jeopardy every night even if we have to record it.  We managed to catch upon as many shows as we could tonight, but we still have some specials that we have recorded.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

We were off this morning to Bay St. Louis and Breakfast with Dennie and Drema, Sharon’s Brother and his wife.  We drove the 15 odd miles and found his house straight off.  Not like the other day when we were with Cookie and Bill and got lost.  Bill was working the GPS on my phone and apparently he wasn’t familiar with it.

In any event after chit chatting for a few minutes we left the house and drove over to the Sunshine Café.  It was a little restaurant with about 5-6 tables in a Strip Mall.  Drema bragged about the Chili Omelette, so that’s what I had, and it was very good.  It was different, but the difference seemed to agree with me today.

After Breakfast we left on the Tour de Bay St.Louis that took about an hour.  There was not much to see beyond what we’ve already surmised, but we went downtown and he showed us how big the town was.  It seems to be about the size of Iron Mountain/Kingsford even though it seems to be spread out more.  The Live Oak trees that line the streets are very beautiful.  They’re branches grow over the very narrow streets and form tunnels to drive through in some areas.  The trees are huge and their branches grow in all different directions, thus forming the tunnels.

After the “Tour” we went back to their house and sat and had a beverage or two and chatted about things to do over the next few days.  We had mentioned previously driving up to Kiln the home of Brett Favre, the former Quarterback of the Packers, and also going to New Orleans and visit the WWII Military Museum.  I think we’ll take in both of those over the next week or so.

We left the house about 3 o’clock and drove back home to Pass Christian.  We were still early enough to catch some pre-dinner TV before Supper.  We would be having Tacos for Supper tonight and they always seem to turn out to be very good.  And tonight was no exception.

After Dinner we settled into our positions for a night of TV fare.  Tuesdays are always good for watching TV.  Some of our favorite shows come on tonight and we can usually record a few to watch tomorrow.  We stayed up til about 10:30 tonight before we caved for the night.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

We got up this morning to a nice sunshiny day although it was a little chilly today.  We had nothing planned for today until Sharon got up.  She always has a plan conjured up in her deep dark recesses, and today was no different.  Apparently she’s been unhappy with the dress she picked out for our daughter’s wedding and was thinking that she’d go shopping in Gulfport at the Mall on exit 34 of Interstate 10.

The real thing that convinced me to go was the coupon that we got from my Sister Cookie for Sicily’s Pizza Restaurant that would give us one buffet for free with the purchase of another.  Sicily’s was located at the same exit near the Mall.  It has been years since we’ve gone to a Sicily’s and we’ve always enjoyed it very much.

Before we left I informed the Mrs. that I had a refrigerator door to fix this morning.  Apparently something sticky had been spilled into the lock and it was not operating properly.  It still stayed closed, but it was difficult to open the door.  The lock appeared to be almost sealed when I got it off the door, but it seemed to be all plastic so I tried running hot water into it.  Apparently that did the trick, since it was operating more normally when I got done.

We took off for “dress shopping” shortly after that and it only took us about 10 minutes to get there.  I was happy cause I sat in the car listening to Rush while she shopped.  It took her about 45 minutes to find a new dress.  It looked a lot like the old dress to me, but what do I know.

I found Sicily’s while she was in the Belk store.  It was a couple of miles from where we were at, but only took a couple of minutes to get there.

The food (pizza) was just as good as I remembered it.  We also had our fill of Crawfish Bisque, Gumbo, Garlic Bread Sticks, Fried Chicken, Dessert Pizza, Peach Cobbler and Bread Pudding.  As usual, the food was excellent.

After we got home Sharon decided that she was going to steal a nap.  So she retreated to the bedroom, and covered herself up, and snoozed for a spell.

We didn’t feel like eating again at Suppertime so we just fended for ourselves later on.  I had a favorite PB&J sandwich to hold me over and Sharon had cereal.

We finished out the night with our favorite entertainment, TV.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

We got up this morning to a good looking day but it was a little chilly.  Not cold enough to wear long pants, but enough to take a jacket along.  We were headed up to Kiln, Mississippi to visit the home town of Brett Favre.  We had been there a few years ago but Dennie and Drema hadn’t.

Dennie found out that the Broke Spoke (saloon) didn’t open til 1 in the afternoon so we would not be leaving until after noon.  It was only 13 miles from Bay St. Louis.  The Broke Spoke is the bar that Favre supposedly frequented during his school years.

We ate Breakfast at home intending to eat lunch in Kiln.  We also had a couple of hours to wait before going over across the Bay to their town.  We made it over there almost right at one o’clock.  We sat and talked for awhile before jumping in the car and heading north to Kiln.

We arrived at the “Spoke” just as they were opening and took a bunch of pictures before we went inside.  We were in there for a couple of hours by the time the group had 5 beers apiece.  I quit at two because it doesn’t agree with me anymore.

After the Broke Spoke visit we went to Dempsey’s Restaurant just down the street.  It was a beautiful place and a size that just seemed out of the ordinary for this area.  But the food was very good and the four of us had very good service from an extremely friendly waitress.

On the way back home we engaged in a little chit chat about the day.  We didn’t have much cause it only took about 20 minutes or so to get back to the Charettes.

