May 31 – “Game Day Crisis”

It was a really big day at church yesterday.  At least for the Vaughan family.  Kel preached for me again.  Josh and his family were still in town and in attendance.  Several families who are friends of Kel and Christina all came as well, not to mention the usual Seaside crowd.  We easily broke 70 in attendance.

 

So was this a random “family just happens to be in attendance” event?  A coincidental convergence of Christians?  No.  It was the day when Josiah and Noa were getting Baptist in the Gulf.  They were both really excited.  Kel had videoed a testimony by each of them and played it during the service.  Very sweet and simple child-like understanding and presentation of the gospel.  Needless to say, we are a proud family.

 

After church Christina served lasagna and salad to all who wanted to stay.  It was like the dinner on the grounds that we missed while in Florida.  Quite a few folks stayed and enjoyed the fellowship.

 

The rest of the afternoon we watched the Astros, napped, and played video games.  Well, up until the poker game broke out with Uncle Kel this time.  That took us to supper with leftovers of lasagna and pizza.  And supper was followed by a breakout of a different kind.  A street football game.  Blame Uncle Josh for that one.  A real game day crisis came when Brennan and Luke got their legs tangled on a pass route and both went to the ground.  Brennan came through fine – not a scratch.  Luke got the worst of it.  Goose egg on his head.  Scratch on his knee and forehead.  Aunt April brought some of that glue stuff to keep the cut closed.  Luke experienced what it was like to have nine concerned cousins hovering.  He was a real trooper, though.  The ice pack and bandaids seemed to do the trick for the most part.  Ice cream took care of the rest.  We all enjoyed the frozen treat and watched Dangerous Creatures of the World on TV.  Well, until AnnaGrace had all she could stand.  She requested a change to “something more girly.”  Needless to say, we switched over to Land Before Time so she could watch then baby dinosaurs. 

 

Psalms 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

 

Father, thank you again for the decision Josiah and Noa made to follow you and get baptized.  And to do it at the beach on Memorial Day weekend was quite the testimony.  Amen.

May 30 – “Camp ‘n’ Cousin Chaos”

It was fund raiser for camp day yesterday.  Actually, this was the craft fair in Sea Isle that got postponed almost a month ago.  Rescheduled for yesterday, then rescheduled again for today because of anticipated inclement weather, then back on for yesterday, and now on for both days.  Quite the wild and crazy ride.

 

Cailyn and Josiah of the Seaside Kids going to camp were there to work.  Noa joined in just for fun, even though she’s a little too young for camp just yet.  A good batch of Seasiders was there as well to help Ray with burger flipping and hollering for customers.  Even with the threat of rain and the postponement/not postponement/tow days decisions, we received lots of donations towards camp.  Rumor has it that we made a little over $1100.  And since the fair was extended an extra day, a few Seasiders are going to man the grill with Ray again today.  The kids won’t be there, though.  Back in church for them, especially since Josiah and Noa are both getting baptized in the Gulf today. 

 

Back at the house, Uncle Josh organized a hot and heavy game of chance at the dining room table.  Ezra and AnnaGrace took Nani outside to do some serious swinging.  Josiah was pretty intently studying a certain video screen.  I was, too.  Except I was focused on the Astros game (after I woke up). 

 

A street football game broke out at one point, and somewhere in there Brennan joined the crowd.  AnnaGrace took Freddy for a walk.  And finally we all enjoyed tacos for supper.  We ended the night watching the Astros find yet another way to lose a game in the 11^th inning. 

 

John 10:11 says, “I am the Good Shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

 

Father, it is good to be home.  Please touch Josiah and Noa today as they are baptized.  Help this be something really special for them, as well as for the whole family.  Amen.

May 29 – “Day fif-leventy: Is it Sunday yet?”

We started with yet another early morning yesterday.  It was our “Welcome to Galveston” day for the Waco-ites, so we had to go fishing.  I was pleasantly surprised to find getting bait a very easy task.  I fully expected the Memorial Day crowds to scarf up all the bait.  But there was not even much traffic.  Guess the tourists are waiting until today to get going.

