Surprise Dinner Party

For Mother's Day this year my sisters and I decided to have a surprise dinner for mom. The idea came up last minute, so we had to put it off to the Saturday after Mother's Day. This also happened to be Pops' 72nd birthday and just nine days before their 25th wedding anniversary. Pops was in on the dinner planning but was not aware that we decided to throw in birthday/anniversary as well. A special cake was in order.

Decorated half for birthday and half for anniversary. Everyone had a great time. My brother-in-law, Dean, grilled Hawaiian chicken; baby sis made potato salad and corn on the cob; my older sis made pineapple cole slaw; me and my other sis brought the cake, plates and plasticware. Mom was totally surprised when she walked into baby sister's house and we were all there.

Everyone had a great time!

Camping Trip to Lake Brownwood State Park

John and I have decided to start taking the RV out occasionally. We mostly plan to stay somewhat close to home, so not a lot of time is taken up with driving since I work every Sunday night - for now. For our first trip we headed to the Lake Brownwood State Park. I love hiking and John loves fishing, so we usually try to find spots that have both. Our local state park fits the bill. Both Saturday and Sunday morning I hit the trails with Midnight.

The first morning we went on a 3 mile loop. Not a very scenic trail, so not many pics, mostly cactus. The next the trail we went on was not as long but it was not a loop so by the time we walked to the trailhead, down the trail, then back up it again it came pretty close to 3 miles as well.

The Grand Stairway

Table and fire pit in picnic area.

Bench for picnic area.

Stone Picnic Area 

Stone Steps - She didn't want to go down them but was fine going up them, I was the opposite.

Somewhere down there is the old pump house.

Cacti in Bloom

This second trail went close to the lake and had some great views. Also along this trail is a lot of the stone work done in the early 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, this was done in a effort to create jobs during the depression. John enjoyed fishing but we were surprised and saddened by how low the lake levels were. It brought home the fact of how we need to pray for rain in earnest! Wonderful trip overall, can't wait for our next adventure!

Vacation 2014 - Louisiana - Part 2

This has been quite a busy week. Took the RV out over the weekend, made a quick trip to Houston and back to see my daughter graduate from Alvin Community College and training a new girl at work. I have made no menu plan for this week, haven't been grocery shopping either, maybe tomorrow. Today, trying to get laundry done before going to work! For now though, here is Part 2 of our vacation, a bit later than planned but that shouldn't surprise anyone much - lol.

Sunday was a quiet day, we took a drive to one of Louisiana's beautiful state parks - Cypremont Pointe State Park. Beautiful park, took a quiet stroll along the beach. From there we drove to Pierre Part, where Troy Landry, one of our fav swamp people, is from.

Awesome Artwork!

The Landrys

We drove around the little town, looked at house boats (that is our next dream home) and took a few pics. We left Pierre Part right at lunch time and were sooo hungry we just stopped at the first place we came to - Sonic. We then did a little shopping and headed back to the hotel to relax before dinner. For dinner we picked a place close to the hotel and walked.

El Chile Verde - great food, great service! We had seen such mixed reviews we were not sure what we would find but glad we took the chance and went! After a nice stroll back to the hotel, we just relaxed and turned in early. Monday we headed off to do some more shopping. After hitting a few shops, we had an early lunch at Victor's in downtown New Iberia. It had been recommended as a good place for breakfast, lunch was ok, not bad but not so good I would go again. We both had shrimp fettuccine. Then it was off to the Konriko Rice Mill.

Mini Replica of the mill.

We did the tour and bought gifts for the folks in the store. Then it was off to Lafayette for more shopping! From here we went to another one of Louisiana's beautiful state parks - Lake Fausse Pointe. To get to this park we had to go over this somewhat scary bridge.

Here we went on one of there short hiking trails 3/4 mile long. Very nice! By the time we arrived back in New Iberia it was time for some dinner! We headed to Ruby Tuesday. Neither of us had ever been and there is not one anywhere close to where we live!

