Roadie Trips and the Paths They Take You

You never know where a roadie trip will end.

A friend of mine has a concessionaire's service called Funny Face Foods.  They travel all over the southeast selling their wares.  When not on the road, they have had their trailer set up along Hwy 49 in Yazoo City serving the weekend crowd.  They just recently set up in Canton, Mississippi, just off exit 119, in a gas station parking lot.

Funny Face has one of the best desserts I have ever eaten, a red velvet funnel cake served with cream cheese icing.  This thing is awesome, and it has won them several festival awards along the way. 

 

When I saw their latest posting on Facebook about their newest parking spot, and they were open for business, It was roadie trip time!  I could barely wait for the spousal unit to get home!

 

Finally, we were in the road, up Hwy 25, to Hwy 471, to Hwy 43!  Then to Nissan Parkway, I55, and then our destination, Canton exit 119!  Believe it or not, this is actually a short cut for trips up I55 N, bypassing Jackson, Ridgeland, and Madison.  We exit the interstate and to the immediate right is the Valero gas station where Funny Face is located.

 

All of a sudden, the bottom falls out of our trip, they have closed for the day!  Seems the City of Canton has a regulation that limits these types of food vendors on the hours that they can operate within the city limits.  Today they closed at 5 p.m. and it was now 7 p.m.  Damn! That dang funnel cake was on my taste buds the whole ride over!  Oh well, plan B.  Downtown Canton here we come!

 

We make it to Downtown Canton in a matter of minutes.  Canton is known for their town square with the courthouse in the middle.  Guess what?  On a Monday night, the Square is closed up tighter than a rusted top to a mason jar full of your favorite salsa!  What now????  Plan C of course!

 

We decided to head south on Hwy 51 to Hawkinsville (i.e. Madison) for another try.  As we made our way south, we passed the time looking at the latest establishments to build up along the Highway.  Wow!  There is even a Donut Palace in Gluckstadt!  Decision finally made, Georgia Blue, here we come!

 

Georgia Blue is a local establishment that now has several other locations.  They have a great menu selection, but are know for their daily blue plate specials.  With the trip so far being a bust, we decided to go for the full meal deal, appetizer, main course, and of course dessert!

 

Our waitress, Emma Holmes, was awesome!  I decided on the country fried steak, which she said they were out of.  With a little encouragement, she said she would see what she could do, but I gave her option B just in case.  Lucky me!  The chef went ahead and prepared five more of my request, just in case other diners requested it.  A table of three young lasses next to us got three of them!  The best was yet to come!

 

The appetizer we picked was the crawfish crepes.  OMG!  The sauce is absolutely to die for!

 

I later inquired if the sauce was available for sale.  Good ole Emma came through again!  The sauce is made daily, never frozen, YES!  I was having visions of this stuff at the beach, served on pasta with an awesome salad!  They sell it in a Styrofoam cup, a little less than a half pint for $10.  I figured two of these would be just right for the pasta, more is better, right???

 

Dinner was finished off with their peach cobbler a-la-mode.  But,my thoughts we now about the next beach trip with this sauce in hand, can't wait!  Emma Holmes and Georgia Blue, we will be back!

 

You just never know where a roadie trip will lead. Be flexible, Plan B,C,D ...   And you know it, I'm already making plans for a return trip for that funnel cake and those crepes!

 



Belhaven Pothole Gardner

The City Of Jackson has itself quite a dilemma with its water-sewer line breakages and the subsequent repairs and repaving.  A funding plan is now in place with a one percent sales tax now in effect.

The biggest issue is where do you start?  The problem is that because of years of neglect it is now a city wide issue.  How does one decide on which streets and neighborhoods get attention first?  If some of the affluent sections end up at the top of the list, the complaints and protests will come from the other sections of town.

The current "remedy" seems to be fix the pipe breakages first, fill the hole with sand and gravel, then move on to the next one.

The Belhaven area is one of the many neighborhoods that is in desperate need of attention.  Riverside Drive is well known for its issues with Yazoo City.  Add in the water and sewer line breaks and you have yourself quite an obstacle course.  In my opinion, The City has more traffic cones, barrels, and barricades than any other neighborhood in the city.

An enterprising resident of Belhaven and his merry band of gardeners have taken up the task of taking a sad situation and have added humor by planting a variety of flowers and plants on top of the sand and gravel filled holes.

There have been several local news stories on this activity and some of the stories have drawn national attention.