 

Josh, Caleb, and Zak got up to join me for the fishing trip.  And we were not disappointed.  We pulled in three reds, tow big speckled trout, some sand trout, and a few croakers.  The younger crew showed up later (Luke and AnnaGrace).  Luke reeled in a monster piggy.  The highlight of the day, though, came when AnnaGrace reeled in her first fish ever.  She was using her little two foot long princess rod and reel set.  We were all yelling encouragement, then congratulations to her.  She was beside herself with excitement.  I loved her comment: “I want to catch another one.”  And a fisherwoman is born.  Thanks, brother Zak, for you help snagging the critter for her.

 

By the time we got back to the house, we were joined by all the LaMarque cousins.  After a quick lunch Josh and I went to get Cailyn.  And what do you think ensued then?  Cousin Chaos, of course.  All ten of them together again.  The mountain of stuffed animals was strewn all about the house.  A game of Twister adorned the kitchen floor.  Video games resounded from DadDad’s office.  Chicken strips and corn dogs were heating in the oven.  What day is this?  Cousins inside.  Cousins outside in the back yard.  Family. 

 

We spent the evening hours at Nathan’s house in Santa Fe.  They have a pool in their yard, so that was an overpowering draw.  We were sad to see them leave Galveston, but we are certainly happy to see them have room for entertaining friends and family, two boxers, chickens, and now two goats.  Maaaa.

 

Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

 

Father, thank you for family.  In the end that cousin chaos just shows they are healthy and happy.  Amen.

May 28 – “Day 25: Into the Cajun Bayou”

After our whirlwind evening tour of New Orleans, we got up early to make our reservation to enter into the mysterious Cajun bayou of Louisiana.  Yep.  Swamp tour extraordinaire.  We saw lots of alligators.  Birds.  Nests.  Raccoons.  Squirrels.  But the best of all was our tour guide.  He spoke Cajun.  Didn’t really matter what he said.  He was just fun to listen to.  He told us all about the wildlife of the bayou.  He even had samples of the snakes (dead) and leeches (alive, but in a jar) and gars (his samples were dead, but we saw plenty in the water).  But he didn’t stop there.  AnnaGrace got to pet a baby alligator (well, we all did, actually, but she was really excited to.  Luke wanted to hold one, but that didn’t happen.  Guess you have to go to the Everglades for that experience).  Zak got yelled at for getting too up close and personal with an alligator sunning on the bank next to the docks.  Oh, and we picked up a straggler.  Puppet gator.  I couldn’t help it.  Cuteness overload.

 

The rest of our day was spent on the road.  We drove (and by “we” I mean Chris) all the way across southern Louisiana, hit Texas, and slid onto the ferry for the last leg home.  We all saw some dolphins, so that was a harbinger of even more good times to come.  We stopped by Whataburger on the way home to further celebrate being back in Texas.  As Zak described it in his family worship prayer, “Good Texas food.”  And finally we pulled into the driveway.  Home at last.  And imagine our surprise when we found our fridge stocked with milk and eggs and even some sweet tea all made.  Not to mention the muffin mixes, pineapples and bananas on the counter.  We have some great kids. 

 

And speaking of kids, we still had Josh and his family in tow.  They are sticking around for a few days, so the vacation is technically not over yet.  We’ll come up with some fun stuff to do with them and the rest of the cousins before they hit the road for the last leg of their journey as well.

 

Lots of miles.  Lots of new experiences.  Lots of memories.  Let’s do it again …

 

John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

 

Father, thank you for the sum total of experience these last few weeks.  It has indeed been memory-making overload.  Amen.

May 27 – “Day 24: French Town”

Well, the beach vacation ended.  It was time to move on to something else.  New experiences?  Why not?  How about New … Orleans?  Josh had been there, but no one else had.  Well, Chris and I drove through many years ago, but we didn’t stop.  So … new again.

 

We actually left first, but it didn’t take Josh long to catch up with us.  And New Orleans was only a few hours away, so we made plans to meet in Slidell for lunch at Chick-fil-A.  No problem there.  Well, except the parking lot was packed when we arrived.  Chris and I had to make a second circle around the block to find a spot.  But we made it.  We all ate.  And we were back on the road. 

 

Why such a desire to get back on the road?  We had tickets to go see the National World War II Museum at 2 p.m.  I think we finally pulled up a little after two, but it was not a problem.  I think they were having a really slow day.  That museum is pretty powerful, though.  It consists of two or three … buildings.  I thought we were at the Smithsonian or something.  There were airplanes of all sizes, artifacts from the war, and even some interactive exhibits with personal testimonies of people who were involved in the war effort.  We did find a little bear who somehow made his way into our possession.  Cute little guy.  Red t-shirt. 

