We Have Arrived

We arrived safely at Safe Harbor Farm, an animal rescue farm on the northern fringe of Maysville, NC about 3:40PM. We will be here for the month of March. Today's journey was 180 miles through the southern part of North Carolina. For the most part, the roads were pretty good. Most of the route was on NC State highways where speed limit was 55mph or less. As we were leaving South Carolina, we encountered signs advertising The South Of The Border. Looks like a interesting place that picked up on a fun theme.
   
We crossed into North Carolina, our last state, and found I-65 pleasantly smooth. Kudos to NC DOT. We left the interstate at Lumberton and headed out on NC-41 to Wallace. Enjoyed the ride through the country side. We stopped at The Kountry Kitchen for lunch and a break. Sometimes when we stop like this, it is a challenge finding a place to park our truck/trailer. This time it was easy since there was an empty used car lot next door.


After the break, we continued on NC-117 for a few miles, hopped on to I-40 for a few more miles, then turned on to NC-53 for a short trip to Jacksonville, NC. Jacksonville is home to the Marine Corps Camp LeJeune. Jacksonville is a nice size town that has a Walmart, and other cool places. I can only imagine how crazy it is here on weekends follow the 1st and 15th. We have been warned these stores will be packed on those weekends. From Jacksonville, we had 20 miles to travel on NC-17B. We are on the home stretch now. Then we finally saw the Maysville city limits sign. What a welcomed greeting.
   
The least turn was onto a road leading to a closed gate. Carol got out to open the gate. We were home at Safe Harbor Farm.
   
After closing the gate behind us, we stopped on the road and waited for Lynne, the shelter manager. She greeted us and and had us introduce the dogs to the property first. This also gave her a chance to see how our fur babies respond to us. While their behavior was not perfect, they did fine. Remember, they have been riding in the truck for 12 days. They are not allowed to mingle with the animals here (other than the cats who roam freely). So check out or new digs. Left of the spot where I took the head on shot of our parking space is the chicken coop. We were warned that the rooster cannot tell time. Left of the chicken coop is the cat center.

        

We took a quick trip to town for a bite to eat and found Pop's Main Street Diner. They open late for serving lunch and dinner Monday - Wednesday, and early for breakfast and lunch Saturday - Sunday. Carol and I decided will be be back to this place frequently.
   
I looked through the simple menu and zoomed in on Liver/Onions added Mashed Potatoes and Pickled Beets. Dinner included a couple of scoops of ice cream. What could be more country then that.
   
Since Feb 17th, we have driven 2055 miles. In the next day or so, I will post our travel expense info. Meanwhile, I think we will go to bed early tonight. We will be here for the month of March. Then it will be a short two day trip to Blue Ridge, GA for our next assignment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Road From Hell

Today we thought we had smooth sailing. The plan was to take I-20 from Heritage RV Park in Augusta, GA to Florence RV Park in Florence, SC. A trip of 159 miles. This should be an easy route so I asked Carol if she would like to drive it. Nothing tricky, no small roads, no tight turns. Carol makes all the correct turns and we are now headed on I-20 into South Carolina. Looks pretty cool.
   
Then we get to the South Carolina state line. Our nice comfy trip turned into the road from hell. Carol described it as riding on a washboard. Think about driving on the highway, listening to the tires crossing over the transition joints. You know the sound. It almost sounds like a train on railroad tracks. In a Lincoln TownCar, you can hardly feel the tries crossing those joints. In a 1 ton truck pulling 15,000 ponds, not only do you hear the tires crossing the joints, you feel the tires crossing the joints. The feel is amplified by the weight of the trailer and the stiff suspension of the 1 ton truck. For 4 miles we had washboard road. I beseech the South Carolina DOT to change their sign at the state line to read something more appropriate such as "Welcome to South Carolina, The Rough Rider State".
   
Fortunately after 4 miles, we were back on asphalt so the ride was much better. Just about the time I was ready to take a short cat nap as we were approaching Columbia, guess what showed up again. Good guess - more road from hell. By the time we got to Florence, we were both beat up. We arrived safely at Florence RV Park northwest of the city around 1:30. We were unhitched and set up in about 40 minutes. Now time for a rest.

      

I asked the office staff about a recommendation for dinner. We were looking for a place unique to Florence and South Carolina. The ladies thought for a moment and said, "Most of the folks here just go across the interstate to the Flying J." I said thanks for the suggestion.