I planned to take the spousal unit out to dinner tonight and i decided on a side trip through Belhaven first.  We crossed the interstate by way of Riverside Drive and boy, that God we had our seat belts on!  Yazoo clay all the way!

We felt like we were on a scavenger hunt of sorts, looking for those orange cones, barrels, and barriers!

Here are some of the pictures from our tour.  I have also included some from the Belhaven Pothole Gardner's Facebook Page.

Notice the "black flamingo"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must admit, this turned out to be quite an adventure!  We even came upon one barrel marking a new sinkhole from yet another line breakage.  One friend call us during this adventure and said "you are doing what????"

I wish there was a map of the all of the current "plantings" plotted out for the of the public to use to enjoy this tour.  Eventually the heat, vandals, or God forbid, the City of Jackson, will take their toll on these green oasis plantings.  If you're bored, or just have the time, take the tour.  We had a blast!

A New Pizza King In Town

There is a new sheriff in town, and he goes by the name "Lost Pizza Company".  This restaurant chain was started a few years back by two boys from the Mississippi Delta.  First location is in Indianola, right next door to one of the parent's (Brenda and Thomas Lott) restaurant "Peasoup's ", which is a local icon in its own right.

After branching out with a couple of other locations, the boys have hit the big time with their franchising of their concept.  The chain finally arrived in the Jackson area last year, first with a location in Ridgeland, followed by one in Maywood Mart in Jackson.

On one of my visits to the Ridgeland store, I met a young man named Chris at the counter.  He was from Indianola (I think) and he was training to be the manager at the latest location under construction in Brandon.  We had a nice conversation about Brenda and Thomas and the two boys that started it all.  I promised to come see him in Brandon when they opened.

Well, yesterday, the spousal unit were on our way back home from a Roady trip south, and we decided to stop by their newest location in Brandon. We weren't sure where it was located, but knew it was on Hwy 80.  As we were making out way, in search of Otis (my favorite pie) there it was!  Not hard to find at all, since the parking lot was literally overflowing with cars!

This location has only been open a week. There were so many cars in all the surrounding parking spaces that the Mexican restaurant next door had to have been saying "what the hell?!"  All these cars in the lot, but it ain't rice and beans these people are craving!

Brandon has had two dine in pizza joints for years, a Pizza Hut and a Mazzios, both less than 3 miles down the road.  Those places are old school, and the new "King of Pizza" has arrived!

The restaurant has been so overwhelmed with diners in the first week that they have started assigning you a table before you place your order, to make sure that you have a place to sit.  It works!

We ran into some friends that were there for the first time and we gave them a quick run down.  The first thing to take in is the decor.  The best way to describe it is that it's "old school Delta".  The two boys that started LPC take pride in insuring nothing gets "Lost" in the decorating.  They bring their concept of design to every location, but also include some local feel from the surrounding community.  Even the bathrooms get a touch of "Lost"!

Their primary thing is pizza, of course, but they also have other dishes to compliment their menu.  There is a separate beer bar area with just about any brand you could ask for.

No sooner had we taken our seats, when a young fella walks up to greet and check on us.  We looked at each other, and immediately recognized each other!  It was Chris, from the Ridgeland store!  You could see the excitement in his face.  They have been overwhelmed since the day it opened!

I'll be making a return visit pretty soon, since i didn't have enough time to take in all of the special touches in the decor.  I already have a greeting for them to use when customers enter the building:  "You look Lost! Come on in!"

If you are in the area, please stop by and give them a try, and tell Chris, the that I sent you!

Old Fashioned Beach Trip

In these years of the condo rental, the mega resorts and timeshares, all located in the beach locations of our youth, the spousal unit and I experienced a flash back of sorts to the times of our youth.  After a trip to the Perdido section of Alabama for several days attending a convention, we headed east to Navarre Beach to visit her cousins.

Most of our trip was on U.S. Highway 98.  This was the route most of us took in years past, before traveling east on I-10, then south on I-110.  The bridge to Navarre Beach is an old school two lane bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.  As you begin your descent down the pass section of the bridge, you are met with signs to slow down to 20 miles per hour.

On the sandy banks of the bridge path, a migratory bird claims this area, and other protected portions of the island as their nesting grown.  We did not see them until out departure.  They resembled bird colonies from every National Geographic special you have ever watched.

The cousins recently relocated here from Shreveport.  They literally lucked out on finding a three story condo the is only about 50 yards from the sand and surf.  The first floor is the garage and storage area, the second floor is the main living area and the third is the bedroom area.  The backyard is literally a canal to the Intercostal Waterway.