 

After the museum we checked into our hotel that Christi picked.  The Drury Plaza.  Pretty snazzy downtown structure.  Our room could only be accessed by the gold elevators on the first floor.  We were on the very top floor (nine).  Very nice room.  Kind of small, but it had a huge TV.  Just happened to be a night the Astros were being televised on ESPN, too. 

 

But before settling in to a night of baseball, we had one more important stop to make.  This was Christi’s one request for the trip, so Josh was determine to make it happen.  We found a place to park across from Jackson Square and walked down the riverfront to a place called Café DuMonde.  They are famous for their coffee and beignets.  I didn’t even know what a beignet was.  I do now.  It’s a heavy version of Pancho’s sopapillas eaten with lots and lots of powdered sugar.  Really good dessert.  Christi?  Check.

 

After we ate we walked around the square once, then Josh took us on a driving tour of “French Town,” as Caleb dubbed the French Quarter.  We got to drive across the famous Bourbon Street.  Now I never have to worry about doing that again.  Check.  Phew.  All this “new” stuff is making me tired.

 

Matthew 6:14 says, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

 

Father, thank you yet again for new experiences.  Keep ‘em coming.  Amen.

May 26 – “Day 23: Trying something new”

This getting up kind of early and having to wait for “the call from the condo” has given us a chance to watch a few movies.  Yesterday we saw a movie make of David Copperfield.  I never did read that book.  Bad on me, I guess.  The movie was kind of weird, so I wasn’t inspired in further literary pursuit in that particular direction, sad to say. 

 

When the time came, we made our way south to the condo.  Once again the family was already at the beach, so we dropped off our stuff and joined them.  There was a little excitement this time, beyond just watching the youngsters play in the sand and the waves.  Josh, Zak, and Caleb were in the water, about up to their waist.  Suddenly jumped up and made their way as quickly as they could to the water’s edge.  I thought something might be wrong, but they didn’t head toward us.  Instead, they took off in a dead sprint in the other direction, pointing at the water.  That made me think something might have gone really wrong in the water, so I started following in their direction.  All was well, but they had indeed seen something unusual.  Seems a whole school of rays had just swam by them.  “At least twenty” by Josh’s estimate.  That was amazing that they got to see something like that.  I know I never have.  Well, at least I never had.  A little while later a second school of rays made its way right in front of us.  They were casually making their way through the cut.  And twenty was a pretty good estimate.  I told the boys it was the Tampa baseball team out for a morning workout.  It was amazing.  Unexpected.  And quite beautiful.

 

Since all the excitement appeared to have ceased, we made our way back inside for some lunch.  Plenty of leftovers.  I admit I may have dozed off for a minute or two.  Next we went to the swimming pool for one last dip before time to leave in the morning. 

 

Now, I have been mentioning local cuisine on occasion.  I have a question.  Does it make you a local if you eat in the same place more than once?  I mean, if you have a choice and you actually choose to return?  Well, count us local, then.  We made a return visit to one of out previous stops.  Any guesses which one?  The answer is … Lambert’s, Home of the Throwed Rolls.  The discussion at supper was who has tried the most new things on vacation.  Luke outdid Zak by one when he tried some fried okra.  I mentioned our air boat ride, the manatees we saw, and eating alligator.  Not to mention seeing the school of rays.  But unbeknownst to me, my list of something news was not complete.

 

We topped off the evening with a trip to the local amusement park called The Track.  There was a reason for the name.  It has not one, but five different go-cart tracks, along with other amusement park type rides.  AnnaGrace enjoyed the ones that spun her in circles.  The older guys took a spin on a track that rose several stories up in the sky.  But finally in was Luke’s turn.  He chose to ride a two-seater go-cart with his Dad.  But they had something else up their sleeve.  Seems they had saved up enough points for ol’ DadDad to get in a cart by himself.  What they didn’t know was this … ol’ DadDad had never been on a go-cart before.  Yet another first time experience for me.  And boy, did I ever make the most of it.  I raced around that course against those pre-teenagers.  I zipped in and out and up and down (that track was really bumpy).  I saw Josh and Luke once up ahead of me.  Way ahead of me.  turn to the right here.  Back to the left there.  I had that track’s number, to be sure.  All the way up to the final blaze of glory toward the finish line.  I came in … last.  I mean, I came in dead last.  I mean, they were already letting people get out of their carts when I finally puttered in.  It was fun, though.  Hey … trying something new …

 

Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

 

Father, thank you for all the new experiences of the last few weeks.  Thanks especially for the beauty of the schools of rays we got to see. Amen.

