New Traditions and Old Friends

Sigh. Diahn was here for a few days this week and we had a wonderful time. It's the second annual Mudbug Madness visit. It's now officially a tradition, you know. We had plenty of crawfish dishes, sultry nights and of course, lots of conversation. And Mark, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that my recipe for crawfish etouffee does NOT, I repeat, NOT involve cream of mushroom soup. Nope. No sir. Or peppers, or shrimp. But that's okay, I forgive you, my vegetarian, yankee friend.

The first night she arrived, Wednesday, she went to band practice with me and then we sat up way, way, way too late, talking and catching up. Thursday night, we headed out to a local, quaint establishment, the Olive St. Bistro, for wine and a nice meal with three of my closest friends. The meal was lovely in spite of our young, pretentious waiter. I'll let Diahn tell you about him...and she will, trust.

Friday, we headed to Jefferson, Texas, where we browsed through antique shops, walked around downtown, had a delicious lunch at a very cool place, Glory Dayz. Diahn took plenty of photos which she'll be posting soon. The highlight for me was an hour long Turning Basin Bayou Tour. Our guide told us the boats were purchased from Six Flags, an old river ride. He was awesome. We learned a lot about the history of Jefferson and how it evolved, via steamboats and the civil war. He told us about local mammoth snapping turtles, mayhaw jelly and snakes. And most importantly, because it's such a small tourist town, he told us colorful details about the locals. The ride was peaceful and lazy, complete with a little southern gossip. I'm going back soon. Can't wait to take a ride on the Ghost Train! Before the ride starts, there's a campfire at the depot, complete with ghost stories...how cool is that? There's a part of me that couldn't stand to live too far away from a nice, sized city with bookstores, Starbucks and museums. But there's another part of me that could really get used to living in a a small town like this. A place where you can take a stroll downtown, and have a slice of pie and a cup of coffee and catch up on all that's going on with the locals. A place where you can always catch a game of checkers at the general store.

Here's a few pictures. I miss you already, Dino.

















The restaurant, Glory Dayz. We fell in love with the colorful chairs. The green ones have the Dr. Pepper logo.

This is the courtyard...























Cool, blue truck, parked in front of the general store.

















This sign was in the doorway of the general store.


















Dino, about to open a bottle of whoop ass...

















Here's the cottage where we bought the tickets for the boat tour.

















Ahh...the lazy, peaceful boat tour.


















































Our amazing tour guide and guests...

















Happy Memorial Day everyone. Enjoy your family and friends and remember those who fought, and are still fighting, for our way of life...and for our amazing, beautiful, eclectic country.