Days 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday
So it has been quite the ride...I couldn't update the blog as the hotel last night in Tunica had an unsecured wifi. I didn't want to take a chance on it...plus it was painfully slow as I did not want to pay for the upgrade to basic wifi...so here is what I missed posting...
On Monday we left the hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and headed to the Jim Beam distillery. We arrived a couple of minutes after the opening time of 9am and most of the tours were already full. So we browsed around and of course bought some bottles and took some pictures. It was a really interesting place with a working miniature still on display. It is the smallest working distillery in the world. Probably less than 3 feet across total. Mostly made of copper. It was a good place to stop learn new things.
Then on the road to the famous Loveless Cafe in Nashville for lunch. There was a 45 minute to an hour wait and as I had been there before I thought it was well worth it. Several buildings that are original to the 50s.The original door with a scrolled "L" was stuck in a wall on the side of the porch to the main building. Once we were seated, we noticed it was quaint and country(ish): checkered tablecloths, lots of "y'alls and honeys" spoken. Our waitress was excellent, and we enjoyed our lunch experience even more than just for the good food. Pit smoked pulled pork sandwich is what I had and my friend had a burger that had carmelized onions, and cheddar cheese on toast. There are paintings on the walls of famous country stars, a very young Johnny Cash was the one near us. In the lobby, from floor to ceiling are framed autographed portraits of famous stars-among them are Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Tex Ritter. I am not a country music fan by any means, but the atmosphere there is fun and genuine.
On to Tunica, Mississippi. A long ride and lots of both truck and car traffic in Memphis, but we arrived while it was still light(which was my goal as the last time I was there we had to use a flashlight to find out what the unlit small street signs said) around 6:30. It was very hot, and humid. I pulled into the covered entrance and immediately two bellhops came to the car. I said we only had a couple of things to bring in so we could do it. One was this laptop and it was heavy and I was tired, so I asked for a luggage cart to use to carry our things to the room. They said they do not allow anyone not using the bellhops to borrow one...thanks! So I asked if I could stay there while we unloaded and they said for a couple of minutes but then either I had to have them valet park the car or I had to move it. I went to park the car and my friend stayed with the luggage. Sounds like it would be easy but it had been a long day and it was humid, all things that made it not a happy time. But we were looking forward to playing in the casino and hopefully winning which we knew would make us forget all that. Once I checked in and they told me they charge not only a resort fee but also an activities fee(which goes onto a credit card in a second but takes 8-10 business days to come off after checkout. All the more reason to win!
The room was nice enough, third floor, but no fridge for all out water bottles that we lug around. So we decided to relax and watch news before going to the casino. The remote would not work. Once we went down to the first floor casino, I went to the desk to tell them. I asked them if they could send maintenance up to fix it but no, they had all gone for the day...really? An 1100 room hotel with no overnight maintenance? Very optimistic of them!!
So after one of us losing (me) and one winning (not me) we went back to the room, stopping at yet another desk to get a reserved new remote. At 12:30am, a maintenance man showed up. He apologized for the time, and said it was only him and a supervisor on duty. He was very nice and although had brought a third remote, he figured out it was the tv connections that were the problem, not even the remote.We barely even watched it as it was late and no interest in watching more than the weather in the morning before we left.
We had not eaten since lunch at the Loveless so we were looking forward to a nice breakfast they had highly advertised for $10 if you were a guest. I stopped at the desk around 7:15 to ask where it was and it was now $15. So we played a little more and stopped at McDonald's up the road. On to Texas.
Ahh that ride. Started out fine using the Garmin. We went with it for a few hours but never saw a highway. I know Tunica is in the middle of no where (cotton fields lining the one road and few houses along the way) but it is not hours away from a highway...it just felt wrong. We were on Rte 65 in Louisiana for way too long-still on backroads. The Garmin (named Samantha by Rick years ago) kept telling us to take farm roads which I did not do. Some were not even paved, so I was sure that was not the way. I called my brother in law to help and he looked it up and we headed toward a highway, now we were in Louisiana, somewhere...
We stopped at a Louisiana tourist info house. It was a beautiful old house all decorated by a woman who had been working there for 20 years. She was born around there and has a 26 acre cotton farm that she rents out as she is a retired farmer. She was very interesting and told us the best way to get to the highway. Between her and my brother in law we did make it to I-20 West all the way into Texas...and the speed limit is 70, and at times 75, so it was redeeming to be on there after hours of moseying along lost. And if you know me, you know I am much happier on highways, especially after 30 years of highway driving at all hours to the PO and back. I have little patience for all the stops and starts on local roads.
