Strange, we're heading west!

It was really hard to leave my son Ray, my daughter-in-law Chris and my grandson Justin.  Being with them was such a comfortable joy.   Anyway, it was great, the weather was interesting ( a real combination of absolutely drop dead gorgeous and "WOW that lightening strike and thunder was close, wasn't it?!") and the sights were wonderful.  We drove to Pensacola, FL, a city right at the western end of the panhandle of Florida, saying, "I had no idea Florida was so wide up here!" I was also wondering what felt different: for the first time, we were heading WEST! This is the only picture I took while we were in Pensacola:

The little sign in the middle of the picture asks:  "Forget anything?"  With all our stuff around it, I thought it was too funny to pass up...obviously, we hadn't forgotten anything at all! I was sorry that we didn't take any beach pictures in Pensacola because the day was absolutely beautiful.  However, we did make up for it when we stopped at the visitors information center as we entered Mississippi and for lunch at Shaggy's in Biloxi, MS:

Elvis greeted us as we walked through the Visitor Center

Beautiful staircase in the Visitors Center

Look at the birds carved from the tree!

View from Shaggy's

The beautiful Sandi

This the back of Shaggy's

The food was fantastic the view, as you can see, was absolutely beyond description as was the weather...gentle breeze, warm...everything.  Sandi has been saying that it's the unexpected things that have been so wonderful; the motel rooms that have been so comfortable, the people that have been so nice, the impulsive stopping at a restaurant on the beach, the Visitors Center that makes you feel that you have just stepped into Tara.  We have been so very blessed on this trip! The only down side has been Sandi's allergic reaction to bug bites.  When we were in Williamsburg I took her to an Urgent Care facility because her arm was swollen and red and the bites had ballooned up.  The Dr. diagnosed Cellulitis and put her on a couple of antibiotics.  That cleared up pretty much but when we were in Bristol, TN, sitting out on the deck enjoying the view, a huge, UGLY bee or wasp or something started to sting Sandi on the leg, but she brushed it away.  Sue got some ice for it and it appeared to be nothing but a little irritation.  However, by the time we were in New Orleans she had finished with the antibiotics and this is what her lower leg looked like:

Sandi's lower right leg

Once again to Urgent Care and a prescription for more, stronger antibiotics and a steroid cream.  Now here is where one of those "unexpected things" came in.  The nurse directed us to a small pharmacy that was "just a little ways" away.  We drove for what seemed like forever, got caught in a right turn only lane, went back the way we had come and still no St Bernard Drug Store.  Sandi called while I drove and found out that we hadn't gone quite far enough on the "just a little ways" away.  We went by a chain drug store and I was tempted to pull in, but no...I was determined to get to St. Bernard's.  Finally, we found it and also found some of the nicest people we had met yet.  We were talking about out travels when the pharmacist himself came over and was listening intently.  When we got to the part about looking for a place to have lunch, Dominick (the pharmacist) said - with a wonderful southern accent - "You have to go to Drago's.  It has the best seafood and most wonderful char-broiled oysters you'll ever have!"  So, we got the directions and went there (after a little back-tracking and phone calling!) and I have to say that he was totally correct: we had the best meal we had had yet.

The lovely chucked oysters just waiting for the grill

The grill!

We agreed that the stuffed crab that I had the the catfish that Sandi had were wonderful, the the highlight was the oyster appetizer that we could made a meal out of, sopping up the butter and stuff with french bread.  So, we made some new friends and found a wonderful place to eat because of Sandi's misfortune.  Now it's Westward Ho! to League City, TX and my friend, Nan.