Favre Scores Seven Years Ago

We are back from our eleven night summer vacation to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The temperature was in the 90s everyday and we have come home to the 90s here in Minnesota. Here are a smattering of pictures from the trip. This is St. Louis Church in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Here is a vintage garden at a mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans.  Wrought iron is big in this town.

This is novelist Anne Rice’s house (she moved out in 2004) and down the block we also saw actor John Goodman’s house. Anne Rice is famous for her vampire New Orleans-themed stories.

We heard lots of street music in New Orleans and several top-notch jazz groups in two different clubs. I could have brought my trombone and played for tips on the street.

The French Quarter is old and actually Spanish in style. This is a typical building located several blocks away from Bourbon Street, the street where tourists go to say things like, “What happens in New Orleans stays. . . wait, what happened in new Orleans?” This town was made for John and Sharon Berg. I don’t think they could get kicked out of a bar here if they tried!

We had one dinner out on a terrace overlooking Bourbon Street. The first day we arrived was a Sunday and “Sunday Funday” was in full swing. Monday and Tuesday were a little less crowded. This was from Tuesday evening about 730pm. There is live music (mostly blues, rock and 80s rock blaring from bars all along the strip. One of the jazz clubs we went to was on Bourbon street but in a new and classy hotel bar.

In Montgomery, Alabama we had a guided tour of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where the young Martin Luther King, Jr. was preacher for about six years during the beginning stages of the Civil Rights Movement.

The double A minor league baseball team (part of the Tampa Bay Rays system) is the Montgomery Biscuits. This is their mascot, a biscuit. I was hoping there would be a guy dressed in a biscuit costume but instead they had an elephant-like creature walking around with a biscuits had on. The tongue is butter.

We left 2 and a half hours into the game in the top of the fifth inning with our biscuits up 11 to zero.

We met up with the Bergs and the McCumbers at Gulf Shores Plantation in Fort Morgan, Alabama. The beach was white sand, the water temperature was in the 80s, and the air temperature was in the high 90s. Perfect beach weather. Everyone seemed to love the beach!

Steve, Bella, Me and Lauren digging the first of many sand fortresses. Steve and Liz brought chairs and a beach shelter that we didn’t use too much. We spent a lot of time in the water both the gulf and the six or seven different pools. The girls tried the sauna and the steam room. There were only a few jelly fish stings.

Who is having a better time? Me or Lauren?

This was at Lulu’s tourist restaurant in Gulf Shores town next to the marina on the intracoastal waterway. Lulu might be Jimmy Buffet’s sister?

In the spirit of politicians quoting others during their stump speeches, I’d like to change Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago” into “Favre Scores Seven Years Ago” in reference to his glory year of 2009 with the Vikings. This is Kiln, Mississippi, birth place of Brett, which is a town of about 2000 people eight miles north of interstate 10 just east of the Louisiana border. Steve visited this homage wall on the side of a gas station about 20 years ago. He thinks it was damaged during Hurricane Katrina but it has been repainted since Favre retired. It shows all of his helmets from his high school team to his college team to the Falcons and culminating with the formidable Minnesota Vikings. His best year was 2009.

Oh yeah, I guess he played for the Packers for a few years, too.

But the Vikings. . .oh what can I say about the Vikings?

This memorial is about a half block from the gas station mural but. . .

. . . unfortunately attached to this confederate flag-adorned bar. There was no way we were going in here. The civil war ended 150 years ago – time to move on!

Look how happy Sue looks!

I wish the flowers were purple!

How is this for a sunset? On the left is I-10 crossing Mobile Bay heading into Mobile, Alabama which you can see on the right. We were at Ed’s Seafood restaurant on the causeway, a parallel bridge crossing Mobile Bay. We saw two alligators floating around in these swampy waters while we ate dinner (I had shrimp and scallops while Sue enjoyed the salad). It was a great trip! Prepare yourselves for many weeks of photos to follow!