When I got back to our RV, I googled "good eats, florence sc". From the links that came back, I found RedBone Alley. This is a unique restaurant in that the owner converted a J.C. Penney's store in a mall into the restaurant. You can read about it on their website.

I planned to have photos of our dining experience but the camera battery apparently had its energy jolted lose on the trip today. I had CHICKEN PONTALBA, their "infamous" cheese grits loaded with spicy fried chicken, local sausage, mushrooms and Low Country hash brown potatoes. Carol had FETTUCCINE MOSAIC, hearty bowl of fettuccine Alfredo tossed with grilled shrimp and chicken topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a few green onions. Served with a side salad. YUMMY.

After dinner we fueled up at Walmart (3.85) plus bought a few groceries that will get us to the weekend. Tomorrow we will be at our March Workkamp gig - Safe Harbor Farm in Maysville, NC.

Thanks for stopping by.

TGIM

TGIM? Yep, TGIM. Thank God It's Monday. Wage slaves are going to think I am crazy with that. A few days ago, I got confused on what day it was. Saturday, I thought it was Monday. I remember telling Carol that once we get settled in for the night, we could watch Castle. Now today is Monday for sure. So TGIM.

I read on another forum that our friends Pete and Jane from Arizona had a blowout on the Cedar Creek in El Paso as they were headed back to Arizona. Thankfully, they were able to get their trailer off the road and tire replaced safely. Their trailer suffered minor damage. Reading about that, plus avoiding the stranded chair on the freeway yesterday got me thinking a bit about safety. For the past few days, we have noticed a shimmy in the front end of the truck. The shimmy only appeared between 40 and 50 mph. To me that sounded like a tire out of balance but I am not the expert. We decided to get it checked out this morning before hitching up the trailer. I googled Discount Tires because that is where I had purchased the rear tires on the truck. There was only one Discount Tire in Macon. It was fairly close to where we were so off we went. We were prepared to spend some time there so we brought our tech gear. Neal met us as we drove up. I explained what the problem was and he said they would be able to get to the truck right away and should know something in a few minutes. They found the two front tires were indeed out of balance. They fixed that and sent us on our way. Total time? Less then 30 minutes. Cost? Nothing. When I reminded Neal we did not purchase the tires that were balanced from them, he said there was no charge because we are Discount Tire customers. WOW. Thanks Discount Tires.

Our journey today was a short 120 miles from Macon, GA to Augusta, GA. We headed North East on GA 49 to Milledgeville, then GA 22 to Sparta, GA 16 to Warrenton, and finally GA 80 to I-20. From there it was a short drive to Heritage Mobile Home and RV Park on the West side of Augusta.

 

 

I can assure you I had both hands on the steering wheel when I took these photos. The drive reminded me of driving through the Piney Woods of East Texas. 

We got settled into our site, rested for a bit then went forging for food. We found a place called The Chop House which is located in the Augusta Mall just down the street from us. I opted for the Chop House Chops and Carol went for the Petite Pork Chops. I did not get a photo of hers but here is my plate.

Carol gave me her Parmesan Creamed Spinach (YUM). The small cup next to the baked sweat potato was a dipping sauce for the chop made from apple, mustard, and orange zest. It may sound weird but it sure was tasty. I do not normally order pork chop because most of the time the chops are dry. My chop was juicy and tasty. Carol's was OK. Service was quick and good. I would recommend this place to others.

After dinner, Carol went for a mani in the mall while I went for jeans at Tractor Supply and diesel for the truck. Paid $3.99 tonight. Seems like the further we get from Texas the more the fuel cost.

Tomorrow we have to be out of here early so to avoid mingling with the morning traffic, we will pull trailer into the shopping mall parking lot down the street and walk to Starbucks for a heart healthy bowl of oatmeal. Tomorrow destination is Florence South Carolina.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dodged a Chair

Today's journey started with breakfast in the RV. Sorry no photos. We split a Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit - YUM. I had a nuked Jimmy Dean sausage/egg biscuit and Carol had her special cheese toast. After the monster rib dinner last night we decide to keep it simple this morning.

