Texas Two Step - Day 6 -14 July - Atlanta to Gulfport, MS

What a gift to be able to sleep in this morning. We had to be on the coach and ready to leave by 10 so a good solid 8 1/2 hours. We had been told breakfast was until 9 so we used that as our target time. We could have slept another hour since it really was until 10. I am not sure what has happened to the Hampton Inn chain, but breakfast options this morning were pitiful. The scramble eggs and home fries were at room temp and not fit to eat. 

This was a very relaxing day of travel on the coach. I am glad we have the room to spread out a bit and I have 2 seats to be able to organize pictures and such. 

First order of business was to fix the iScore program from yesterday. Even though I don’t have  all the balls and strikes recorded, at least the plays and the scores are correct. 

Kristi miscalculated when the time zone change was going to occur and so our first stop in Auburn, Alabama was at 10:25 instead of 11:25. Home to Auburn University, it is a super nice college town with oodles of restaurants and shops. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants opened until noon and we weren’t really hungerIt was drizzling a bit and, of course, my umbrella was stowed in the suitcase in the bowels of the coach. We walked a bit into the campus and then decided the commercial district was a better option because there were so many awnings. Found a nice little gift shop and the got popcorn and a Toomers lemonade for our “coach lunch.”

Loved the idea of Auburn’s answer to the Hollywood stars with many plaques embedded in the sidewalk. 

Back on the coach and watched the Pirates game. Strange game with a couple of very suspect umpire calls and weird things happing to the Marlins team like a broken tooth and a couple of other injuries. Our bullpen couldn’t hold on and we lost in the 11th 3-2. 

Another rest stop about 2 hours later and then onward to Gulfport, Mississippi. Drove through some wicked storms and rain, but also had some clear views of the canals. 

 Arrived at the Best Western Seaway is an old school motel (picture to follow) with 2 levels and outside access for the rooms. Not my choice, but it’s only 1 night. Got everything organized for tomorrow and then decided to get dinner. Had 2 ideas, but both fell through. There was what looked like a lovely restaurant about 20 minutes away, but they didn’t take reservations and there was a 30 minute wait when I called. So we decided to walk to the Shrimp Basket - only a 10 minute walk so doable. EXCEPT when we got to the 4 lane road there was no sidewalk. Nope, not an option. So we were left with 4 choices - Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonalds and Hooters. It would not have been my first choice any other time, but really was the only non-fast food place. Please do not judge. It was better than being a dead pedestrian. So I had very good wings, tater tots, and a beer and Earle had Buffalo Style shrimp with chile cheese fries. - Can’t even.

Back to hotel to finish up the blog and hit the bed. VERY early morning tomorrow.