Retirement Travels : Houston, Baton Rouge, Alabama, Branson, Alabama (Most of October)

What have the Perron's been up to since our last post??

Well, after leaving JBSA Fort Sam Houston, we drove to Houston, Texas. We stayed in a really nice Houston East RV Resort but couldn't really enjoy it because it rained all the way to the resort and was still raining when we left the next morning. The only thing I can really report about the resort is it had spots that were covered. Nice, I suppose but it looked weird.

Our next stop was Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a rainy drive to the KOA we stayed at. I got a few pictures of some barges on the Mississippi River.

It was obvious that the park had a lot of damage from hurricane Ida. We didn't venture out too far due to the rain. We checked out the local Bass Pro Shop which was very unique.

Alligators for handles on the doors.

Big fish

Real ducks...they let you take your pet in the store so you can imagine what Echo wanted to do when he saw these ducks.

A giant alligator turtle.

The next stop was Foley, Alabama. We spent a few days at Ahoy RV Resort before heading to Branson with our friends Tom and Carol.

Echo got to play with his favorite friends, Pru, Luna and Baby.

We attended Oktoberfest at OWA. The food was really good at the Groovy Goat. The owner is a neighbor of our friends Tom and Carol. They had a band and some vendors.

Our first night on the drive was at Wendy Oaks RV Park in Florence, MS. We had agreed before leaving that we would drive 4 hours or less each day so it took us 4 days to get to Branson from southern Alabama.

Picking and bailing cotton

The second night we stayed at a COE in Dumas, Arkansas. We had sites with a very nice view of the Arkansas River.

Our last night before getting to Branson was at a COE we stayed at before Willow Beach in Scott, Arkansas. Another beautiful site on the Arkansas River.

We reached Branson, MO, well actually the RV park, Escapee's Turkey Creek, we stayed in was in Hollister, MO and is on Turkey Creek. The park was good but we had a back in site that required us to ask the neighbors to move their car.

Tom and Carol have been to Branson before, this was our first time. After we got settled in we headed to Billy Gail's Restaurant that is known for their huge portions. Tom had been raving about their pork tenderloin sandwich and it did not disappoint. We definitely needed to share one.

They had some really cute signs...

The next morning we had to check out Farmhouse Restaurant. We waited 45 minutes to get seated but it was worth it. They have a gift store upstairs with a lot of cute stuff, check out a few of the items I saw.

We then strolled around Branson. We spent a bunch of time in the 5 & 10, so much in this store! We checked out a yummy pastry shop and walked around Branson Landing.

After dinner we enjoyed a movie that our neighbors projected on the side of their trailer. If you haven't seen the The War Room, it was a good movie.

Day 2 we road the Branson Railway.

On the third day we went back to Billy Gails for breakfast. It was a pretty long wait but so worth it for the Billion Dollar bacon. Ernie and I shared our breakfast of an omelet, hash browns, and the billion dollar bacon. All four of us attempted to share the 14" pancake but it was too much.

Later that day we went to the Knights Theater to see Dublin's Irish Tenors and the Celtic Ladies. It was a very good show and I really liked the tribute to America (no photography allowed).

After the show we went back to Branson Landing and visited Smith Creek Distillery where we tasted 12 flavors of moonshine and a really good bloody mary mix. My favorites were Chocolate Silk, Coffee and Strawberry Shortcake. I didn't try the straight moonshine.

The real highlight of our trip was to the Sight & Sound Theater to see Jesus. It was an amazing show, the live animals on the stage and walking down the aisles was so cool, the enormous stage that wrapped around to the sides added to the experience and the story and actors were spectacular.

The trip back took an extra day because we decided to stay 2 nights at one of our favorite COE's. The trip back to Ahoy RV resort where we would be staying was uneventful. We were looking forward to getting our new bed pump so that we could sleep a full night without pumping up the bed. The company had sent it out so we would have it when we returned.

Our last day in Alabama we toured the USS Alabama and the USS Drum submarine at the USS Alabama Memorial Park. I took a ton of pictures.

First we toured the USS Drum...I always wondered what the inside of a submarine looked like. All of those controls, how does one keep them all straight? And, I know I would have bruised shins, you have to step over every doorway. Don't the bunks look cozy? 😬

Next, we toured the USS Alabama, pretty impressive ship.

Check out the wood deck boards.

Mandatory selfie

We had a great time with Tom and Carol in Alabama and our trip to Branson. We had some really nice weather while we were back in Alabama, some pretty neat sunrises and sunsets.