The cousin has put out three crab traps, and she had already made a huge pot of gumbo with eight crabs from the trap.  Talk about some fine eating!  The spousal unit went kayaking right before sunset in search of some dolphins, with no luck.












There were no fancy swimming pools on this trip.  You want to get wet? Its off to the beach to get wet!  We loaded up our gear into our beach cart and cousin's beach wagon.  Its about a 50 yard stroll to the end of the street.  You have to wait for traffic to clear before crossing the major thoroughfare to avoid getting run over! Its then a short hike up and over the sand dune to our slice of heaven, if only for a day or two.



There are a few high rise condo units down the road, but this section of beach is sparely populated.  We set up the umbrellas, got out the chairs, then oiled up for the day,  Very few boats pass by in the water, and there is only the occasional flyover of the airplane with trailing advertising banner.

The first day we experienced the "June Grass" blooming effect.  The shoreline was literally covered in a green moss like substance, which was also in the water, making a trip into the surf undesirable, even to pee!  The second day the surf was stirring big time and the green muck from the day before was almost gone!

We watched in amazement as a hot air balloon made its way traveling east, into the wind.  Later, a wind surfer using a parachute and a slalom ski passed us, working his way west.  We all bet that his arms would just about fall off at the end of his journey.

The rest of our afternoon was full of old fashioned conversation and laughter.  Lots of stories were told and shared about the days of our youth.  Oh course, what is said on the beach forever stays on the beach!  Our frozen margaritas and specialty drinks by now were all gone.  Time to pack up and head back to the house.  I have never laughed so hard at two women dragging a little wagon up and over the sand dune and it was lighter than when it first came over the dunes.

We ended the day with a grilling of some burgers and sweet corn.  I promise, there is no finer meal at the beach than when you spend the time to prepare it yourself.  This leads to even more conversation and stories that have to remain "at the beach"!











We looked the visitor calendar over and put our name down for future visits this summer.  Then, we were back on the road to Highway 98, then I-10 and beyond, and already making plans for our next trip!  Thanks to T & T for a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blogging Trivia

At the urging of my two boys, I started this blog three years ago.  They said, Dad, put your stuff in a blog, its too much for Facebook.  I finally said ok, thinking I would write a few, they would read it a few, and that would be the end of it.

Well, thanks to readers like you, I have made over 240 posts with over 27,000 reads.  Funny thing, my boys stopped reading it long ago, and the spousal unit doesn't see the point.  There is no point to it really.  Having been forced into retirement in 2012, I have had a lot of time on my hands.  Through my travels with the spousal unit, I've been able to see and observe some interesting people and sights and feel the urge to share them in this written format.  I'm not much of a story teller, and this venue gives me ability to get it all down, as seen "through my eyes". 

 There are some interesting facts and statistics that come with site.  Most readers are from the U.S., but a surprising number of readers are from over a dozen foreign countries.  I post a link to Facebook and also to Google+.  Most of my posts are read by fewer than 100 people with only eight with over 150.  I'm guessing that I have about 60 regular readers, and to those I am thankful.

The makeup of the reader's device of choice is interesting. I-phones & I-pads are 42%,   Window laptops are 37%, Androids are 9% , Mac's are 6% and the remaining 6 % are Blackberry and other devices.  This show you the power of the Apple.  Personally, I for some reason have always gone against the flow and been an Android guy!

The comments on the blog posts (62) have come from a hand full of people and a few anonymous.  They are for the most part positive.  I've had to remind one or two that these are "through my eyes", so naturally they are written though colored glasses!  I put the warning on the front as a reminder to those that are too sensitive or easily offended to remind them that they are entering strange waters!  My Mom's first comments to me were "OMG! Facebook has slapped a warning on you!" 

I have to admit, for the most part, these things are as I see them.  Some get a little twisted as they pass through this crazy head of mine.  I don't post as many pictures as I used to.  The pictures were intended to be funny, at least to me, till one woman would not go away, she wasn't even a FB friend, so I finally just blocked her.  That felt good, the power of the FB BLOCK!!!


Some people say you can make money at blogging.  Not me, its just a release for things in my head.  Got curious and looked.  Your average readership needs to be over 100 per day.  Those that read must click on the links in the blog, then some of those peeps have to buy something.  No thank you very much!

Here's the deal.  I'll keep writing them, if you'll keep reading them.  Heading back to the beach on Wednesday, so you know there will be something new posted on here!