We hit the road about 10:30. Beautiful blue sky, bright sunshine and a cool 57 degrees. We made a short trip around the southern part of Montgomery so we cold make a Starbucks stop before the 200 mile trip to Macon, GA. By 11:00, we were on I-65 headed N.E. Nothing about this leg of the trip struck me as really special. We did notice there was a Hyundai plant in Montgomery. I bet you did not know that as of Jan 2011, Hyundai was the 4th largest manufacturer of cars by volume in the world and the largest ship builder in the world. Interesting info.
   
The roads were pretty empty of traffic. I thought that was odd since today is Saturday. Once I begin to see church parking lots filled with cars, I realized that today is Sunday. Light traffic is always a good thing.
   
We did encounter a couple of odd things while on the road today. From a distance, this vehicle looked like a home made RV. The closer we got, the more I began to think, "I sure hope that guy has this thing tied down well." I can understand this transport occurring on a Sunday and not a Saturday.
   
The other odd thing we encountered on the road today was a chair. Not just any old chair, but a real nice arm chair. This chair was not laying along the side of the road either. The arm chair was sitting perfectly on all four feet smack in the middle of the right lane on I-75 just south of Macon. Remember the light traffic I mentioned earlier. Once I got on I-75 in Byron and headed north too Macon, the traffic picked up considerable. Lots of folks going back home from the weekend. I noticed the vehicle in front of me abruptly swerved into the left lane. There in front of me, directly in the center of my lane was a lone arm chair. At this point I wondered if I could stop 21,000 pounds in the short distance remaining. Nope - not gonna happen. I check my left side and found the middle lane clear so I went left. Maybe not as abruptly as the vehicle in front of me but certainly more abruptly than I cared to. As I passed the chair, I glanced back and saw other cars swerving just as I did. About a half mile down the road, we saw a pickup on the shoulder of the interstate backing up. The truck had two oversized furniture pieces in the bed. Carol said, "Looks like he is going back to get his chair." I just wondered what fool would drive down the interstate with furniture just sitting in the bed of a pickup not securely tied down. Then I began to get that sick feeling in my stomach over the thought that someone is going to get seriously hurt because of the chair. 

We dodged a storm the other day, and today we dodged a chair. Thank you God for protecting us, giving me space to move into adjacent lane, and clarity to react in time to avoid a catastrophic accident. A few moments later we arrived at our Passport America destination, the Al Sihah Shrine Park in South Macon. The park is very quiet but the sites need much improvements. Example, the sewer connection in the ground is higher than the drain on the RV. That is not a problem for an overnight stop since we are not loading up our tanks tonight.

We ventured into town for dinner and found O'Charlie's  We split a menu entre and added their Twisted Chips with Spicy White Queso appetizer. If you've never been to O'Charlie's, we can say you should. Prices are reasonable, food is good and service is quick.
   
Tomorrow we head to Augusta, GA. Thanks for stopping by.

MacRib Attack

WHOA! Let's back this horse up a bit. I'll tell you about the ribs later. Breakfast comes before dinner so I'll start there. We decided to get a hearty breakfast this morning so we could skip lunch and arrive in Montgomery, AL a little earlier. While we certainly could have gone back to the Foley Coffee Shop, we wanted to try a new place. Darrell/Judy from Wandering America suggested Mom and Pop's in Silverhills just up the road a bit. They had not been there so they could only say they heard it was good.
   
We took off for Silverhills and easily found Mom & Pop's. The first indication that we made a good choice was the parking was almost full. We walked in and found a country motif that certainly fit the area. They even had a rather large stuffed alligator mounted on one of the walls. The folks seated at the table were talking to each other as if they knew everyone. I imagine they did. We got seated and looked at the menu. My eye focused on my breakfast - a Peanut Butter Waffle.
   
That's right, a waffle (4 squares) slathered with peanut butter. This is how I like my waffles sometimes so that was my choice. And the verdict? Breakfast was great. Carol had scrambled eggs and grits. That also was a good choice. We now have another spot to visit the next time we are at the Plantation. Thank you Darrell/Judy.

After breakfast, we headed back to the Plantation to hitch up the trailer. We got everything closed up, hitched up, and paid up. A special thanks to Fred and Delores for allowing us to park on their side yard for a couple of nights. We look forward to a return visit. We pulled out of the Plantation about 10:30AM with clear skies and high 40's. Drove east on County Road 28, then turned north on AL 59 aiming for I-65 to Montgomery.
   