 

May 25 – “Day twenty-two: More fort … more seafood”

We actually had a relaxing morning.  No particular hurry to get out of bed.  I waited until almost 6:30.  Then we just watched a movie and waited for a return text from Christi about the agenda for the day. 

 

Once we got our marching orders, we headed out for the condo.  The Vaughan family was already at the beach, so we joined them there for a while.  We didn’t get in the water this time though.  Just a little shell collecting (And by “little” I mean collecting “little” shells) and watching the kiddos.  That was followed by a quick dip in the indoor pool (for them) before lunch. 

 

Lunch was a variety of leftovers from our meals over the course of the last few days.  Christi fixed them some tacos.  All were well-fed.

 

And finally we headed out to Fort Morgan.  Yep.  More fort.  There we walked at least two and a half miles, and climbed at least four flights of stairs.  I carried a backpack for the day as well.  Gotta get my workout in.  Chris offered several times to take a turn carrying it, but I held out.  This particular fort is famous for one battle fought nearby.  Actually, the battle was fought in the water.  You might have heard about Admiral Farragut declaring, “Damn the torpedoes!  Full speed ahead!”  He led the Yankees to defeat the Rebs and take over the fort.  They have a very nice museum on the grounds now, and the fort itself is pretty much fair game to climb through and explore.  That museum had a gift shop, too.  No new critters, though.

 

From the fort we went for supper to a nearby marina.  The restaurant’s name was Tacky Jack’s.  More seafood.  It was good, though.  I had a seafood salad with shrimp and crawfish on top.  After we ate, we spent some time sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away.  And the seagulls eat the leftover French fries that AnnaGrace and Luke were throwing to them.  Boats were returning from a long day’s fishing, so we watched them clean their catch of mangrove snapper.  Pelicans and seagulls were watching, too. 

 

Tacky Jack had a gift shop.  It was AnnaGrace who walked off with the prize of the evening, though.  She was perusing the gift shop when she saw exactly what she wanted.  She announced, “I have to go get my Daddy.  I need his money.”  She got him.  And his money.  And walked away with the cutest little stuffed jellyfish you ever saw.  (Josh, just remember how cute that sounds right now).  Then when we left we had to stop and take one last picture.  There was a huge yacht sitting out front of the marina.  And what should be the name gracefully scrolled on the back?  She was the AnnaGrace.  Couldn’t pass up a photo op like that.

 

We debated about going fishing, but decided instead to play some basketball.  Well, the boys did.  Chris and I headed back to the hotel to recuperate.  You know, once you reach a certain age …

 

John 20:21 says, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’”

 

Father, thank you for the excitement in learning we saw in Josh and Caleb, in particular at the fort.  Help all of them catch that enthusiasm about education.  Amen.

 

May 24 – “Day twenty-one: Into the Lagoon”

Our morning started out at Academy again.  It’s great having such a close neighbor.  I needed to grab a few items for our prospective fishing trips.

 

From there we headed back into Gulf Shores to the Lagoon Baptist Church.  I didn’t see a lagoon anywhere, black or otherwise, but I did keep a close eye out for any errant creatures.  Actually, we were so early that we watched the Seaside service while sitting in the parking lot.  Thanks again to Kel for filling in for me.  The Preacher from the Church Lagoon was a pretty funny guy.  Not a bad storyteller.  He used to be in the Air Force, so they started exactly on time.  Felt kind of strange, being so close to the Gulf and not experiencing Island time at church.  Spoiled by Seaside, I guess.

 

We went to a place called LuLu’s for lunch.  It came highly recommended.  But the wait was an hour and fifteen minutes, so we chose another of Christi’s recommended spots called the Shrimp Basket.  It’s supposedly the place where the locals eat.  In fact we saw a couple from church there, so I guess that was true.  The food was pretty good.  I had the Sunday special - all the popcorn shrimp you can eat.  And it came with a side of fried okra.  Oh, and some cole slaw that had boiled shrimp in it.  Good stuff.  Sorry, LuLu, but I don’t think we missed anything. 

