Vacation Part 3

On Saturday we went to a wedding at the Frankleton Louisiana Country Club. Pat and Bob's niece Stacy was getting married. It was an outside wedding on a lake and it was beautiful. Also shown in the pictures are Jaime, Stacey's sister and her beautiful mom Rhonda. The picture of the two guys dancing is part of the wedding party, the one on the left is Stacey's brother Justin. The young couple holding the baby is Pat's sister Annette and her husband Luther. The baby is not hers but she does have 4 children and umpteen gran kids. I am glad her an Pat did not have a baby matching contest. It they had I am sure that I would not be writing this Blog today..ha! After the wedding we went by and looked at the building that use to have a pool hall in it. Bob
had lived there prior to moving to Baton Rouge, the pool room was his business at that time.

Well we are winding down with part 3 of our vacation. I will share pictures of Pats home town, at least what is left in downtown Kentwood Louisiana. The town has basically move out to Interstate# 55. There are a few stores left that are still in business but not very many, these pictures were taken as we were on our way to the disaster towns and also to visit Pat & Bob's aunt's. Also you will see Pat's other brother (the youngest) Jamie, he is as close as you will get to "Larry the Cable Guy". He will keep you in stitches, he is so funny you will hurt laughing.

We left on Monday for a trip to Fulton Mississippi to visit the aunts. On our way we stopped in Wesson Mississippi for lunch. We stopped at a little cafe named HW 51 Cafe, and the food was very good...again when we got it...45 minutes as the girl forgot to turn it in...only us! The owner came over and tried to give us someone else's food, right after that we got ours. As you can see on the front door was a sign for a cool sandwich. I sure did not order it but I think Pat was tempted, right down her alley.(big Elvis fan) After we left the cafe we headed to Starkville to visit the Mississippi St. campus. Wow, was it ever a beautiful campus, rolling land and beautiful buildings. As you can see we took a few pictures of the "Cow Bell Ringing Stadium" note what the sign says about ringing bells.

Now comes one of the saddest parts of the trip. These are pictures of Smithville Mississippi

which was hit by a tornado. The storm killed 15 people and completely wiped out town including the High School. You can see one partial house and a store left. That night we spent the night in Fulton Mississippi. As we were checking into the motel Bob & I struck up a conversation with the desk clerk. We told her that we had just came through Smithville and how sad it was. Her response kept us tuned in to her speaking! She told us that she lived outside of the town and that she was in Florida at the beach when her mom called her and told her. She said her mom said that the town was struck by a tornado but their house was OK (they lived right out of town) but 15 people were believed dead. The clerk told us that she tried to call several of her friends but could not get through. She said it was very frightening and it changed her outlook on life. The week before we got there her class had just graduated at a Jr. College campus in Fulton. I ask her if she was going to attend college and she said she was, maybe Ole Miss. I told her she should to to U of Fla and she said she wished she could that she loved Florida. Right then I knew that this child was going to be very successful in life, very smart. ha...

Tuesday morning we headed out to visit Aunt May (Pats mom's sister) and Aunt Marie who was married to Pats mothers brother. They both are very beautiful Mississippi girls, both in their eighties and full of life. Both have a very good sense of humor and we really enjoyed visiting them. The one picture is Aunt Marie, Pat, Bob and Aunt Marie. The very old picture is of Pats uncles (two) and two Aunts her mom and her grandparents.

When we left there we headed to Nauvoo Alabama, this is the town that Pat was born in. Pats mom & dad where cotton pickers and had followed the crop there, so when the time was right "BAM" Pat was born. As you can see the town is some what closed down but it is still really neat. We did find a new store, a new dollar store has graced the community.

We were going to spend the night in Cullman Alabama that night. What we found was that there were a lot of contractors working on storm damaged property. These people took up most of the rooms what rooms that where available we saw a real case of price gouging. We did decide to eat at a Cracker Barrel there. A funny thing happened to us as we walked to the front door, we founds a small ladies wallet in the parking lot. We gave it to the manager when we went in to let him handle it. As we finished our supper the waitress stop by to tel us that out meal had been paid for. The lady who lost the purse showed her appreciation for our honesty. "Shucks" had I known that I would have ordered a big steak! ha...

The next morning we went up to Heartscelle Alabama to have breakfast with Donald and Emma Dean Ricks. Donald is Martha Ann's brother and Pat and Emma Dean were classmates. Donald is retired from the Army and also a retired pastor. He has served the Lord for most of his life and is now living on a farm in Eva Alabama. Emma Dean has written many books. When we got home there was her latest in our mail box.

After leaving we headed home by way of Tuscaloosa Alabama. I can assure you that nothing can compare anyway with what you saw on TV. Being there just ripped your heart out, it was just horrible. The pictures tell you the entire story of what happened there but not why. We wanted to check one area where our daughter lived when she was in college. Her place was spared but starting on the next lot all the way to McFarland was totally destroyed on both sides of the street. As I looked at Pats face I could see tears in her eyes and I knew what she was thinking. We also checked a neighborhood that Darenda's friend Jennifer lived. It was totally destroyed all the homes with the exception of one home. That neighborhood was close by the hospital.......
Well that is pretty much all of it, we did have a great time at the Garrison's home. There was more that we did, like eating water melon in the back yard and going out to eat at several neat places.

We are Blessed and we hope that you are Blessed also.

“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”” -Revelation 21: 2-4