Winter Trip -2010 #13

We had a great trip to Ocean Springs, MS. The Kuhl's were great hosts. We got to go to the casino in Biloxi, MS twice-- you know I was happy! We enjoyed buffet dinners on both occasions thanks to Nan and her comps. Both buffets had crab legs to die for. I was in crab heaven. And to top it off, on the second visit, right at the last moment, I won $571 on the penny machine. At first I thought I won $57 then when it kept going, I realized I won $571. It was very exciting. So my total wins for our trip was $1100. Not too bad. On Sunday, we went to another Diner from my book of Funky Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It is called Manci's Antique Club Restaurant and is located in Daphne, AL which is about 45 minutes from the Kuhls. Dave, Jim and I went. The restaurant has all kinds of weird antiques about the place. In the lady's room, there is a wooden figure of Adam (of Adam and Eve) with a fig leave covering his privates. (see pic above). If a lady should lift the fig leaf, a siren goes off all over the building. The locals know exactly what happened and break out in cat calls and applause. I admit I was tempted to lift the leaf, but I knew what would happen so I didn't lift it. Before we left some lady did go in and lifted the leaf and boy that siren was loud. A little girl sitting with her family goes, oh my gosh, someone looked! Anyway it was funny as hell and the food was very good too. After Ocean Springs, Jim and I continued our journey towards home. We spent the night at a Wal Mart just outside Atlanta, GA and that evening we headed out for another diner. This was called The Highlander and was located right in the middle of Atlanta. We used our GPS to get there and had no problems with traffic or directions. This restaurant is known for its unusal art on the walls and their great food. One of their specialties mentioned in my book was their home-made cheese sticks. So I had to try the cheese sticks and they were great. It was a fun atmosphere and we had a great meal. We left Atlanta, GA and made our way the next day to another diner in Tucker, GA called Matthews Cafeteria. The food here is southern home cooked food and was very very good. We met the owner, Mark and he was very gracious to us and thanked us for coming. We really enjoyed our experience. This evening, we are spending the night in Gafney, NC. We tried another diner in Spartanburg, SC called the Beacon Drive-In. This is a cafeteria style restaurant with the menu posted to a wall as you walk in. Then they have a caller at the end of the food bar and you tell him what you want and he calls out the order. Their hamburgers are covered with fries and onion rings and is called in as Hamburger - A- Plenty. The restaurant was started in 1946 and was sold to the current owners on the basis that they promised not to change anything about the menu or the way the restaurant is run. It was a very unique experience to go there and our burgers were great too. We also met one of the owners this evening and he signed my book and thanked us for visiting. Well we have run out of diners to visit and should get home tomorrow afternoon. Its been a great trip. We loved visiting with relatives, and friends and loved visiting different parts of the country that we haven't seen before. Right now though, home is looking very good.

Winter Trip 2010 #13

Well our two weeks in Harlingen, TX went by so fast we can hardly believe it is over. We had such a great time. The weather was perfect and our friends couldn't have done more to keep us entertained. I was telling Jim, it seemed everywhere we went there was music and seniors were dancing, laughing and having a grand time. It was so good to see people enjoying themselves. Harlingen does such a wonderful job of making "Winter Texans" feel welcome. There are welcome signs everywhere. One of our fun times was going to Pepe's on the river. They had wonderful entertainment and a huge dance floor and the place was jammed packed in the middle of the afternoon. We went over to Progresso, Mexico about 3 times. It was only after we left Texas that we heard about how bad Mexico is getting and it turns out Progresso is one of the only cities left that is heavily protected to ensure tourists are safe. After Harlingen we went to a Thousand Trails campground in Columbia, TX about halfway between Austin and Houston. We are still checking off diners from our book of Funky Diners, Drive-in and Cafes in the U.S. One of the Cafes in our book was located in Austin, called the Magnolia Cafe on S. Congress St. so we decided to go and check it out. The restaurant was wonderful and food excellent. It was extremely crowded but once you got seated the service was outstanding. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. I noticed a lot of the customers looked like performers because of the way they dressed and the strange hairdo's. I started reading some of the pictures on the walls and realized Austin is known as the Music Capital of the U.S. (I always thought Nashville was). Later we rode through town and we realized that a music festival was going on so we parked and enjoyed the music for the afternoon. A lady sitting next to us told us it was a music festival with performers coming from all over the world to perform. Most of the concerts were free and there were concerts going on all up and down Congress St. We really had a great time. The next day we were hooking the truck up to the motorhome. I was in the truck and Jim was standing behind the motorhome and in front of the truck. The motorhome was running. All of a sudden I saw the backup lights come on the motorhome and I pointed to Jim to look up. Jim went around to check inside the motorhome and our dog Charlie had put the motorhome in reverse. Thank God the air brake was on, and the motorhome didn't move. So now we know we can't leave Charlie in the motorhome with the motor running. Jim says no telling what the little black s__t will do next. Nothing like a little excitement. The next night we spent at a WalMart in Lafayette, LA. We went to a Cajun restaurant called PreJeans recommended by Jim's brother Mason. The food was really good and they had a Cajun band playing music. We met a couple at the next table and spent the evening talking with them. It was a great time. We are now in Ocean Springs, MS spending the weekend with a classmate of Jim's from West Virginia, Dave and Nan Kuhl. We started off our weekend visit with a trip over to Biloxi, MS for dinner and gambling. I was pretty lucky and won $47.00, so needless to say we are looking forward to a nice weekend visit.

