A New Direction

Hey y’all … it’s been a while!  We’ve been out doing stuff (eating),  and work has been keeping me ‘entertained’ way more than usual.  But in the midst of it all I managed to get another post ready, so here’s what’s been happening.

At this point I’m happy to say, that I’m sad to say, that we’ve passed our furthest east location and have done an about face with The Enterprise, beginning our trek back to AZ.  It’s not that we even wanted to turn around, but it seems that if you don’t book a good spot in Florida a year in advance, you’re SOL as they say.  Those damn snow birds perch in all the good spots and park their shiny RVs for the winter in the sunny glow of Florida’s palm treed parks, where afternoon naps are on the scheduled activity list and restaurants close by 7 pm.  As these two birds have just hatched and haven’t fully spread our wings, we found it was already too late to book spots in Florida, so for now … Westward Ho!  

That doesn’t mean we’re through with this journey though!  There are plenty of stops left before basking in our AZ sun by the pool, and we’ve seen and done (ate) so much in the last month there’s plenty to write about.  So here goes.  (Please fingers, type about something other than food for a change!).  

Panama City

Our furthest most East stop was Panama City, Florida.  Home of more pristine white sand beaches, great seafood (here we go with the food again), and flat tires, this was one final hoorah on the gulf coast.  Beach walks were plenty, shrimp were sacrificed, and an entire day was spent trying to replace two tires (turned out to be just one) on the Jeep that sucked up a nail.  That little experience made me realize that custom rims with hard to find tires may not be a good choice for traveling.  Luckily one place it town had them and got us on our way by closing time.  We both felt like Panama City had a home town feel – if our home town was on the ocean and had elaborate put-put golf courses everywhere.  But running around doing errands just seemed normal somehow and our time wasn’t spent doing touristy things as much as just doing life.  

Mardi Gras celebrations (or Carnival) were beginning around this time, and just up the road from where we stayed was a premier location for that.  Pier Park in Panama City Beach is several blocks of shops, restaurants, and a ferris wheel in a neat little setting with piped in music and uniformed professionals trying to sell you tickets to things you don’t want, like Vegas.  Mardi Gras floats full of the classic purple, green and gold beads were being prepped for the evening parades, where they would be handed out by the ‘Krewes’ represented by each float.  The Guess Who (didn’t know those guys were still alive) were performing in the adjacent amphitheater making it a pinnacle perfect party.  (It’s alliteration – “learn a book Seth”).  

In Gulf Coast towns, Carnival is celebrated for weeks before the actual Mardi Gras day.  It was interesting to be there during that time and learn more about the tradition of Fat Tuesday and all the associated parts of the celebration.  King Cake is a good example:  A pastry cake decorated in Mardi Gras colors, usually with a plastic baby in it!  This has to do with the biblical story of the Three Wisemen and the Baby Jesus.  Seems like a great reason to me to have cake! (Yes, more food talk).  Also, there is Rex, who is the King of the New Orleans Carnival, and the Zulu King, who both arrive by boat the day before Mardi Gras, on Monday – Lundi Gras. I feel these last two may be less about the tradition and more about thinking of ways to pour another shot, but that’s just me.  Actually, that probably is the tradition!

Revisiting Louisiana

On the weekend before the big Gras (French for fat) days, we drove over the nearly 30 mile bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain and took a whirlwind car tour of New Orleans.  I doesn’t seem possible to get claustrophobic in a wide open area, but about half way over that bridge where there is nothing but water around you, and you’re not in a boat, this feeling might present itself just a bit!  But I figured they wouldn’t have charged us a toll if it wasn’t safe, so onward we ventured until we hit dry land on the other side.  We knew NOLA should really be a pedestrian visit, but opted to just drive through this time after reading about the speed in which a car can be stripped to nothing but frame while the driver is off enjoying the town.  Most roads were blocked getting ready for the parades, but driving down Canal Street and seeing the famous side roads (woohoo – Bourbon Street!) packed with people getting ready for bead throwing was good enough for us this time around, and our pups got to see it all as well.  We will definitely go back when we don’t have to find a parking place and can join the crowds on foot.  And at this rate, I should be able to collect a LOT of beads!  🤣

Logic dictates that with my brother and his wife heading East in their massive 5th Wheel, and us heading in the other direction in The Enterprise on the same interstate, our paths would have to cross.  That did happen in the crawfish capital of the US – Breaux Bridge, LA.  We spent a week together in this little town and had a Cajun good time.  Apparently Breaux Bridge is the pioneer town of mud-bug eating, and after watching other tables at a local restaurant (Crawfish Town USA) devour buckets of the critters, it was time for us to learn what it was all about.  (Food talk yet again!)  After ordering a couple pounds of these little freshwater lobsters, our waitress brought the platter to our table and I don’t know how, but she recognized we weren’t from around those parts.  She even had the gall to ask us if we knew how to peel and eat the darned things!  We admitted her correct assessment, but showing her Southern hospitality with a quick demo, we were soon twisting those heads off, sucking the tasty fat out and eating the scrumptious tail.  During this feast it occurred to me that there could be no way of sustaining this habit, and I wondered how hundreds of pounds of these little delicacies could be consumed by those higher on the food chain each day.  I didn’t get an answer … until we were leaving Louisiana and drove back along Highway 10.  This time, I realized that what we thought were rice fields the first time through, were actually miles upon miles of crawfish farms.  Remember how I said this region is all water?  Well it’s put to use growing ‘seafood’ Let.Me.Tell.You!  And what good food it turns out to be!

