January 2012

Sunday, January 1

We attended church service at Mandeville (Louisiana) Christian Church.  There was a Mexican restaurant in Covington where we planned to eat lunch because we had seen an ad offering a 15% discount on Sunday if you brought in your church bulletin.  But it was closed for New Year’s Day, so we ate at Five Guys Burgers (our first time at this chain).

Tuesday, January 3

We had lunch at Carreta’s Grill (the place we’d planned to eat at on Sunday) in Covington.  

Wednesday, January 4

We moved to Styx River Resort in Robertsdale, AL and ate dinner at Derailed Diner, a truck stop close to the resort.  The decor was very unusual.  It had a wide variety of chairs and seats - assorted “diner” style chairs, saddles, tractor seats, benches, etc.  There was also a large cut-out school bus that filled one wall and the door to the bus was the door to go into the kitchen.  Of course, Kent had to tell them that their bus was backwards because the door was on the wrong side.

Thursday, January 5

Drove around the area and went to Camping World in Robertsdale.

Sunday, January 8

We decided to attend the service at the resort chapel.  Only about a dozen people were there, including us.  The pastor asked if anyone could pay the piano.  I was waiting to see if someone would volunteer when the pastor’s wife looked at me and said, “I think she can play.”  So I said I would.  The “song leader” told me that the hymn books set out were from Assembly of God but if I preferred a Baptist hymnal, they had those too.   I told him it didn’t make a difference.  The service lasted longer than we anticipated, so we didn’t have time to make it to the Christian Church.  

We had lunch at Manci’s Antique Club in Daphne (a DDD).  A couple at the next table told us they liked DDD also, but asked if they could recommended a local restaurant--R&R Seafood.  Sounded fantastic and we'll try it.  

Monday, January 9

After lunch at Steak n Shake in Pensacola, FL, we toured the Naval Aviation Museum.  Kent showed me the jet engines that he had worked on while in the Navy back in the 60’s.

Wednesday, January 11

We drove to Mobile for a quick breakfast at Steak n Shake.  Then we went to Battleship Park and spent 4 hours touring the USS Alabama (a battleship) and the USS Drum (a submarine).  

For an early dinner we went to R&R Seafood Restaurant (the place recommended on Sunday) and had great seafood.  The main dish we had was the steamed royal red shrimp platter.  The shrimp were huge, tender and sweet.  Royal reds are caught in the deep gulf waters (600 ft.).

Saturday, January 14

We had lunch at Panini Pete’s (DDD) in Fairhope.  We ate outside on the patio.

Sunday, January 15

We attended Belforest Christian Church in Daphne and had a late lunch at Danny’s Fried Chicken in Robertsdale.

Monday, January 16

We went to Biloxi, MS and did the Historic Walking Tour and walked along the beach boardwalk back to the lighthouse. 

Ocean Springs was the next stop for a late lunch at The Shed BBQ (DDD).  It was definitely a shed, but great BBQ.

Wednesday, January 18

Moved to Pine Lake RV Park in Fountain, FL.  Nice, quiet location.

Friday, January 20

Drove to Marianna.  Had breakfast at Subway in Walmart while having the truck serviced.  Stopped to pick up a late lunch at Austin’s Smokin Butt Hut on the highway in Fountain.  It was just a small building with a smoker outside.  Good BBQ.

Sunday, January 22

Went to the Christian Church at Panama City.  Met Linda and Dale Paul who are from Indiana, but wintering in Panama City.  Kent was wearing a HHCC t-shirt and Dale asked him if we were from California.  When Kent told him we had retired from Heavenly Hills,  they told us that they know Joel and Tatia  (the couple who took our place) and we had a nice little visit.  What a small world!  We grabbed a quick lunch and then went to the beach for a little while.

Wednesday, January 25

Moved to Old Town Campground, Old Town, FL.  Drove around to see what was in Old Town and Chiefland.

Thursday, January 26

Manatee Springs is located six miles from Chiefland.  Manatees are sometimes sighted in the area during the winter,  but we didn’t see any.  Manatee Springs is considered a “first magnitude spring” and discharges 50-150 million gallons per day.  This caused us to think differently about springs -- especially the Bible story of Moses striking a rock and God causing a spring to come forth.  Drawings depicting that story shows a small stream of water.  But God was bringing water to a million Israelites.  It makes sense that the spring flowed more like a “first magnitude spring.”  

There’s a boardwalk from the spring following the flow to the Suwannee River.  It was a nice walk.

Site of the Spring

Flow to the Suwanee River

Suwanee River

On the way back to the campground we had dinner at the 19/98 Grill, a unique local cafe, in Fanning Springs.  The food was delicious.