Yes, I had both hands on the steering wheel when I took that photo. Carol was napping and I did not want to bother her. We arrived at Montgomery South RV Park about 2:00PM. The is a small park a few miles south of Montgomery. They have friendly staff and very clean facility. We are in site #1. No special "IT" factor. I-65 is nearby so the highway noise can be a factor if you want a real quiet park.
   
After getting set up and dogs walked, we decided to head to town for dinner. We were told the best place in town was Dreamland BBQ. Their specialty? Ribs! Now coming from Texas, I have my doubts about good BBQ outside of Texas. I know the Food Channel talks about all the great BBQ in places outside of Texas.
   
The ribs were very good, not the best but still good. The ribs are served on a dish cut into individual ribs which makes for easy eating. Some of the ribs were a bit dry, not as moist as I would prefer. The sauce had just the right amount of kick. We finished off diner with a very good banana pudding that had a good mix of ingredients. When we got back to RV, we let the dogs run a bit then settled in for the evening.
  
By the time I finished the blog, Qianna was in doggy dream land.
   
Thanks for stopping by.

Dodged a Bullet

Today we dodged a bullet, or should I say a storm. When were in Giddings, TX last week, we decided that we spend an extra day at the Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL. Today is that extra day. Today is the day we would have been on the road at the time a major storm would make it's way across the Southeastern states. We would have been in the middle of a storm system that brought heavy rain, strong winds and tornado warnings to the region. Here is the storm report from the weather channel.  Fortunate for us, God's providence kept us safe today. Instead of traveling, we took a day of R and R. On recommendation from Darrell/Judy from Wandering America , we went to breakfast at the Foley Coffee Shop.


Stepping into the front door is like stepping back in time. The small cafe has an open kitchen with bar style counter on the left, one row of tables in the center, and a row of booths on the right. Folks are friendly, food is great and service will assure satisfaction. Next we headed to Walgreen's to refill a prescription. They said to check back in about 1 hour. Let's see, I think we will go to Walmart. Bought a lock that we needed, forgot the long extension power strip we really needed. Then fueled up at $3.89 at Dodge's. They sell fuel and Fried Chicken - must be a southern thing. While fueling, a fella there said the folks up on I-10 were getting hit pretty hard from the storm. Made me thankful for our day of R and R. Got back to Walgreen's and waited a few more minutes before meds were ready. Drove through some light sprinkles as we headed back to the Plantation. We walked Cody & Qianna. Then waited a few minutes for Darrell and Judy to come by. We originally planned a breakfast with them. They had errands to run first so we agreed on lunch instead. They would drive us to Fairhope, AL. Lunch would be at Panini Pete's, one of those Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives places. Panini Pete's is located in the French Quarter area of downtown Fairhope.
  
I had their Junkyard Dog Chicago Style hotdog with a site of Frites while Carol had a bowl of Cream of Cauliflower soup with a side of home made chips. Food was very good.
  
Joining us for lunch were Mike and Peggy who blog at Maineiacsinmotion. We enjoyed a great meal with our new friends. That is Mike and Peggy on the left. Judy and Darrell are across the table.
  
After we got back to the Plantation, we stopped by Darrell and Judy's home to meet, Alex and Katie. They were not sure of us humans intruding on their space but they soon got over that. Carol and Judy chatted about Judy's quilting and crafting corner while Darrel and I chatted about the tech stuff. Then we walked over to our home so they could meet our fur babies and get the grand tour of our home. It was an enjoyable afternoon meeting new friends putting real faces on bloggers we read.


We decided we needed to get the laundry done before we leave on Saturday. We do have a small washer/dryer in our home but sometimes it is just quicker to sit for a couple of hours in a laundromat. OOPS, where are our quarters. While Carol got the wash started with the quarters we had in our pockets, I walked over to the Plantation office to get change. Carol read and I worked on this posting. The dryer has stopped and Carol said it was time for me to fold. I'll be right back.

Clothes are folded and put away. Carol and I have a hunger for Pizza. We could do something safe like Pizza Hut but that is not our style. Time to find a local pizzeria and hope for success. We found Papa's Pizza. OK, they area a chain pizzeria. They have a few stores. They were new to us so they qualified as "a place we have not been to before". Our Rocky Marciano pizza was very good. The kind of good that produces a WOW when you get that first bite. Take a look. If you have a monitor with smell-o-vision, you will understand.
  
We are finally back home now, rested from a busy day. Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow we head for Montgomery, AL. Who knows what will find there.