We were craving a good salad and both ordered the Spicy Fish Tacos Combo - yummy fish tacos with a trip to their awesome salad bar! With Tuesday being our final day we decided to grab what we needed for a nice picnic lunch and headed back to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park.

We went on their longest hiking trail - close to 4 miles long. Then sat down to a simple lunch of sandwiches, chips and cookies. The original plan was to see another park but we decided against that and headed back to the hotel for an afternoon of relaxing by the pool with some ice cold beverages. Then for dinner it was back to Ruby Tuesday! It was close to the hotel and the food was great so we thought "why not"?

I had the New Orleans Seafood - tilapia topped with sauteed shrimp; John had a burger, I don't remember which. The food was excellent! Both times we went here some random person gave us a coupon. The first night is was for one entree at half price, the second it was for $5 off! How nice and what are the odds? We left Wednesday morning, drove to Baton Rouge where John had some business to take care of, then we were Texas bound. We did make one more stop on the way for some boudin and the little place we stopped at (Chicken on the Bayou - The Boudin Shop & Country Store) also had gator burgers so that was lunch! Soo gooood!!

Vacation 2014 - Louisiana - Part 1

I would like to start off with a big thanks to a couple of awesome bloggy friends - Michelle @ Ms. enPlace and Marguerite @ Cajun Delights. They were so helpful with suggestions and links. I think we did almost everything they sent! We left a day early and stopped in Beaumont for the night, headed for New Iberia. This allowed us to arrive at our destination early without leaving home before the crack of dawn. Headed down I-10 we spotted a sign for the Gator Chateau.

We had to pull off and hold a baby gator!

See if you can spot the thief!

From here we headed a bit further until we got hungry. I don't remember the name of the little town we were in but we ended up at the Boudin King. We both opted for their seafood plate. 

4 Fried Shrimp, 1 Stuffed Shrimp, Catfish Fillets and Fries - not bad for only $8! We arrived in New Iberia around 1 and luckily the hotel was able to accommodate an early check-in. We got our stuff unpacked and headed out for Avery Island. We toured the Tabasco Plant, bought a few things at their store and headed over to Jungle Gardens. 

Gator 1

Gator 2

Closer Pic of Gator 2

The Boat House

Bird City

Survey Tree

That evening we headed out to Landry's - Not The Chain - Cajun, Seafood and Steakhouse! Since it was Friday they had there Grand Buffet going. 

Landry's

The food was awesome and there was plenty of it! Then back to the hotel to relax for the night. Wow, what a first day! The next morning we decided to head to McGee's Landing for a swamp tour. We called ahead and reserved a spot on their 1pm tour. We arrived around 11:30 so that we would have plenty of time to enjoy lunch. We ordered an appetizer of stuffed jalapenos. We expected the typical jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese, what we got were jalapenos filled with this amazing stuffing that included crab and all sorts of yummy spices, then breaded and fried! 

Gator Shaped Fries

Sign Outside McGees

We then shared a Seafood Platter which included stuffed shrimp, grilled shrimp, grilled gator, grilled catfish, another type of shrimp, fries and a hushpuppy. Every place we went the food was sooo good we said we'd go back, but didn't make it back because we had so many other places we wanted to try, lol. Now, with full bellies and happy hearts we headed out to tour the swamp!

Our Guide

Old Train Bridge

I-10 Bridge - Second Longest in America

Duck Blind

After the tour we headed to Lafayette to visit the Festival Internatiional de Louisiane! We wandered around listening to music and people watching for a bit. Then we were off again, headed south - just driving, enjoying the scenery. After a nice long drive we headed back to the hotel, to relax and just hang out. We didn't feel like going back out so ordered Papa John's, we don't have a Papa John's in Brownwood so this was a treat for us! Thus ended day two and with that I will end this post!

Shared with:

Freedom Fridays at Love Bakes Good Cakes
Freedom Fridays at My Turn For Us

Katherines Corner