 

Oh, I almost forgot.  We made a quick stop before lunch.  We went into the Purple Octopus.  Yep.  That’s an actual name of a gift store in town.  And lo and behold, what should we find just waiting for us in there?  A purple octopus who desperately wanted to join us on our journey.  We couldn’t say no.  So old P.O. now lives with our critter family in the back seat. 

 

After lunch we all went back to the condo for some beach time.  The waves had settled down considerably, but it was still a rough go.  The beach dipped dramatically to the water, then there was another quick drop off a little ways out.  Plus the current was really strong side to side.  I tried out my new fishing pole, but only did a few casts.  The highlight of the sand day came when each of the kids decided they wanted to be buried.  Even AnnaGrace allowed it.  We crafted her a mermaid tail when she was under.  Each of the others received a new body look as well.  Except Zak.  It took all the sand they could muster just to cover him up partially.  I’m pretty sure the kids had a good time.  When we got back to the condo, me and Josh and the kids jumped in the pool for a few minutes. 

 

Finally, Josh and Zak and I went down to the bay side dock to try some fishing.  We didn’t catch anything on the line.  All we had was our lures.  Zak did make the catch of the day, though.  He tossed out his cast net and came up with one piggie.  He saved it for bait for when they go fishing later.  So no fish, but that wasn’t the worst of it.  We were introduced to the state bird of Alabama.  Some kind of wretched little stinging gnat.  They were everywhere, and their bite felt like a needle stick.  Almost made me miss Texas mosquitoes.  Almost. 

 

We headed back to our hotel after that, and spent the next hour or so washing some clothes.  Someone had clothes in the dryer, and they had been there – drying completed -  for the entire time our clothes were washing.  So when we went back to dry ours, we took his out and folded them on the table for him.  That should keep us set for another few days.  And him, too.

 

Acts 2:38 says, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

 

Father, thank you for our experience in that church this morning.  It was good to be in your house.  Bless them in their ministry.  Amen.

May 23 – “Day twenty: A begoggled fly boy”

Ah, Saturday.  Always a fun time in a tourist town.  And this time we had the blessing of experiencing not one, but at least five of the little tourism havens on our way to a major military base museum that requires someone with a state department ID to get past the entry gate.  Thanks to Cousin Jer for agreeing to be that person. 

 

We were ready early, so we made a quick trip over to Academy (that would be literally in the back yard of our hotel).  It took a while, but I found a break-apart fishing pole that we could easily fit in the car.  Chris also found me one of those long-sleeved shirts you wear in the sun to avoid major burn issues.  I never had them before, and I usually don’t wear long sleeves to go fishing, but the shirt is cool.

 

We finally broke away from the Academy shopping spell and made our way down to our rendezvous point in Gulf Shores – Super WalMart.  We left our car in the parking lot and jumped in with Josh and the gang for the ride to the museum. 

 

The National Naval Aviation Museum was a pretty huge place, ensconced on a military base that was locked down to visitors who were not guests of military personnel.  Jer was an amazing host and tour guide for us.  I think he was almost as excited as Josh was to have someone who could talk all the airplane lingo.  The museum had three different levels of displays.  Military planes of all kinds.  Several large models of aircraft carriers.  The first one of those we saw, Luke remarked to his little sister, “Look.  It’s a big version of a toy.”  The displays only got bigger from there.  Caleb and Zak talked their way into some time in a flight simulator.  Caleb apparently does a lot of that sort of thing online, but this time the simulator actually moved.  They seemed to have a great time, from the screams we could hear.  Not to be denied, Luke talked Josh into taking him into a simulator as well.  Christi was not exactly happy about that scenario, but she handled it like a trooper.  I thoroughly enjoyed filming her face while Josh and Luke were inside doing barrel rolls and loop the loops.  Great fun.  Oh, and we picked up another passenger.  Bubba the Begoggled Fly Boy Bear. 

