After stopping by the Baton Rouge temple, we went our separate ways. Houston and Wyoming went back to Houston, and the rest of us drove on in to Mississippi.
That night we stayed at the HIE in Flowood, MS. The next morning, when we went down for breakfast, we ended up in the middle of a bunch of Southern Lady Bank Tellers, who were all there for a seminar. It's been a long time since I've been surrounded by that much big hair and make-up, Southern-style. Of course they all thought my nieces were adorable (which they indeed are), and the little girls got all sorts of compliments, such as: "Ah just love her Toms (slip-on shoes). They just spaarkle so nahce!"
Later on, we picked up the folks, and drove out to Ross Barnett Reservoir. Ross Barnett was the segregationist governor of the state back during the Civil Rights struggles. But he brought home plenty of federal dollars, so they named a reservoir after him. Despite it's nomenclature, it's really quite lovely, plenty of fishing, plenty of water birds. In fact, we saw a blue heron while we were there. We happened to be there during a rainstorm, so we weren't able to get and walk around. But it was fun to see the water and to be in the woods.
After our lovely rainy drive, we went back and had a nice lunch courtesy of Mom, then we got to go see the new Mission Office. They are expecting 12 new missionaries to arrive this month, and the folks will coordinate all their vehicles and apartments, and make sure they get to their respective assigned areas. From there, we took a tearful leave and headed on down to the Coast.
That evening, I got to visit and have dinner with my friends Kip and Karen, who I recently reconnected with. Karen made me gumbo and potato salad, and Kip made chocolate cake. We caught up, and looked at some photo books from pre and post-Hurricane Katrina. Later on, my sister's family joined us, and again the nieces were a huge hit and left with all sorts of trinkets and goodies.
The next day we went to the beach, and met up for lunch with one of our new-found cousins.
At the Mississippi State Welcome Center - Magnolia, MS
Hazlehurst Chapel - one of the towns I served in. I thought I'd recognize things more than I did. But nothing looked familiar to me at all. Shows you how long it's been
That night we stayed at the HIE in Flowood, MS. The next morning, when we went down for breakfast, we ended up in the middle of a bunch of Southern Lady Bank Tellers, who were all there for a seminar. It's been a long time since I've been surrounded by that much big hair and make-up, Southern-style. Of course they all thought my nieces were adorable (which they indeed are), and the little girls got all sorts of compliments, such as: "Ah just love her Toms (slip-on shoes). They just spaarkle so nahce!"
Later on, we picked up the folks, and drove out to Ross Barnett Reservoir. Ross Barnett was the segregationist governor of the state back during the Civil Rights struggles. But he brought home plenty of federal dollars, so they named a reservoir after him. Despite it's nomenclature, it's really quite lovely, plenty of fishing, plenty of water birds. In fact, we saw a blue heron while we were there. We happened to be there during a rainstorm, so we weren't able to get and walk around. But it was fun to see the water and to be in the woods.
After our lovely rainy drive, we went back and had a nice lunch courtesy of Mom, then we got to go see the new Mission Office. They are expecting 12 new missionaries to arrive this month, and the folks will coordinate all their vehicles and apartments, and make sure they get to their respective assigned areas. From there, we took a tearful leave and headed on down to the Coast.
That evening, I got to visit and have dinner with my friends Kip and Karen, who I recently reconnected with. Karen made me gumbo and potato salad, and Kip made chocolate cake. We caught up, and looked at some photo books from pre and post-Hurricane Katrina. Later on, my sister's family joined us, and again the nieces were a huge hit and left with all sorts of trinkets and goodies.
(Did I remember to get my camera out and snap any pictures? Of course not. I was too busy yakkety-yakking. But here's a cute photo of them that Karen sent me.)
The next day we went to the beach, and met up for lunch with one of our new-found cousins.
Playing at the beach and looking for seashells in Long Beach, MS. Across the street from our hotel.
Lunch with our cousin Stephanie at Darwell's Cafe in Long Beach - famous for having been on Diner's Drive-in's and Dives. I of course way over-did it. How could I not with all that seafood in abundance? And I tried crawfish etoffe for the first time (to DIE for). We also got to meet Darwell himself!
At Paule's in Bay St. Louis, for a refreshing treat of Snowballs - shave ice with cream (condensed milk). It's a treat I remember from when I served there.
Mmmm...Snowballs with cream!
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