Finally made it to Dallas county at 9:30 pm with help again from my brother in law and sister in law talking me in the last 10 or so miles through the Metroplex traffic. My sister in law knows me well as she had ice cold wine waiting for us...success!
On Monday we left the hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and headed to the Jim Beam distillery. We arrived a couple of minutes after the opening time of 9am and most of the tours were already full. So we browsed around and of course bought some bottles and took some pictures. It was a really interesting place with a working miniature still on display. It is the smallest working distillery in the world. Probably less than 3 feet across total. Mostly made of copper. It was a good place to stop learn new things.
Then on the road to the famous Loveless Cafe in Nashville for lunch. There was a 45 minute to an hour wait and as I had been there before I thought it was well worth it. Several buildings that are original to the 50s.The original door with a scrolled "L" was stuck in a wall on the side of the porch to the main building. Once we were seated, we noticed it was quaint and country(ish): checkered tablecloths, lots of "y'alls and honeys" spoken. Our waitress was excellent, and we enjoyed our lunch experience even more than just for the good food. Pit smoked pulled pork sandwich is what I had and my friend had a burger that had carmelized onions, and cheddar cheese on toast. There are paintings on the walls of famous country stars, a very young Johnny Cash was the one near us. In the lobby, from floor to ceiling are framed autographed portraits of famous stars-among them are Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Tex Ritter. I am not a country music fan by any means, but the atmosphere there is fun and genuine.
On to Tunica, Mississippi. A long ride and lots of both truck and car traffic in Memphis, but we arrived while it was still light(which was my goal as the last time I was there we had to use a flashlight to find out what the unlit small street signs said) around 6:30. It was very hot, and humid. I pulled into the covered entrance and immediately two bellhops came to the car. I said we only had a couple of things to bring in so we could do it. One was this laptop and it was heavy and I was tired, so I asked for a luggage cart to use to carry our things to the room. They said they do not allow anyone not using the bellhops to borrow one...thanks! So I asked if I could stay there while we unloaded and they said for a couple of minutes but then either I had to have them valet park the car or I had to move it. I went to park the car and my friend stayed with the luggage. Sounds like it would be easy but it had been a long day and it was humid, all things that made it not a happy time. But we were looking forward to playing in the casino and hopefully winning which we knew would make us forget all that. Once I checked in and they told me they charge not only a resort fee but also an activities fee(which goes onto a credit card in a second but takes 8-10 business days to come off after checkout. All the more reason to win!
The room was nice enough, third floor, but no fridge for all out water bottles that we lug around. So we decided to relax and watch news before going to the casino. The remote would not work. Once we went down to the first floor casino, I went to the desk to tell them. I asked them if they could send maintenance up to fix it but no, they had all gone for the day...really? An 1100 room hotel with no overnight maintenance? Very optimistic of them!!
So after one of us losing (me) and one winning (not me) we went back to the room, stopping at yet another desk to get a reserved new remote. At 12:30am, a maintenance man showed up. He apologized for the time, and said it was only him and a supervisor on duty. He was very nice and although had brought a third remote, he figured out it was the tv connections that were the problem, not even the remote.We barely even watched it as it was late and no interest in watching more than the weather in the morning before we left.
We had not eaten since lunch at the Loveless so we were looking forward to a nice breakfast they had highly advertised for $10 if you were a guest. I stopped at the desk around 7:15 to ask where it was and it was now $15. So we played a little more and stopped at McDonald's up the road. On to Texas.
Ahh that ride. Started out fine using the Garmin. We went with it for a few hours but never saw a highway. I know Tunica is in the middle of no where (cotton fields lining the one road and few houses along the way) but it is not hours away from a highway...it just felt wrong. We were on Rte 65 in Louisiana for way too long-still on backroads. The Garmin (named Samantha by Rick years ago) kept telling us to take farm roads which I did not do. Some were not even paved, so I was sure that was not the way. I called my brother in law to help and he looked it up and we headed toward a highway, now we were in Louisiana, somewhere...
We stopped at a Louisiana tourist info house. It was a beautiful old house all decorated by a woman who had been working there for 20 years. She was born around there and has a 26 acre cotton farm that she rents out as she is a retired farmer. She was very interesting and told us the best way to get to the highway. Between her and my brother in law we did make it to I-20 West all the way into Texas...and the speed limit is 70, and at times 75, so it was redeeming to be on there after hours of moseying along lost. And if you know me, you know I am much happier on highways, especially after 30 years of highway driving at all hours to the PO and back. I have little patience for all the stops and starts on local roads.
Finally made it to Dallas county at 9:30 pm with help again from my brother in law and sister in law talking me in the last 10 or so miles through the Metroplex traffic. My sister in law knows me well as she had ice cold wine waiting for us...success!
Comments
Post a Comment