On Seeing Old Friends and Familiar Places

After saying "Bye for now" to David and family in San Antonio, we made for one of our favorite seashore areas and said "Hi" to old friends Jay and Buffy and Dusty and Janet (see previous post.) Then it was on to Conroe, a familiar stop in this northern suburb of Houston, to see an allergist in an effort to get to the bottom of my breathing problems (to great success.) Then we made for Abita Springs, Louisiana, determined to do our part for the economy of the Gulf Coast.

For much of our married life (which is really "for most of our whole life") New Orleans has been our favorite city - especially the Royal Sonesta Hotel (such a gorgeous lobby.) Since our first time here on a long weekend with friends in the late '60's (the hotel had just opened,) to a destination for a boat delivery, to a stop on our own boat, to a couple of special anniversaries, we have always enjoyed the hotel and party atmosphere in the French Quarter (regardless of the time of day,) and tours through the Garden District, or the travels to the ante bellum homes along the river (by car or riverboat,) or just enjoying the Cajun and Creole cuisine of south Louisiana.

We have a membership park in this north shore (of Lake Ponchartrain) village. This is our third time to Abita Springs, but our first opportunity to make the trip into "the city." The first time it was cold weather. The second it was right after hurricane Ike in '08, and things were flooded here.

It's a 45-mile drive, mostly on the Ponchartrain Causeway (in the background here.) We went early (9AM is early for us) so we could enjoy beignets (can you say "ben-yea") and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde in the French Market across the street from Jackson Square. In one of life's little ironies, no beignets because the fryer had caught fire the previous night and wasn't in operation yet.

But we loved walking around the Quarter - not very crowded, but it's not exactly the height of tourist season - and had a marvelous lunch of oysters, shrimp, and muffaletta at the Sonesta's oyster bar.

We wanted to make a side trip to Venice to see some of the oil spill action. But the 250-mile trip and storm threats put a damper on that idea.

                                                  GOD BLESS LOUISIANA

Then it was on to the Mississippi coast to spread more cheer. We stayed at a very pretty park in Pass Christian that's part of our network. We were worried that we had brought another tropical storm with us here, but fortunately Bonnie fizzled. Beautiful beaches being cared for by an army of clean-up workers (never saw any tar balls,) and good food here and in Gulfport (even though much of the seafood came from Texas waters,) and, of course, a little gaming at the Beau Rivage Casino (really first class - the nicest one we've seen outside of Vegas, itself,) in Biloxi.

We also said "Hi" to cruising friend Ginny Loehr, now working at the library, part of a recently completed municipal complex,  destroyed by Katrina five years ago. Over thirty historical mansions here in town were swept away in the storm surge, only their foundations remaining. Tragic.

At a nice War (WWII) Memorial park, there are carvings made by a noted Gulf Coast sculptor from the remains of old live oaks done in by Katrina. One was in memory of the father of Robin Roberts (she of Good Morning America,) in honor of his contribution to the welfare of the community (as well as his WWII contributions as a Tuskeegee airman.)

The memorial to lives lost in Katrina was next to the one for lives lost during Camille, considerably worse on the Gulf Coast.

Finally, on our way to Orlando, we made an overnight stop in the Tallahassee area.  When the title of this blog entry says "Old Friends" we don't REALLY mean old. We do have friends who haven't even retired yet. With many of them, we've developed lifelong friendships through our children. Such is the case with the Donaldson family. Lisa, Gary, and daughter Haley were BFF's (before we even knew what BFF meant) with our daughter Shannon and her family in Plantation, FL. Over six years ago, the Donaldson's moved to Tallahassee, and Jan and I have remained close to them ever since.

Now Haley is thirteen and a young women, Lisa has gotten her Masters at FSU, and Gary continues toiling as a consultant at state offices. It was great to get caught up with them during a short visit and dinner.






Now we'll kick back for awhile in central Florida as we plan our next moves. 'Course, the Mickey Mouse Club is only 10 miles away.....