Rip Tide Warning

When you approach the beach, take notice of the flag color of the day. Green is the all clear, but I've never actually seen one posted. Yellow is a caution for rough seas. Red is a warning and double red is a closure to access to the surf.  Blue and purple means sea life is present.  Nothing worse than a sting from a jelly fish.

These are the basic colors that you will find.  After yesterday several more colors are needed:

1. Rainbow flag- caution for windy days, as you may get hit by a flying umbrella not firmly secured into the sand.

2. White flag with a colored circle - cautionary flag to be on the alert for a wayward frisbee.  Had one come in like a kamikaze and hit a beer can in the beach chair cup holder.  Luckily there was no spillage!

3. Pink flag - Caution, somebody is nearby playing paddle ball.  Some dudes get over zealous  and try to hit their opponent with the ball, which usually means they overshoot and here it comes.

4.  Orange flag with wavy lines - this is a cautionary flag to warn beach goers of flying flotation devices such as boogie boards, noodles, inner tube and rafts.

5.  Black flag with white dots  - caution for air born threats.  Little kiddies tend to throw sand.  Your neighbor may shake the sand off their towel into the wind.  The latest phenomenon is the smell of scented suntan oil coming your way.  Young cutie pies just love to spray sun screen from those canisters of sun screen.  Very little of the contents of those cans make skin contact on the intended user.

I'll  probably have a lot more other cautions as the summer gets into high gear.  Just remember to keep one eye open at all times, as you never know what you will see or encounter at the beach!

Just One More Day

Well, we are waking up to our last day for beaching, for this trip anyway.  Each trip to surf and sand land leaves us with so many fun memories.  The sightings, the people interactions and most definitely  the food!

Staying in a timeshare, you meet people from all over the U.S. and other countries as well. One night at the grilling station, I was there grilling up three racks of ribs and corn on the cob.  These folks had never seen corn grilled with shucks, silks and all.  Some went to their unit and brought down corn to try this out!  Guessing it was gonna get boiled, but not anymore!

On  another night, a different group, all from those northern countries had mistaken me for somebody from Louisiana,  nope, just a Mississippi red neck!  They wanted to know what I knew about New Oleans, told them there wasn't enough hours in the day!  Asked if it would be in their best interest to make an overnight trip?  Absolutely!   Hooked them up with lots of foodie places to try.  They asked about crawfish, and me being me, I replied "do you suck head?"  The guy looked at me and said "man I don't suck the head off of anything!"  This of course led to "how you eat mudbugs"!

We spend some time with our local friends Jenn, Josh, and daughter HDR.  Each trip Jenn takes us to new places for foodie treats and to her favorite beaching spots.  HDR is completing the first grade this year.  She is so ahead of her time!  It's amazing to watch her entertain herself at the beach.  She brings this huge bucket full of her beach stuff for her imagination to run wild with.  She approached son Matthew with two options: option one, help me build a sand castle.  Option two was hit the water and jump the waves.

Matthew went for option one. After a while he barked "wait a minute, all we are doing is digging a hole!  This isn't  a castle!"  HDR responded "well, since you don't like the way I build my sandcastles we now have to go to option two!"  I have never laughed so hard!  I think that was Matthew's best beach day ever!

Each  trip to the sand is a new adventure.  You never know what kind of people you are gonna meet.  First day there was the guy that didn't  like me putting my umbrellas up in front of his chair rentals.  By the end of the day, we were sharing stories over some of my margaritas!

Another day we met a young couple that just graduated from TSUN, others call it Ole Miss, the school of choice of the spousal unit. Taught  them some of our lessons and tricks of beaching and told them about the restaurant scene.  Turns out they were good friends with Matthew's twin from another mother, Brittany.  The two girls husbands had gone to Delta State and played football together and were also at marine boot camp together. This is a very small world that we live in!

Today is our last day for fun in the sun, with rain in the forecast.   I've made up the last batch of Ziparitas for the day.  Supposed to meet up with a couple we met yesterday and share a Rita or two!

Time to get up and going.  Can't wait for today's adventure to begin.  Yesterday's sightings included seeing a dolphin jump completely out of the water, and eighty year old guy face plant into surf sand three times before giving up and returning to his chair.  Then there was the woman in a black bikini carrying a baby in her arms and her tummy all swollen up with another one inside!  I kept waiting for the brunette in the red bikini to walk back by.  If she was a life guard, I was gonna be all in that water flopping around looking to be saved!

Well, time to pack .  Beach time!