Yup. Just about the same amount on the other side too.
Thought so. That's the way it is up here, too.
Of course, that's my motto, Fran's is "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."
I like Fran more and more everyday.
Wasn't there a pie by that name?
mmmm... mud pie. I love that. Made it a few times, too.
Probably the same they would think about people trapsing through the house.
Good point!
Really? Did the room have a chamber pot too? Wait don't answer that. I don't want to know.
Would it help if I told you I didn't use it?
So what did you find.
That the stick is a fake.
But there was one, so it's all good.
His plan was to use the fruitful fields of Louisiana as a bread basket for his empire. With that gone he had no reason to keep the territory.
Did not know that. Interesting.
but I did not know that in 1814, the final component of the British invasion was to seize the port of New Orleans and take control of the Mississippi River.
Did know that, though.
There was even this odd submarine
aka: Deathtrap.
I'm not sure if you folks know who Huey Long is, but he was governor of Louisiana from 1928-1932.
I've actually heard of him.
Don't know a lot about him, but heard of him.
Not bad for a foreigner, huh?
When we finished this exhibit we checked the time and we had spent almost two hours and only been through about 4 exhibits.
That's a sure sign that you were having a good time!
I can barely wear a Halloween costume much less an outfit like these.
I bet I could rock those outfits.
Yep. Definitely.
I was hungry, until I smelled the smoke in the casino and then I wasn't.
ew.
So glad you can't smoke in the casinos here. Gross.
When we got there, the minimums were pretty high but I insisted we play.
Of course they were. They have an entire boatload of people who just showed up.
We both bought in with a large bill and within 15-20 minutes we were walking out without our money.
Well, that just sucks.
I've got an idea... don't go back there!
As we came back to the boat, we were checking out all the debris that was caught in the dock.
Any bodies?
Today we went on and off the boat through the gentleman’s parlor. All week I had wanted to get this shot!
Well, you
had to get that!
We both liked the cakes so much we had a second piece.
It does look good.
Even before I read that you had seconds, I was thinking that.
She had a Manhattan seafood chowder
I've never had that.
I've always had the cream based chowders.
Always wanted to try that, though.
The drink server never would take a picture with us.
"Wanted in 13 States..."
Just as soon as the gal grabbed the napkins and leftover silverware, the old woman came back saying, "That's MY table! I was going to finish my coffee! What did you do with my napkin?"
Whoops!
Eventually she chilled out enough to graciously offer to share the table with Fran and I.
Well, that was nice of her.
Did I mention it was raining, quite a bit?
Nope.
When we got to the "meeting point", no one wanted to leave the safety of the boat to go stand in the muddy rain.
No surprise there.
But you'll remember the day before we also mentioned that no one wants to sit next to either of our fat @$$es.
Absolutely. No. Comment.
He talked about a lot of things, but the major "takeaway" I got from his talk, and mind you he was a local born and bred in the Bayou, was that the refineries are poisoning the countryside.
Sad. Really.
I assume Parrish in Louisiana is synonymous with County in California.
And then I checked just to make sure.
Apparently LA and AK are the only two that don't have counties.
Also he talked about cancer rates and infertility in many of the towns where refineries have replaced sugar plantations. If that is really true, that is awful.
Ugh. That's horrible... and not overly surprising.
And that sign sure confirms what the guide was saying.
Even with the rain, you guys look like you're having fun!
My picture is blurry, but you can tell this is a big one.
Our guide (who by the way sounded EXACTLY like Ray the Cajun Firefly in Princess and the Frog)
I finally saw that movie!
So I know exactly what you're talking about now!
Anytime you can see where the plants aren’t growing it’s because the gators are sliding in and out of the bayou at that location.
Really! That's cool!
This cabin was already there when they bought the property, they “just fixed it up a bit.”
You can tell.
It has that "newly renovated" look to it.
I wonder how much it would hurt if he bit a finger?
As soon as Aligator number 2 neared the log, the first one dived into the water.
And then it was his log.
Ah ha! So it's true! Size
does matter!
When we docked back at the landing all the women made a beeline for the restroom.
Again?
Oh. All that water.... got it.
Fran was the last one left to board and the driver sent the guide to let her know that he would be bringing the bus to her.
Nice of them.
The bus made a stop at Nottoway Plantation for those who wanted to get off and enjoy it. We were starving and tired so we passed on that one.
So disappointed. It looks like a great place to see.
After a whole week we are still friends and speaking to each other!
Then I'd consider that a success.
It has been a fantastic trip so far
Good!
When we got back to the boat it was a treacherous muddy walk back to the gangway.
How did Fran manage.
Heck, how did
you manage?
It was with this meal that I could tell the cruise was coming to an end. No one asked if we needed a refill on our drinks and before I was done with my pasta I jumped up to grab desserts.
This is a thing? I had no idea.
I would've thought it might be the opposite, to ensure a good tip.
Nottoway, where we would stay for a night or two.
Ah! Well, if you're going to
stay there, then you're forgiven for skipping it.
However until the state of Mississippi gets their act together, Vicksburg and Natchez are off the list.
At first I had no idea what you could mean.
And then a lightbulb went off.
I'd heard of the new laws, but hadn't clicked that MS was the State.
Is there another State as well?
As we were leaving there was eerie fog on the river, it was kind of cool.
When I got back to the room, Fran asked if I would be upset at her if she skipped dinner. She wasn't feeling good at all and had no desire to eat.
Aw, poor Fran. Hope she started feeling better once you got away from the river.
I chose off the available every day menu and got the petit steak. It sure didn't look petit to me!
This was the "grand" petit steak. If you wanted small you should've ordered the petit, petit steak.
For dessert I went with the raspberry sorbet.
mmmmm.... want.
Breakfast was served from 6:00-8:00AM, we had to vacate the room by 8:00AM and be completely off the boat by 8:45AM.
Doesn't leave a whole lot of time if you happen to come down close to 8.
But then again, judging from what you then wrote, there wouldn't be any food either.
if you thought the last breakfast on a Disney ship was bad, this one took the cake. There was no menu service, strictly buffet. As they ran out of things, the plates disappeared and never returned.
Again... did not know this.
He admitted to us that he liked to help guests with their bags because any excuse to get him off the ship was a bonus. Otherwise they might ask him to clean toilets or something!
Smart man.
When we got off the boat my phone started exploding with sounds indicating text messages, emails, all sorts of other alerts that I couldn't get due to poor WiFi on the boat. Most were inconsequential, except for one from Naked Jim. It was rather long, but the gist was that one of our cats, Samantha, had gone out Sunday morning and didn't come home. Also Olga, who had been somewhat lethargic before we left had deteriorated to listless and no longer wanting to eat. We had anticipated this day and left all the pertinent vet information in case it came down to it.
Sorry to hear about that. I presume you'll update us?
Neither of us felt very good, but I knew I needed to get us some mucinex as that stuff is like a shop vac for your sinuses.
I'll have to remember that. It's not available in Canada.
It was barely 9AM and we both slept for about three hours.
You guys were really not feeling that great, were you.