Friday, January 27

The Nature Trail in Old Town was a nice place to take a walk.  The trail goes to a bridge that crosses the Suwannee River.  Then we had dinner at Gail’s Cafe in Old Town.

Sunday, January 29

Attended worship service at the Christian Church in Chiefland.  After church we drove to Cedar Key which is on the coast and walked around the waterfront and out on a pier.  The sea birds on the pier had no fear of people and acted like they owned it.  They didn’t move and we had to walk around them.  

For lunch we tried the Sea Breeze Restaurant--more delicious sea food.  It looked out over the water and we had a great view from our window table.

Tuesday, January 31

For dinner, we ate at the Panda Restaurant, a Chinese buffet with a lot of seafood, in Chiefland.  

December 2011

Thursday, December 1

The museum at High Point, NC,  not only tells the history of High Point, but there is an area that specifically covers the furniture industry in High Point.  Next to the museum was the oldest building in High Point.

  

Built in 1754

Built in 1786

In downtown High Point we found “the world’s largest chest of drawers,” a landmark built in 1926. 

In Jamestown, NC,  we toured the Mendenhall Plantation, which is an early 19^th century Quaker plantation.  It was active in the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. 

Near Jamestown we saw Castle McCulloch, a 19^th century Cornish castle built as a gold refinery, but has been restored as a catering and banquet hall.  

We also went to Replacements, Ltd. in Greensboro, NC.  It has an inventory of 13 million pieces, some over 100 years old.  It is the world’s largest selection of china, stoneware, crystal, glassware, silver, stainless, and collectibles. 

Friday, December 2

Moved to Pine Ridge Campground in Roebuck, SC.  Met Rob for dinner at Carolina BBQ.

Saturday, December 3

Rob & Diane picked us up and drove us around the area.  We ate at the Beacon Drive-In (featured on DDD) in Spartanburg. 

This man takes your order and calls it out.  

Our next stop was at Glendale Shoals, the ruins of an old textile mill.  

Then we went to Campbell’s Covered Bridge, the only covered bridge remaining in SC.  It was built in 1909.   

When there, we saw a sign that told how to get to Poinsett Bridge, a stone bridge that’s believed to be the oldest surviving bridge in SC.  It was built in 1820 and was part of the original State Road, a toll road, that ran from Charleston to NC.

Diane, Rob & Dorothy crossing the bridge

Sunday, December 4

Attended church, had lunch, and then went to Rob & Diane’s.  They took us to Falls Park in Greenville to see Liberty Bridge, a cantilevered suspension bridge, and to walk around the park.  This beautiful park is located in downtown Greenville’s Historic West End. 

Tuesday, December 6

Moved to North Shore Resort near Greensboro, GA.  

View from our site

Thursday, December 8

Drove around to see the area.  Went to Milledgeville, Eatonton, and Madison.

Friday, December 9

Went to Scull Shoals which is in the Oconee National Forest.  This was the location of the first paper mill in Georgia.  

Then we stopped for BBQ at a road side stand.  The smokers were sitting right out front and we ate at a picnic table.  

The next stop was in Eatonton at the Uncle Remus Museum.  Eatonton is the birthplace of Joel Chandler Harris.  The woman who operates the museum had a lot of interesting information to share with us.  

The next stop was at the Rock Eagle Mound.  It is estimated that this was constructed 1,000 - 3,000 years ago.  It was built up of thousands of pieces of quartzite laid in a mounded shape of a bird 102 ft long from head to tail and 120 ft wide from wing tip to wing tip.  We climbed up a tower to get an aerial view of it.

Saturday, December 10   

Had breakfast at the Club House and visited.  

Sunday, December 11

Attended service at Madison Christian Church.  Had lunch at Pacho’s in Madison.

Monday, December 12

Drove to Atlanta and started with breakfast at the Silver Skillet Café, a DDD feature.  

Then we went to the World of Coca Cola.  There were great exhibits.  At the end of the tour there was a tasting room where we sampled drinks made for many countries.  

We had lunch at Matthews Café, another DDD feature, in Tucker.

Wednesday, December 14

Drove a far as Castlebury, AL and stayed at the Country Sunshine RV Park.  

Thursday, December 15

Arrived at Hideaway Ponds RV Park in Gibson, LA. 

It just didn’t seem right to have mosquitos in mid-December.  But what else should we have expected with swamps and bayous all around?

Friday, December 16

Went to Houma and had lunch at Sunrise Fried Chicken.

Saturday, December 17

Had dinner at Bayou Delight which was between the campground and Houma.  They had a Cajun band playing.  It was fun watching the couples dancing.  The food was fantastic.  We had dinners that gave us a huge assortment of "cajun foods" and we loved it.