 

We went from the museum to eat supper at MacGuire’s in Pensacola.  It was definitely an Irish pub.  Well, a “New York Irish Pub,” whatever that means.  I had shepherd’s pie, so the cuisine was right on point.  All of the food was really good, and everyone had huge portions.  They also had a bagpiper entertaining.  The really odd thing, though, was their décor.  The entire ceiling and down onto the walls of this massive building was covered with one dollar bills stapled and hanging.  They had each been signed by a previous owner who had eaten there.  There were easily thousands of dollars.  Rumor has it that the actual figure was somewhere close to a million.  The kids were certainly impressed.  Even AnnaGrace.  Christi asked her what was on the ceiling, and AnnaGrace said, “Money?  Money!”  Yep … money.

 

Proverbs 18:24 says, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

 

Father, thank you for the sacrifice Jer made to get us on base and show us around today.  Please bless him for that.  Amen.

May 22 – “Day nineteen: Adopting Leroy”

Yesterday was zoo day.  Yep.  An actual zoo where they have animals on display and not in the wild.  It was an interesting change from our last few weeks.  A lot of it was pretty typical.  Feeding the giraffes and sloths.  Watching the monkeys play and the tigers sleep.  They did have a carrousel that AnnaGrace and Luke really enjoyed.  In the reptile house AnnaGrace even had a lizard interacting with her through the glass.  Best I could do was chat with an old turtle.  They had several gigantor ants roaming the facilities big enough for kids to climb on.  That was strange.  Not as strange as the sign I saw, though.  I’m not sure I understood the implications of its message.  Here it is: “Bears, Welcome.  This play area for the enjoyment of children ages 2-12 years old.”  So it is encouraging bears to enjoy children?  For lunch??  Hmm.  The best part of the day came when we managed to arrange for adoption of Leroy the Lemur.  He rode in the back seat with Luke and the rest of the gang to lunch.  Luke and Leroy.  Quite the pair.

 

Lunch was at the Original Oyster House.  So is that the Original Oysters, or the Original House?  They had a sign up that said they started in 1983.  Guess that’s when oyster houses were born, since I have a hunch oysters have been around a lot longer.  We had the best deadpan comedian since Tim Conway for our waiter.  Never stopped talking.  Not extremely efficient as a waiter, but most definitely entertaining.  We all had some alligator bites as an appetizer.  I think everyone at least tried it, too.  Way to be brave, kids … and Christi.  Chris had gumbo and a salad.  She said her gumbo had the consistency of pudding.  Interesting.  I had fried flounder and shrimp.  Hard to mess up the classics.  Zak and I shared a piece of key lime pie for dessert.  Josh came back later and got a second piece for him and Christi to share.  Tim Conway never brought it the first time around.  I would p-lace it about third or fourth on the list.  Not close to the top, though.  Josh and Christi took the kids to an ice cream shop for their dessert.  They were happy. 

 

From there we drove back to the condo.  But we took the scenic route.  Christi wanted to see what the rest of the area looked like.  Taking in the island sights, so to speak (To which Caleb will faithfully reply, “It’s not an island.  It’s a peninsula”).  There was not much water to be seen on this trek.  They operate on the Miami principle of construction.  Build twelve story hotels right on the waterfront so no one driving by can see it.  We finally gave up and headed back to the condo for some more swimming and hanging out in the pool. 

 

Jer called while we were there.  We talked to him about the plans to meet him today.  In fact we have to get on the road soon to meet the gang at the Gulf Shores Super WalMart.  We are joining forces (and consolidating into one car) for the drive to the museum on a naval base.

 

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

 

Father, be with the Tim Conway guy as he works to support his family.  Continue to provide him with experiences that he can translate into hilarity to give his customers a fun time as they dine.  Amen.

May 21 – “Day eighteen – Throwed Rolls”

Yesterday we drove into Gulf Shores to unite with the rest of the gang.  We made it through the gate easily enough.  How?  We had the guard almost as confused about our situation as we were.  He finally just asked what unit we were staying in and for how long.  He filled out our car parking tag and waved us through. 

 

We couldn’t find the condo room at first.  We knew which set of buildings it was in; we just couldn’t find their specific number.  So I texted for some help.  Josh and the gang were out at the beach.  Josh came back in to help us get oriented/situated.  We dropped our stuff off in the room and followed him toward the beach, but by that time Christi and the kids were on their way back in.  Seems the gale force winds were a little too severe for them.  Luke told us it felt like thousands of needles were stabbing him every time the wind blew up the sand.  We opted for a trip to the indoor heated pool instead. 

