I drove from about 9PM Thursday until 3AM Friday.  Tab moved to shotgun to keep me company and Marie was awake most of the time just behind us.  John slept in the back, Nigel slept in what we call the “hopper” seat, and Stewart snored away just behind me.  The little girls shared the little bench. 

On one hand, now that everyone is “older” there isn’t that desperate feeling to get the little ones to sleep.
On the other hand, now that everyone is bigger, it is harder for them physically to sleep.

But something about vacation makes it all tolerable – dare I say adventurous – so we made the best of it.

At 3ish, I went to the back to sleep.  It was no where near as comfortable as the old van, but I did manage about 2.5 hours.  John estimated he slept about 4.

The plan was to stop for breakfast around 7AM at a Cracker Barrel, as I’d learned recently they’ve upped their game with food allergies.  We were inside Tennessee when that happened.

It took three tries to get that photo as I was a little addled after so little sleep.

Breakfast was okay.

Some meals were better than others.  No one left hungry.

Marie had catfish.  This was no where near the most exotic thing she ate on vacation. (Stay tuned!)

We can now add Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to our list of states.

As we neared New Orleans, we took the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain.  I’ve seen this giant lake on maps all my life and it was exciting to see it in real life.

Though we were tired, I pulled the mom card and had us do a tour.  I could not green light the idea of just going to the hotel.  I knew once there we’d just flop in front of TVs or electronics and not actually SEE any part of Louisiana. 

I’d learned before our trip about how many plantations were in the region and picked one that had a long history, and was close to our hotel.

We learned that French plantations were different from Colonial plantations.  Not better.  Not worse.  Just different. 

This plantation once covered thousands of acres from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain and was a major supplier of indigo.

It was also very warm out.  I think it was 94F or so.

These trees scream Louisiana to me!

Admit it.  You’re thinking Bayou, too, huh?

We all kept looking for alligators.

When we left for our hotel we criss crossed the Mississippi River.  Hey friend!  Remember me?  I dipped my hands in in 2015 in St. Louis! 

We had two rooms in a LaQuinta in Boutte, LA.  John and I bunked with Johanna and Katriel.  The big four had their own double room up on another floor altogether. 

We dumped our stuff and went to a little place I’d found listed on TripAdvisor when I’d looked into it before leaving home.  It was a diner in a strip mall.  Our first impressions were that it was a little unimpressive. 

Then I had the catfish. 

Where has this been my whole life? 

We found a few minutes to wash the 1,300 miles off our tired selves, and made our way to bed by 9PM.