This looks like the restaurant was not filled, but there had been a
large group seated at this line of tables when we came in.  

Sunday, December 18

Attended services at the Church of Christ in Houma.  Afterwards we went to Gonzales to shop at the outlet mall.  

Monday, December 19

We toured Montivatit, an oyster shucking plant, in Houma.  They package under the brand name Gold Band Oysters.  The family that owns the company has been in the seafood business since their ancestors arrived in Louisiana from France in 1770.  This plant shucks 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of oysters daily.  We had a “personal” tour by one of the managers.  He explained the whole process from harvesting through packaging as he took us to the different areas.  

Next we went on the “Cajun Man’s Swamp Tour.”  Our guide was very good as well as entertaining.  We saw a wide variety of birds, a couple of alligators, a nutra, large snails, snail eggs, and turtles.  At one point we stopped and he sang a couple of Cajun songs and also explained the Cajun accordian that he played.

Right above the waterline, the long pinkish things are snail eggs.

Two turtles

Tuesday, December 20

At Avery Island and we toured the McIlhenny Tabasco Pepper Sauce facility.  Avery Island is a salt dome.  We watched a film explaining the process of producing the tabasco sauce.  The peppers are mashed with Avery Island salt, and aged in wooden barrels (sealed with salt).  After the aging process, then vinegar is added, and the mixture is strained.  Then we got to watch the bottle filling process.

We sampled the various sauces and other products and then ordered lunch.

In New Iberia we went to the Konriko Rice Mill.  At Konriko, we watched a slide presentation and then we were taken to the rice mill.  It's the oldest rice mill in America.  It was built in 1912 and has been in continuous operation ever since.

While driving around, we saw sugar cane fields being harvested and trucks making deliveries to the  sugar plants.

Thursday, December 22

We had planned to move to John and Glynda’s, but changed our minds to wait a day due to weather.  There was rain and strong wind gusts and a tornado watch for the parish.  

Friday, December 23

Drove to Central where John and Glynda (Josh’s parents) live.  John had said that we could park on his property.  It took awhile to get backed down the driveway.  Kent and Matt (Josh’s brother) had to trim some trees.  Also the ground was really wet so we couldn’t back the truck off of the driveway.  There was still plenty of room for all of the vehicles that would be there for the weekend.  Danielle, Josh and Megan arrived late afternoon.  John and Glynda’s home was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  Glynda had a small tree for each of the girls to decorate for themselves.

Saturday, December 24

All of us attended Christmas Eve service.  

John, Glynda, Dorothy, Kent

Danielle, Megan, Josh

Sunday, December 25

Matt’s girls handed out all of the Christmas gifts.  Glynda had Christmas stockings for everyone and those got distributed.  It was a really fun day.  

Megan listening to Frosty the Snowman

Monday, December 26

Danielle and I made breakfast (biscuits and gravy) for everyone.  Later in the day, Matt, Tara and their girls left for home.

Tuesday, December 27

Danielle, Josh & Megan left early to catch their flight home.  Then after lunch, John and Glynda took us to see the state capitol building.

From there we walked over to the Louisiana State Museum where we learned a lot about Louisiana history.

Wednesday, December 28

Left John and Glynda’s home and drove to Abita Springs Resort.  

Thursday, December 29

Drove around to see the area.  Found the church where we will go on Sunday.  The minister and his wife are full-time RVers and will be here until summer.  The church property has a few RV hookups and we were invited to make use of them in the future.  Had lunch at Louie & the Redhead Lady (featured on DDD) in Mandeville.

The owner was very friendly and visited with us.  She showed us the photographs that were taken while Guy Fieri and the Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives crew were there filming for the show.  

Friday, December 30

Started with breakfast at La. Pines Café (featured on DDD) in Slidell.  

Then we went to Gulfport, MS to tour the John Stennis Space Center.  

After the tour, we went to the outlet mall.  After shopping, we had a late lunch at the Blow Fly Inn (also featured on DDD).

Saturday, December 31

We went to the Abita Springs Brewery.  People taking the tour were given a plastic cup and allowed to go behind the bar to sample the various brews.  The company also makes root beer,  so that is what we sampled.  It’s the best root beer we’ve ever tasted.

New Year's Eve was not very quiet.  The campground was pretty full and they had a party at the clubhouse.  We didn't attend.

Thus ended 2011.  We visited 20 states, ate in 20 food establishments featured on the Food Network, toured numerous museums, historic sites, National Parks, and factories.  Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we would see so much in a year.  We are so blessed to be able to travel like this.