Brief Trip to San Antonio

 

Our maiden voyage to San Antonio was a little stressful. We drove to Jacksonville, then turned left and followed I-10 west. We overnighted in Tallahassee, then stayed two nights at a nice state park in Alabama, just across the bay from Mobile. We saw a huge alligator one night after dinner and enjoyed a seafood lunch just down the road from the park the next day.

We had a short drive to Biloxi where we spent two nights at one of our usual stops, Cajun RV Park. Our last night there, we went across the street to a local place on the beach for dinner called The Reef. We both enjoyed seafood platters, with a great view of the gulf waters.

On Saturday, August 24^th, we were headed to Scott, Louisiana where we had reservations, but saw that Hurricane Ida was headed close-by on Sunday. We changed our plans to overnight in Scott and to keep driving all the way to Beaumont, Texas, over 300-miles.

It took us 13-hours to drive across Louisiana as people were evacuating to get out of the hurricane’s path and Interstate 10 was clogged. Julie used Google Maps on her phone to help us get off the Interstate and by-pass Baton Rouge on city streets, then take U.S. Highway 190 and other Louisiana highways west. We still had some bumper-to-bumper traffic, but eventually got to Texas.

We enjoyed our three days in San Antonio, especially with Julie’s 90-year-old mom and several dinners and a lunch out with her. One night after dinner we played Parcheesi with Julie’s mom. She loves to play and is quite good. We’ve played Parcheesi many times over the years and this was the first time ever that I won. I couldn’t believe it because usually Julie’s mom wins.

We left San Antonio last Thursday and headed back east on I-10. We saw many trucks and trailers with generators, fuel containers, cases of water, electrical equipment, etc. headed east to Louisiana, responding to Hurricane Ida damage.

We overnighted in Beaumont, TX and Scott, LA, but spent two nights in Biloxi at the Keesler AFB Family Campground. It was Labor Day weekend and the Gulf Coast was packed with tourists enjoying that last big summer-time adventure. We tried to go eat again at The Reef but it was packed in the middle of Sunday afternoon with 45-minute waits for tables.

We passed and went down the road to Patio 44. We had eaten dinner there a few years ago with friends and enjoyed the place. What a great decision that was on our part. There were fewer people there and the early dinner was great. Looking through the menu, I noticed their Manhattan cocktail used the same ingredients I use in my Manhattan: Rittenhouse straight rye whiskey, Dolin sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters and a cherry. I tried one and it tasted exactly like the ones I make at home.

After an overnight in Tallahassee on Labor Day, we got home yesterday. We enjoyed the trip but were glad to get back home again. It was our first time traveling since we moved in to our new home in October 2020. It just seemed different coming home to Daytona Beach.         

Stay safe out there and please get vaccinated!

Steve & Julie Cornelius