Unexpectedly Long Day

We had a slow start to our third day on the road.  The kids slept past 6:30am and we took our time getting out.  The hotel staff gave the kids extra goody bags for the road and we both commented on how awesome people can be! (Shout out to the staff of the Hampton Inn in downtown Jackson.)

Our first stop was in Natchez, Mississippi at Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.  They were mound-builders and we were able to climb the ancient mounds, though the highlight was the kids finding a tiny frog.

Our next stop was into enemy territory as we ventured into Baton Rouge to stop by to see Mike the Tiger, LSU's live mascot. Admittedly, that place is really cool. GBG had her first accident on the road, but not too much of a disaster.

Since we were in or near the Bayou, we believed that crawfish needed to be on the menu. We found a local place in Lafayette on-line called Straws and Claws. It literally was a small shack that was supposed to serve crawfish, boudin (pronounced 'buddha'), and snowballs. Of course what we, the non-locals, didn't realize is that crawfish season ended a few weeks ago, so while restaurants still have some and are serving, local dives are not. So we settled for boudin, snowballs (which GBG wore quite nicely), and hot dogs for the kids.

The next stop found us in The Frog Capital of the World, Rayne, LA. Who knew? So we took a picture with a large metal frog and then ventured on, soon crossing our 5th state line into Texas. They say everything in Texas is bigger, which includes speed limits...hello 75 MPH.

Texas rest stops are bigger and nicer too, including a playground and nature walk that included an animal hunt, which only yielded a cool looking frog.

At this point, we had a decision to make. We were feeling good and the kids were hanging in there, so we decided to continue on into Houston for dinner and then beyond to stay.  After texting a friend, we were hooked up with a United Methodist pastor who gave us several nice recommendations and even offered his place for us to crash.  We didn't really feel like we could bring this crazy circus to anyone else's house, so we passed up the offer. Thanks to Rev. Josh Hale, who blogs at expatminister.org. Btw, Houston is HUGE. Didn't expect that at all.

So on the west side of Houston, we found a place called Crawfish and Noodles, a Vietnamese restaurant where we could finally satisfy a craving for the Gulf Coast staple. And yes, it was amazing. Big win there. 

So after dinner we made one final push, going farther than we ever thought we would, making it to Columbus, TX. This will afford us the opportunity to get into even more stuff tomorrow, including visiting the Alamo in San Antonio and then on to our first long destination, Austin, Texas. We can't wait!

Mike the Tiger snoozing.

Crawfish and Noodles.