A dose of SOUTHERN THUNDER!

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I recently took a week-long trip with my mom to Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, where we were treated to a heavy dose of southern comfort. The food was delicious, the people were nicer than those back home in Minnesota, and the scenery was exquisite. With a rented car, we left St Paul and saw the following:

Eureka Springs, AR
Wiederkehr Village, AR
Mt Magazine State Park, AR
Little Rock, AR
Hot Springs, AR
DeGray Lake Resort State Park, AR
Highway construction
Breaux Bridge, LA
Lafayette, LA
Avery Island, LA
Atchafalaya swamplands, LA (as seen from the road)
Baton Rouge, LA
Natchez, MS
Rural MS, LA, AR
Cane Creek State Park, AR

Notable mentions:
- Lunching in a subterranean German tavern on a Sunday morning in rural Arkansas
- Appreciating the luxury of Arkansas state parks with lodges
- Spending a night in The Empress, a B&B in Little Rock with a dreamily comfy bed and an equally dreamy three course breakfast
- Communing with live oaks
- Visiting the Tabasco factory and sampling a wide variety of products infused with Tabasco sauce (including ice cream and pop)
- Alligators
- Eating a fancy and delicious meal at Galatoire's in Baton Rouge. A spinoff of the original in New Orleans, this fancypants restaurant featured a lunch menu with three courses for $19.05, the year the original Galatoire's opened in New Orleans. My choices were French onion soup, Godchaux salad, and a flanny custard cup. I wish I was eating this again RIGHT NOW
- Spending a night in Monmouth Plantation, an antebellum house in Natchez, Mississippi. We toured Monmouth as well as Melrose, another antebellum house that is now managed by the National Park Service.
- Tent-camping in Cane Creek State Park, near Little Rock, where during the night a skunk fell on our tent less than a foot from my face. Following this, he made angry grunts and huffs and lumbering off into the night. At this point we began to smell him, but luckily his scent drifted away as he did.

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Comments

[Daddy]

Nice trip, Emma, glad that you were able to go!