Sweet Home Alabama

We have traveled 823 miles since leaving Taft, Tx 6 days ago. It was time for a break so we planned two nights at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Al. When we rolled in around 1:30, the office told us there where no available sites other than dry camping. Dry camping means no water, no electricity, no sewer. While we can certainly dry camp, that is not something we are ready to do just yet. Not sure our batteries would power our toys. We knew where Darrell and Judy were parked so we pulled up at their site hoping they would have a solution. They were not home, so we called. Sure enough, they suggested driving through a couple of residential streets here and look for residents who have "For Rent" signs hanging on their lot. This means they rent a site or two next to their home. We called the first "For Rent" we found and left a message. Drove a little further down the road and Carol knocked on the door of another resident with a For Rent sign. The resident came out with Carol and pointed to a spot on their side yard. Next thing I know, we have a spot for a couple of nights for a nominal fee plus electricity thanks to cool couple from Wisconsin, Fred and Deloris. I had to back into the side yard doing a little "S" maneuver while backing. Thirty minutes later, we were set up, at least on the outside.
  

As we looked at the inside, we decide we would go get a bite to eat first. We chatted with Darrell for a bit. He suggested Big Daddy's Grill. While this place was not one of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins or Dives, it certainly could be. The food was absolutely amazing. And we did not get anything fancy. Carol got the Chicken Strip Basket with Sweat Potato Fries while I had Fried Oysters with Onion Rings. What made this simple meal amazing? Everything was freshly made - nothing frozen. Pretty cool. Big Daddy's was a big hit.
  
Next, Carol and I went to Camping World. There were a few things we have been talking about getting for our home. We walked out of there after spending less than $200. That's pretty good considering how easy it would be to spend a bunch. Plus our Good Sam's Club membership qualifies us for a nice discount on all purchases. When we got back home, we had to do something about the inside. Every time we pack up to get on the road, we need to move our recliners and the stuff we normally have on the floor behind them. Notice how the recliners are positioned against the back wall.

We had been discussing switching the recliners with the sewing center. Tonight was the night that was going to happen. Now there is not much space in our home to do a major furniture shuffle so it was pretty crowded for a while. Patches even went into hiding in the bedroom. After getting stuff switched around, we even rotated our dining room table so we have more room coming into the living area.




So what do you think? We will know in a few days if this works for us. The main advantage for switching the recliners to the slide is we do not need to move much stuff when we close up the RV. It is supposed to be stormy tonight maybe. At least that is the way the weather guy described it. We'll know for sure in the morning. Planning to treat Darrell and Judy to breakfast. In addition to chatting with Darrell and Judy, we will get the second half of our trip planned. Saturday AM we head out again.

Thanks for stopping by.

On With The Adventure

Continuing from our last post where we arrived at South Forty RV Park in Giddings. Jacquy/Raye, my brother and sis-in-law, came up from their farm in Burton on Saturday 2/18. While the weather was wet and dreary, their visit perked things up a bit. We also had a visit from our eldest daughter Michele and her son Jayson. We enjoyed Murhpy's Steak House so much on Friday, we went back for lunch. After a long leisurely lunch, we headed back to South Forty RV Park. Weather was just too drizzly to enjoy the outdoors. After saying, "See ya later." to my brother, we settled down for the evening. Michele and Jayson were planning to stay the night. Four hundred square feet of living space plus an active 2 y.o. whose napping schedule has been turned upside down makes for a big challenge for Mommy. No matter how hard Mommy an d G'Mee tried to get that boy to go to sleep, Jayson was just not cooperating. So, around 11PM, Michele and Jayson headed back to their home in Houston. About 10 minutes after they left, Jayson was playing with Mr. Sandman.

Sunday the sun broke through the clouds. What a relief and what a beautiful day. We met Jimmie/Ollie, Carol's aunt/uncle, at FBC. Following the worship service, we enjoyed lunch and chat at Subway. We got caught up on family happenings and had a chance to share a bit more about our adventure. Back at our home again, we saw signs that the Cedar Creek RV Owner folks (Harold, Ray, John, Jerry, Pete and their wives) were congregating around the fire ring. We were invited to join them for an impromptu brown bag supper so we did. After eating and cleaning up, we sat around the fire contemplating solutions to all the world problems. I am sure our elected officials would be interested in a transcript of that conversation. No, Carol is not scolding them here.