Winter Trip-2010 #12

We have been having a wonderful time in Harlingen, TX, catching up with old friends, Mason and Flo and Kenny & Jerry from Oklahoma. They have been wintering in the valley now for eight years. The weather has been beautiful. We've been enjoying having dinners together, flea markets, and going to Mexico. Progresso, Mexico is about 30 minutes from Flo and Mason's Campground. We also went to Border Fest which was kicked off with a 2 hour parade. The parade was awesome. They must have had a hundred floats, a couple high school bands, motorcycle clubs, beauty queens and my favorite of course was the horses. We saw lots of paso fino horses and it was really cool to watch them. The middle picture above is one of my favorites - this dad and daughter are making wonderful memories together. That little girl was so cute and she rode the whole ride. We even saw Charo at Border Fest. She is still a good entertainer. I remember seeing her some 20 years ago in Hawaii and she still has the crowds laughing and clapping the whole time she is on stage. We all went to Padre Island today to watch the spring breakers but the fog was so thick and it never lifted so we couldn't see the beach goers but we did have a nice lunch at the beach. We leave Harlingen, TX on Monday, March 15th.

Winter Trip - 2010 #11

We left San Jose, CA on Feb 24th and headed for Harlingen, TX. Our first night, we spent in Ventura, CA camped along the Pacific Ocean. It was a cloudy afternoon when we stopped but we opened our windows and enjoyed listening to the ocean. It was very soothing. We made it to Quartzsite, AZ the next day. We went to the same location that we spent two weeks earlier on this trip. There were still a lot of winter campers in Quartzsite but most of the flea markets and gem dealers were gone. It was a very quiet town this time. That evening Jim and I went to Parker, AZ which is 30 miles from Quartzsite, for a birthday dinner and some slot time at the casino in Parker. The place was packed. We had a very nice dinner but our gambling experience turned out to be a donation. We didn't win a thing but we did have fun. We have a book called More Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, which is a drop top culinary cruise through America's finest and funkiest joints. We decided that we would make it a goal to try to visit as many as we can in our travels now and in the future. One of the diners noted in the book was Matt's Breakfast located in Phoenix, AZ. So we left our motorhome at a Flying J in Phoenix and drove over to the diner. It was a very small diner with a waiting line around the block. The wait actually turned out to be fun because we met a couple and talked with them until our name was called. The wait was worth it - the food was great as well as great service. We look forward to trying out more of these places noted in the book. The next night we spent at a Flying J along the New Mexico/Arizona border. The next night we made it to Ft. Stockton, TX and stayed at a Wal Mart. The next day we made it to a Thousand Trail Camp Ground in Medina Lake, TX. I love this place. We have stayed here before. It is full of deer. They come right up to you for treats. Of course I spent the evening feeding them cereal. The next day we made it to Harlingen, TX. We are staying at another Thousand Trail Camp Ground. We'll be here for two weeks. We are visiting with our good friends, Mason and Flo Young and Kenny & Jerry from Oklahoma. We started off our visit here with a little crises though. Tomorrow we are all going to go the flea market here. Its only open on Wednesday and Sat and Sun and is a pretty big deal here. Wednesday night we are going to a show where a guy sounds just like Willy Nelson so that should be fun. Saturday they are having a Mexican Border Festival here and we all plan on attending. Sunday we are going to Mexico. Kenny is having some dental work done there and we are going to keep Jerry company drinking Margaritas while she waits for Kenny. I mean what are friends for! So looking forward to a fun weekend.