Where would you start when heading East from California?
Las Vegas !!
Actually some very good friends of ours were rehearsing their new comedy/mentalist show “The Strangeminds” at the Four Queens Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. The show was conceived, written and produced by Wesley Eure so there was no way we could miss the birth of his new project. Tommi Rose and Brent Webb were the stars and, although the first day was a little rough, by the second day they had a really funny, interesting show.
We stayed at the Four Queens in downtown Las Vegas for the first time and got to explore where we had not been before. At the Golden Nugget they have an indoor shark tank that you can look at while playing blackjack. Not to mention the great Fremont Street experience of the overhead light show.
Next stop was Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. On the way there we actually travelled alongside the fabled Route 66. Sorry to say that most of it has fallen into disrepair, with businesses boarded up and even those open look a little the worse for wear. Restaurants and coffee shops had names like “Roadkill Café” with menu items such as “unknown meat sandwich !” Anything to keep the tourists interested!
What is there to say about one of the wonders of the world! We arrived at the Grand Canyon, which was the first time Jann had seen it. It truly is an amazing sight that has to be seen in person to appreciate the size of it. It was a little chilly and there was snow on the side of the road but the weather we had was perfect. We toured the length of the south rim, stopping at the Indian roadside businesses and seeing a deer come right up to the care. We circulated some $ to the Navajo Indians when we purchased some handmade jewelry.
Continuing east we went through New Mexico, only stopping for an overnight at one of the original motels on Route 66 in Tucumcari. We had plans to stop in Albuquerque to visit Jann’s long-time friend, Jan Borra, but she was having some family issues with her daughter so we did not think it advisable to stop.
Through the panhandle of Texas, where we had a brief coffee stop with Richard Brown’s mom (Dee) and stepdad (Mike) and then continued south to Dallas.
In Dallas we had a really nice stay with Jann’s cousin, Tom Maxim and his wife Charlotte. Now its Jann’s turn to take over the narrative…
My mother (Anna Mae) and Tom’s mother (Lou Emma) were sisters so therefore we are first cousins. Tom and Charlotte have two adult kids—named Chris and Elyse. Elyse is married to Joe and they have a daughter named Natalie who is three years old. Chris has a girlfriend and we ALL went out to dinner on the second evening together to a great steak house.
The visit went very well but my cousin has difficulty getting around. Charlotte, Elyse and Natalie were full of life, were easy to talk with, made us feel extremely comfortable and they were gracious hosts. Elyse took us on a tour of Dallas including Daly Plaza and the Texas Book Depository where JFK was assassinated. It is a lot smaller area than it looks on video with a very small grassy knoll and not a very wide road. She also took us by Southfork Ranch where they shot scenes for the original “Dallas” TV show and are shooting for the current version. We had a great visit with them.
My mother and grandmother were killed in a car accident going to the funeral of another family member. Tom’s mother (Aunt Lou Emma) was supposed to go but at the last minute could not. That was most fortunate for their family. Aunt Lou Emma had three sons and Tom is the only son still alive.
Because my mother did not marry a Catholic, when she died the church would not allow her to be buried next to her mother, my grandmother, who also had died in the accident. Aunt Lou Emma was my godmother and gave me my first (and only) rosary at my confirmation.
Tom mentioned to me that the church has changed some of their stringent rules and wanted to know if I wanted him to ask “the church” if my mother could now be buried next to her mother. It was not a foregone conclusion that the church would allow this. I talked with my sister, Linda, and we both agreed that too much time has passed and we weren’t interested in moving our mother! My opinion of organized religion stems from this very personal experience and I still have no interest in things religious!
Back to Patricia……
San Antonio was our next stop. I had visited San Antonio on my original cross country trip in 1967 but Jann hadn’t seen the Alamo, our first stop. For me it was like returning to a place you knew as a child – it wasn’t anything like I remembered it – much smaller. I did learn an interesting fact that I didn’t know before, eleven Englishmen were killed at the Alamo. Very interesting tour explaining how Texas was once part of Mexico and was once it’s own country – which explains a lot about Texas attitude.
We both enjoyed the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We took a boat ride down the San Antonio River through some of the older, renovated architecture and local cafes and bars teeming with lots of activity--beautiful part of the city.