Monday we packed up, hitched up and headed out with Carol at the wheel. We waved to all as we drove off. Followed US Highway 290 to Brenham. Drove through town to connect with TX Highway 105 north to Navasota. From there, we took TX Highway 90 to Roans Prairie, then TX Highway 30 to Huntsville. Time for a lunch break so we parked next to J.C. Penney's in a shopping mall. Connected to US Highway 190 in Huntsville and headed for Livingston, then took TX Highway 146 south to Rainbow's End - an Escapee RV park on the south end of Livingston. This is where we have our permanent address. We got set up and went to town to get supplies to build the penthouse floor for Patches. No comments about dinner because it was not worth talking about. Behind the glass window is our mailbox.
 
Tuesday we packed up again. (We are getting good at packing up). The Escapee's park was conducting a trailer weigh-in from 8-10AM. We had no idea how much our new home weighs and that is something all RVer's need to know. So, we got on the scales. Randy and Chris were the official weighers.


First we weighed the truck with no trailer attached, then with trailer attached, we weighted the truck and trailer. I will get our numbers posted later. We are OK on the weight. Just need to do a little rearranging to redistribute the weight better. Got away from Rainbow's End around 11:30M. Weather was sunny and temperature at 60 degrees. GPS took us through some nice quiet back roads away from the congestion and traffic.


Stopped in Vidor, TX for lunch at What-A-Burger. Tricky part was parking. What-A-Burger does not have any RV parking. So I found a large lot behind FBC Vidor that had hook ups for 10 RVs.
  
After walking the fur babies we walked a few blocks to What-A-Burger. After a short break, we continued on I-10. Crossed into Louisiana at 1:45PM. Pulled into Frog City RV Park a short while later.
  
After getting nested, we hunted for cheap fuel. (If you have not used Gas Buddy on your smart phone, you should because it works.) Next on the agenda was finding a restaurant that served Alligator Po-boys. We found a place close (Fezzo's) but they were closed due to Fat Tuesday celebrations. So was Chief Roy's. We ended up at Randol's in south Lafayette. Of course they were in party mode due to Fat Tuesday. Sadly, the food and service was not at all what we had expected.

Wednesday we hit the road about 10:20 with cloudy skies with temperature at 67 degrees. Carol is driving the 200+ miles today. Other than cloudy skies with a light drizzle, and a very bumpy interstate that felt like driving on a washboard, nothing exciting was going on. Then we hit the Atchafalaya Swamp.  Interstate 10 crosses the swamp on elevated pillars on a continuous 18.2 mile bridge from Grosse Tete, Louisiana, to Henderson, Louisiana, near at the Whiskey River Pilot Channel.
  
Next came the granddaddy of all rivers. the might Mississippi. Of course traffic was getting heavy as we approached the bridge to cross the river. Carol does not like driving in this kind of traffic at all. She did fine and kept her cool.


 
Sorry for the blurry images. It is hard to take a decent photo when the vehicle is moving and bucking at the same time. Next Carol has to get in the correct lane to be sure we are in position to make the switch to I-12. She made it with nerves intact.
  
Of course I am helping with my super navigational skills.
  
Time for potty break so Carol pulled off at I-65 into Petro Truck Stop and parked next to another traveler.


Cody and Qianna took a little walk as well. Here they are nestled back in their spaces with Patches in the penthouse.


Shortly after that, we crossed one more state line and are now in Mississippi.
  
Twenty-eight miles into Mississippi, we are ready to head for our destination, Magic River Resort near Long Beach.  I made the mistake of programming the GPS incorrectly and had to do a little fancy navigation to get our RV out of a tight spot. Yes, the stress level kick up a notch. We got parked and nested quickly. This is our first 30A connection which works just fine.
  
We hit a home run for dinner. The original plan was for Fried Shrimp in Gulf Port. I searched for restaurants featured on Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We selected Darwell's Cafe in Long Beach. We shared a Crab Cake Entrée with sides of Crawfish Étouffée and Shrimp Creole. For dessert, we had an Apple Bottom Brownie and a Peanut Brownie. This place had the best food since Murphy's in Giddings. Take a look.
  
Thursday we have a short drive to Rainbow Plantation. This is another Escapee park in Summerdale, AL. Here we are going to meet Darrell and Judy Patterson from Wandering America . We have been following them on their travel blog for over 5 years now. We planing on spending two nights there.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoy the journey as much as we are.