Day Nine - Houston TX to Hammond LA

Tuesday morning, packing up again and heading to breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Monika before escaping Houston.

We travelled without incident through Beaumont TX, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge to Hammond LA, about an hour north of New Orleans.

Once in Hammond, we checked into our hotel and proceeded to Tommy's on Thomas for my birthday dinner. I chose the Muffuletta pictured below. A traditional style muffuletta sandwich consists of a muffuletta loaf split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive salad, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone.

After dinner, Victoria and I walked a couple of blocks to Eddie's Famous Frozen Custard and shared their speciality, a Tangi Turtle. I was NOT counting calories today :-)

Wednesday's plan is to drive down to New Orleans for a brief visit and then head north into Mississippi.

Day Eight - Corpus Christi TX to Houston TX

Monday morning found us packing up and getting ready to leave Darren's place in Corpus Christi. A brief rain shower accompanied us on our departure.

We had a late lunch in Katy TX with Jeff & Shelly Dyk, old friends from our 1980s Wichita days. They were our "chaperones" on one of our first dates.

After our late lunch, we made our way to the home of Victoria's best friend from high school, Monika. This is where we stayed Monday night.

Tuesday we plan to make it from Houston TX to the New Orleans LA area.

Days Five, Six, and Seven - Corpus Christi TX

On Friday, Darren took us around to see the sights on "his" island, Padre Island, both the developed and undeveloped areas.

On Saturday, we picked up some brunch items at JB's German Bakery and the strudel and pastries were gone so quickly I only got a picture of the leftovers.

After brunch, we decided we would go see the #1 tourist attraction in Corpus Christi, the USS Lexington. It was an interesting tour of the WWII era aircraft carrier.

Sunday (Easter) was a day of rest and relaxation. Victoria and I attended Padre Island Baptist Church while Darren got some study time in. Then we did laundry and had our traditional Easter ham dinner.

Monday, March 28, we start our leisurely trip through more of Texas to Houston, then Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky on our way home to Ohio.