Our journey east took us through the swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana (on I-10) which, in their own way, are quite picturesque. We made it to New Orleans for a two-night stay right in the heart of the French Quarter at the Prince Conti on Conti St. We met up with a friend of Aunt Treasa’s we had met earlier in Florida, Eric Widholm, who took us on a tour of the bars along Bourbon Street. Jazz and zydeco music can be heard from many of the bars.
Unfortunately, the famous Bourbon Street is really quite sleazy. The buildings are missing bricks, the roads have potholes but the businesses clean in front of their stores every morning. The goal of everyone on the street at night (closed to cars) seems to be to get as drunk as possible. Interspersed among the bars are “Gentlemen’s Clubs” with the “hostesses” (aka hookers) standing in the doorways showing potential clients their “wares” and soliciting business. Not family friendly!
One of the bars, Pat O’Briens, has a piano bar with two pianos that was fun. Their signature drink is called a “hurricane” and believe me it will blow you off your seat!! It’s made with about five or six different types of alcohol. Jann had one in the spirit of being in New Orleans! Oh, the sacrifices she makes but someone has to do it!
The following day we went on the paddleboat, “Natchez,” down the Mississippi and saw some of the remaining areas that have not yet recovered
from hurricane Katrina, e.g. the 9th Ward. New Orleans is a working port so there is very little beauty along the shoreline but the size of the Mississippi River and the amount of business traffic conducted by the working boats and barges is impressive. Domino sugar factory is still operating and can be seen from the Natchez. The day was beautiful with the sun shining and it was a wonderful experience and a great perspective of New Orleans.
A visit to the casino proved unproductive but it is a very large one right downtown by where you get off the Natchez. We took a trolley ride too--$1.50 gets you around the city.
After visiting the French Quarter flea market, we stopped at Café Dumond for the traditional beignet, a puffed donut with powdered sugar on the top. Next time we will go to Café Beignet where the beignets are made to order.
Then a walk through the art district where we enjoyed the unique architecture, visited some of the small shops and finished up with a fabulous dinner at one of the great small restaurants we found. We also walked by Cokie Roberts mother’s home, ex-congresswoman Lindy Boggs, who still lives in the French Quarter.
Before we left New Orleans the next day, Jann took a cooking class and made shrimp etouffe, crayfish gumbo and chocolate pralines. The class ate what they made and it was all absolutely delicious. She purchased two bottles of seasonings sold at the school so there will be more southern dishes made in the future.
Finally we arrived in Florida, staying our first night in the panhandle area and visiting the great beaches at Destin, which are on the Gulf of Mexico. The sand is very white and the finest grains of sand I have seen. There are beautiful beaches in Ft. Walton Beach and Panama City. We were out of season so there were no snowbirds and no one on the beaches. We stopped in Destin for lunch on the beach and our waiter said that their season was in the summer. Who goes to Florida in the summer but apparently they do!
We crossed the state to the Atlantic Ocean side and spent a day in the oldest, continually inhabited city in America, St. Augustine. We decided to take the trolley tour that allowed us to get on and off and explore various areas. We checked out the old main street shopping area, the fort, the Flagler Museum and of course the Fountain of Youth.
We also visited a store from around the early 1900’s. What was interesting was that all the merchandise was authentic inventory that had been ordered and stored in a warehouse until it was recovered and placed in the old store to replicate the original.
One tin of biscuits on the shelf was “Carrs of Carlisle” – my hometown in the UK where Carr’s Biscuits was one of the biggest employers in the area. Small world! They also had a cabinet of kitchen supplies that people took with them in the wagons when they travelled. We could have used that for our trip; it would have been very efficient.
And one other picture that we took in St. Augustine...awwwww!!!
One modern convenience, the TomTom GPS came in very handy—especially once we figured out how best to use it! For example, if you have an address on a long street, the GPS does not get you off at the closest exit but has you get off at the beginning of the long street so you’re stop ‘n go for too many miles instead of closest to where you want to be. We figured out to get off closest to where we wanted to go and THEN put the address in the GPS. Where there’s a will—there’s a way!
Hotel rooms have been comfortable, reasonable and basic. The “continental” breakfast plan varies per chain but none of them are exceptional or particularly healthy.
Now we hit the road to South Florida and Aunt Treasa’s and the end of this leg of the adventure. Boynton Beach here we come.