 

After a time of getting good and wet and watching the kids take some individualized swimming lessons from Daddy, we were all pretty hungry.  Christi and Chris had been scouring the internet for restaurant options, and the choice of the day was a place called Lambert’s Café, known as the Home of the Throwed Rolls.  I know … terrible grammar.  But I gotta say, it was amazing.  The food was down-home comfort style, kind of like Cracker Barrel on steroids.  I ordered fried chicken livers.  And boy, did I ever get a plate full of them.  They were piled high.  They came with two sides as well.  And that didn’t include the fare offered by servers who were constantly walking around the room.  All you could eat fried okra, black eyed peas, cooked cabbage, macaroni and tomato sauce, potatoes and onions, and best of all … big ol’ rolls that they rolled out hot and fresh and literally tossed to you from across the room.  And following the roll cart was another server with a jug of their home-made apple butter.  Chris had a huge pile of chicken salad plus her two sides.  That salad was enough for two more meals – for both of us.  I had my leftover livers for supper last night.  Once again … I was stuffed.  That place was amazing.  So amazing that Josh and I agreed to give it highest honors among the vacation annals … a check.

 

From there we went to WalMart to get some fruit for breakfast and walk off some of that belly-filling goodness.  Then it was back to the hotel to recuperate. Last night I got a phone call from my cousin Jer, who is going to lead us onto a naval base to see a museum there.  We still have a few details to work out how we will get eight extra people onto the base, but he thinks it will all work out.  He also shared a page full of suggestions for things to do in the area. 

 

Psalms 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

 

Father, thank you for the connection with Josh and the gang, and for that amazing throwed roll experience.  Amen.

May 20 – “Day seventeen – Headin’ west”

This will be one easy day to post about.  Chris did all the heavy lifting.  She drove and drove and drove … and drove.  All the way from Central Florida back into Alabama.  We left early so we could make some good time.  Actually, the race was on between us and Luke to see who could get to the condo first.  Yep.  The race was rigged from the start.  We aren’t staying in a condo.  We are in a hotel about 20 minutes from the condo where they are staying.  So it was impossible for us to win from the outset.  But that’s OK.  Grandkids always win, right? 

 

We managed to catch the time zone change from Easter to Central, so that meant we made up an hour.  That’s probably why we got to the hotel before they got to the condo.  It’s a Twilight Zone kind of thing.  We did stop at a Firehouse Subs in Marianna, Florida for lunch.  They are the ones that give a portion of all receipts to fire fighters causes and equipment. 

 

The most exciting event of this leg of the trip was the route good ol’ Apple Siri chose to guide us into.  True Coondog Cemetery territory.  Backwoods Alabama.  Except I guess this place was a step up.  We passed a sign for airport.  Sure enough, off in a field was a small plane and a windsock.  That counts, right?  I loved passing fine dining restaurants around here, too.  One crowd favorite was The Wacked Out Weiner.  Served hot dogs.  But my absolute all time favorite was in beautiful downtown Elberta.  Roadkill Café.  No, really.  And one whole wall on the outside was painted with a mural of a guy in a chef apron out in the road gathering the day’s special.  I don’t think Chris will go there with me. 

 

Oh, and we passed a sign that said Kleinschmidt Road.  Wasn’t that the name of the team that won the last episode of Rock the Block?  Come on, any of you HGTV followers out there.  And wasn’t it in Alabama somewhere?  Oh, well.  Guess I’ll rack that one up with the not one, but two Vaughn Roads we passed as well.  Cousins somewhere back there, I’m sure. 

 

Speaking of Vaughan’s, we finally met up with the other Vaughans we know who are in Alabama.  Josh and his family made it in just in time for supper.  We met them at … Cracker Barrel.  Where else?  I suspect we’ll be seeing a bit more of them over the next few days.  By “them” I mean the family, not so much Cracker Barrel. 

 

Psalms 9:1 says, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

 

Father, thank you for our long and safe trip back here to Alabama.  Help us have some grandkid fun.  Amen.

