Double Decker Weekend

With April comes the Double Decker Festival.  And with it, we had the Ole Miss vs LSU baseball series.  The weather was great, Arts, Food, Music, and people, OMG the people!

Thursday night was an ESPN thing, with Ole Miss winning in a runaway game.  Friday night did not disappoint, with the Spousal Unit's Rebels coming up a little short.  Our crew decided to make a stop downtown for a bite and to catch up on the gossip.  My buddy Paul has a secret parking space that's just two blocks off the Square.  South Taco Depot was the destination.

As we rounded the corner, there were two horse patrolmen blocking the sidewalk.   Three patrol cars were also there blocking the road.  And, a little further down, three more horse patrolmen in formation had the street covered.  Security for night one of Double Decker?  Nope.  Next door to the restaurant at the Lyric, a shot had been fired, with an injured person.  This just happened before our arrival!  Nobody goes down the street, nobody leaves the area!

Eventually we were allowed to enter the restaurant, which was full of students enjoying their favorite adult beverages.  Those "21" year olds were packed in there like sardines!  And there was no leaving with any cup in hand!  A few conversations with security, and we were up to speed.  The next day, the police report indicated that a patron had shot a round up in the air, and a girl got cut on broken glass on the rush to exit the scene!  Glad I had my pocket knife on me at the ready!

The Double Decker Festival got kicked off Saturday morning at 10:00.  All the downtown roads are blocked off, and the parking lots are restricted to event staff and vendor use.  You either hike it for quite a bit, or park at the High School and do the $5 shuttle ride.  We opted for the shuttle service.

We arrived at the high school, and the line was quite long.  After parking, we joined the wait.  In this world of "I want it now!" our line began to shrink.  A rumor was going down the line that one of the buses had broken down.  People in front of us began thinning out.  Patience people, patience!  Eventually the two buses returned for the next load.  The buses dropped us off one street off from the Square!

The Courthouse was surrounded by vendors selling their food items.  We made the circle, looking to see if the "fried pie" lady was present.  Dang.  No spot for her this year.  Those pies are oh, so, good!  I think the longest line was at the Regions Bank ATM!  Don't people think to bring cash to these things anymore?????  I ended up with a tasty smoked turkey leg, and the Spousal Unit got a chicken bacon ranch wrap.  Making your way around the Courthouse was an adventure whe you spend your time dodging the wagons, strollers, dogs, service carts, and the 600 lb lady in the double wide electric scooter!  She was literally plowing her way through the crowd with her entourage in tow! Time to move on....

We made our way past all the vendor tents.  Yep, seen all this before....  It kills me to see how many people buy the bird feeders year after year!  We finally made the turn, and were headed back to the bus pickup line.  Oh, and we did see the two double decker buses two blocks down on Jackson Avenue, full of parents and kids taking the tour.  Now time to head back to the campus for the baseball game!

I dropped the spousal unit off in front of the Ford Center, then I went searching for a spot.  This was almost 2 hours before the game!  No luck in the Ford Center Lot.  I called the Spousal Unit and suggested she begin her walk without me.  I headed to the South Lot near Hwy 6 and caught the shuttle back to the stadium.  As I entered the concourse, there was the SU only 30 paces in front of me!  Who knew!

The third game of the series with LSU would be a nail biter!  Ole Miss took an early lead, but the wheels fell off the pitching staff and LSU took a big lead.  Then, Thomas Dillard smashed one so hard over right field, that the students under it forgot to toss up their beer in the traditional celebration!  Ole Miss had a two run lead in the top of the ninth.  The bases got loaded up, and the closer ended up walking in a run.  In dramatic fashion, the next batter hit one to the fence, but it was caught for out number three! What a fitting ending to the game and our Double Decker Weekend!