If you’re ever in these parts, high on your list should be a tour of one of the bayous.  Our Cajun Swamp Tour definitely ranks within the top 1 of our whole trip.  Heading out on Lake Martin just Southwest of Breaux Bridge for a 3 hour tour (divided by 2) with a true Cajun who grew up on the lake was fascinating, breath taking, and I would go so far as to say … really FUN!  We learned of the history of the lake and how French and Native American terms blend together to describe features of the ecosystem that aren’t well known to us Wikipedia research artists, all while viewing wildlife in numbers we didn’t expect.  The back-waters are teaming with alligators of all sizes.  Sunning, swimming, sometimes bellowing, and posing for pictures, you likely won’t see this many gators at once anywhere else in the US.  Several species of colorful birds, as well as snakes, turtles, (maybe a few bugs bouncing off your head) and beautiful Cypress and Tupelo trees rooted underwater and draped with Spanish Moss make this into a scene from a fantasy movie.  But it’s not The Bog of Eternal Stench, more like the Moors in Maleficent.  (Yes, I’m that much of a nerd).

Sweet Home Alabama

This is out of order, but we did have one more great stop in Alabama that’s worth mentioning.  We spent several days in a quaint little town called Fairhope.  Like many gulf towns, Fairhope has a small French Quarter and celebrates the Carnival with the best of them, but the small town appeal is what we loved about it.  One thing I forgot to mention since getting here is that the entire Gulf has a TV channel much like you’d see at an up-scale resort, where they feature all the fun things to do there.  But in the gulf, the ‘Beach TV’ channel shows the best of the best across the whole thing.  One story on the channel was all about a restaurant (really, food again?) and interviewed the owners and chef which are one and the same.  It caught our attention because we love to find eclectic farm to table places that get creative with what they can get locally, and this was one of those.  It had a strange name that we remembered – Thyme on Section, which didn’t make any sense to us, but as we were walking down Section Street in Fairhope – we noticed the restaurant and recalled the TV feature.  Obviously we just had to stop there, and it did not disappoint!  In addition to the wait staff seating us, making our drinks, and maybe even cooking the meal (not really, but staffing shortages plague the country thanks to … COVID?  No, but … kind of.  I digress.)  Food was outstanding.  Greg with the boudin stuffed quail, andouille sausage, collard greens and marmalade, Tami with the special – swordfish, wild mushrooms, and some other cool stuff we don’t remember!  I can say we were way too full for desert.

Since my damned fingers just keep going on about the food, there’s one more thing they want to bring up – and that was the fried ribs at Bones and Barrel in Fairhope.  Yes, fried and ribs do go together, and quite wonderfully at that.  OK – enough of the food talk.  How about a drink?

Bourbon and Chocolate, Minus the Chocolate

I found a nice Louisiana bourbon that’s definitely worth a mention, but I doubt you’ll find it at your local boozery.  Actually, you might, but not with this label.  So I feel I may have been scammed a little with this one, but I’m not going to complain (or just a little).  This bottle of Penelope Bourbon, Louisiana Select Toasted Series clocks in at a respectable 113.6%.  That’s high enough to give it the strong vanilla and caramel flavors we love in a good bourbon, but the ‘toasted’ label gave me pause.  I don’t like the burnt aftertaste that bountiful bourbons boast (did it again!), but this one doesn’t befuddle the bite with bitterness.  It’s a smooth operator from start to finish.  BUT, as I did a little research after the purchase, it seems our bottle of Louisiana bourbon is distilled in Indian, and I think they add a state label to make it seem local to the seller.  I liked the bourbon, but I wouldn’t buy again due to the f__kery.  (Insert your favorite vowel / consonant combination.  There are lots)!

Another movie

I’ll finish off with a little footage from the road, the swamp, and some great Cajun music.  Louisiana, and the gulf coast in general, hold a special place in our hearts, and certainly our digestive systems.  Maybe it’s a good thing we waited until this stage of our lives to visit, perhaps we appreciate it a bit more now than we would have.  But as we reminisce on these last weeks and hope it won’t be too long until we return, we look forward to each day closing the distance to the AZ homestead.  We also wonder what kind of restlessness this journey has instilled in our wandering hearts.  Time will tell!

Wishing you all happy trails!

-G&T