May 19 – “Day sixteen: Attack of the Rabid Mayflies”

Well, our first attempt at tourism was to c heck out Old Downtown Savannah.  There were indeed a lot of old things down there.  But it is just a somewhat typical fairly large city downtown.  Tall buildings for Superman to leap over when he isn’t playing Clark Kent.  Much hustle and bustle.  We finally located a trolley tour guide to ask where to park so we could go to the visitor center.  He informed us that the visitor center was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Of course it was.  He offered to give us free parking if we just took his $30 tour.  We decided to just drive around town. It had its moments.  Intermittent city parks.  Homes like you see on TV where you share a wall with your neighbor.  No idea where you park your car.  They did have a very cool cathedral and some nice architecture on several other churches and, well … big buildings.  We just drove around and passed on the museums.

 

Check off Savannah.  Next we went back to fort hunting.  We headed back down south a ways to Fort King George, one we missed on the way up.  It wasn’t that far from Savannah.  The fort was actually a reconstruction.  It was on the site of the original, but that one is gone.  It actually caught fire and none of the soldiers stationed there particularly cared about putting it out.  They were sick of being there, and hoped this would get them back to England.  Sin e the construction was modern, we got to crawl around and on and in all the buildings.  That was fascinating.  Our bug mistake, however (That’s NOT a typo), came when we went on the nature walk.  We were absolutely inundated by The Attack of the Rabid Mayflies and their sidekicks … The Mangy Mosquitoes.  The evil creatures were everywhere, including my mouth and ears and hair and legs and eyes.  As a result of the attack we renamed the fort.  No longer will it be known as Fort King George of the British.  From now and henceforth forevermore it shall be known as Fort Mad Mayfly of the Bugs. 

 

Once we escaped from the bug onslaught, we tried to sample the local lunch cuisine at the Purple Pickle.  Great name.  not so great a restaurant.  It closed down several years ago and they forgot to tell the tourist bureau.  Sad, but down the road we found a Cracker Barrel.  May as well play it safe.  While there we formulated a new game plan.  Off the books again.  Chris remembered reading about a glass bottom boat ride … somewhere.  She looked it up, and on the spur of the moment we decided.  Back to Florida.  And not just across the border.  Oh, no.  We headed deep into the heart of the Ocala National Forest.  Actually we went to the Silver Springs State Park, which is on the outskirts of Ocala. 

 

That decision was my cue to find us a hotel for the night somewhere nearby.  On a hunch I went to our Choice Hotels app and typed in a search for hotels in the area that would accept our accumulated points in lieu of money for a room.  Thus far every time we have tried that, the request has been denied – no rooms available – so our hopes weren’t high.  But lo and behold, a room popped up.  We grabbed it and headed off to the central swamplands to find us a glass-bottomed boat. 

 

After a brief practical joke by Apple Siri that threatened to get us lost in the middle of the Ocala National Forest, we arighted our ship and made our way to Silver Springs State Park for a ride on their glass-bottomed boat.  On the way in a guy admired mt World Series shirt … until he found out I was an Astros fan.  He was from Baltimore.  Not an Astros fan.

 

The boat ride was a pleasant surprise.  Worth the two hour detour, actually.  We saw numerous hot springs bubbling that have joined forces to form a lake/river that eventually flows into the Atlantic through Jacksonville.  Through the glass bottom we saw turtles and tilapia and catfish and some miscellaneous bait.  We also saw under water a 500 year old Indian canoe, one of the original glass bottomed boats from the turn of the century.  It was sunk for use in a Doris Day movie.  We also saw three statues of Greek gods.  They starred in one of the James Bond movies, Moonraker.  The one with the anaconda fight.  Actually, they shipped the snake here in an 89 degree crate.  When they put him in the 79 degree water he was lethargic at best.  Needless to say, the movie fight scene was … fake.  As a bonus we saw an alligator sunning on a log.  The captain saw my GFD hat and proceeded to regale us with his recent adventure delivering a boat to Moody Gardens through all the recent bad weather.  Fourteen days at sea in terrible weather.  Nope.  There were also supposed to be monkeys living wild in the trees.  We didn’t see any.  We did see a monster-sized woodpecker though.  He knocked down a hunk of tree right where we had been standing.  That’s one way to get us out of his jungle. 

 

The free hotel was just about 20 minutes away, so we made it in plenty of time to walk over to IHOP for a quick supper.  The waitress chatted with us and the guy at the next table for a good fifteen minutes.  We know a lot of her life story now.  Very sweet lady.  Well … tomorrow we start our westward trek.  Onward.

 

1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 

Father, would you watch over that lady at IHOP.  Take care of her family and give her peace of mind.  Amen.