Sharon announced that we would be going home almost immediately.  Except that on the way back we had to stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things.  It’s always tough to find the store because it’s hidden back from the road and poorly lit.  But in the daylight, which it still was, it’s a little easier, especially when you know where it is.

After Wal-Mart we finally headed for home.  We would sitting at the tube for the rest of the night.

Friday, March 16, 2018

We woke up this morning to precipitation falling from the sky.  It was raining and it didn’t seem like there was going to be an end to it today.

We didn’t have anything planned for today but it would have been a good day to go downtown and explore Pass Christian.  It would be wet out but it really didn’t matter if we didn’t get out of the car to walk around.  In any event, we didn’t go for the “drive around” so it didn’t matter one way or the other.

We actually spent the day catching up on a series called Waco that we had on the DVR.  We watched President Clinton’s Impeachment Scandal yesterday so we  watched about 10 hours of stuff that we had recorded in two days.  The DVR gave out s sigh of relief when we deleted the last hour of the series.  We had more stuff recorded but we certainly made room on the hard drive for more after the last two days.

We pretty much stayed close to home and just waited out the rain.  We waited a long time cause the rain never did stop today.  The weather has been relatively nice since we’ve been here only raining sporadically.  But today there were huge puddles in the road by early afternoon.  And there still didn’t seem to be any relief in sight.

We finished out the night by listening to the rain hit the roof and watching TV. Both of us stayed up until late tonight cause we wanted to finish watching the “Waco” series we had recorded.

I caved about 11:30 and toddled off to bed.  Sharon followed shortly after.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

St. Patrick’s Day today and as soon as we got up and ready this morning we put  on our best green colors and got ready for the parade.  The weatherman threatened rain today but we don’t know exactly when it’s going to hit.

On our way across the Bay St. Louis Bridge we could see the front that was coming.  The sky was ominous to say the least.  And when we arrived at Dennie and Drema’s the Sun was shining and it was a very nice day.

We took off for Waveland, MS which is a sister city just down the road a few miles at 11:15 for a 12 o’clock parade and the route was already lined with spectators.

We had never seen a St. Paddy’s Day parade and really didn’t know what to expect, although we did know that they would be throwing potatoes, carrots, onions, “green” peppers, cabbage and lemons.  Everything to make a good Irish Stew.  There was even a load of green beads that made a showing today. We had a brief period of rain but not enough to squelch the parade.  It was quite the parade with the Fire Truck making an appearance at the end.

After the parade we went to the Buoy’s Bar and had a few adult beverages, to quench our thirst from standing in the hot sun watching a parade.  They also had a live band that was playing quite loud and prevented conversation outside the building.  Not to mention the train that went by about a hundred yards from the bar.  And the reality that the bartender passed out free shots to everybody in the bar when a train goes by.  Quite a bonus for just being a customer at the right time.

We left the Buoy’s Bar to head over to the Blind Tiger Restaurant to have a burger for lunch.  The Blind Tiger was next door about 400' feet away.  We sat and had a very good lunch.  Sharon had Wings and the rest of us had burgers.  And it was all good including the samples of the Bushwacker that were given to us.

When we left the restaurant we headed for home.  It was about 6 PM and the rain had held off all day except for the brief spell during the parade.  We all felt that we had a good fun day despite the weatherman’s prediction.

We got home tonight in time to catch all of our regular shows on TV.  There isn’t much on come Saturday night but we still had some stuff on tape.

Sharon went to bed early tonight because she needed the extra rest.  She had to sleep off the medication that she had been taking most of the day.  I stayed up because I didn’t have that much medicine. 

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Sharon  was up early this morning to go to early Mass at the Catholic Church.  I was almost still in bed by the time she left.  I never thought she’d be up this early after yesterday, but she always amazes me.

I, of course, went immediately to my Sunday morning shows where the usual bashing of Trump was taking place.  They don’t appear to have impeachable evidence as of yet, but then of course they’re still trying.

I was intending to cook myself a Big Breakfast this morning but Sharon came back home before I finished my Journal. She was actually back by 9:30 today since the church was only about two miles down the road.

We had talked about going to downtown Pass Christian just to drive around and see what was there before we leave here, and we decided today would be the day for that.  We did it and there was not much to see as Pass Christian was at best a tiny little burg on the coast of the gulf.  We drove through town in all 4 directions to see if we could find the Business District, and when we did, we concluded that it was very small.  The Main street that we took to the end, ran right into our campground road, so we had less distance to get back home.

As we approached the campground we decided that we’d go back up to the Flea Market so I could finish the last row that I didn’t see when we were there last.  But lo and behold as soon as we parked the car the rain started to pour down in buckets.  It had only been trickling before that.

So we hatched a new plan.  We would look for a market or store to pick up some flour and ground meat so she could make Stuffed Cabbage Rolls today and Pasties for tomorrow.  We drove across I-10, which was a block away, and found a Dollar General where we found both items.

We came back home, and never did visit the Flea Market, while Sharon got busy making the Cabbage Rolls.  We never did get our Corned Beef and Cabbage yesterday so the Cabbage Rolls will have suffice.  And they did.  They turned out very good even though they were made just a little different than she usually makes them.  We also had an Apple Salad and some mixed Peas and Carrots.  It was all very good.

We locked on to the TV for the night and listened to the rain on the roof for awhile.  It had stopped by bedtime when we ran out of programs to watch.  We conceded that the day was over at this point.