Road trip to Houston

We left Bill and Scarlet and headed north.  Lake City or Bust!  Why Lake City?  What is there?  Nothing more than a Tesla Supercharger.  We stayed as I said at a dodgy hotel, but we needed to be in Lake Charles so we could go see the circus at Callaway Gardens.  

You see, when George was in an undergraduate at FSU (60 years ago!) he was a member of the FSU Flying High Circus.  He wanted to go to Tallahassee to see the circus area but since school is out and it's mid-summer, I knew it would be empty.  Instead, I decided that we would head up to Alabama for him to be able to see the circus in person.  Aren't I just the best wife?  

Being deep south, there was a lot of sun.  Sadly, I couldn't find George's sunglasses in the car so he had to wear my "Boca glasses".  

At one of the charging stations we stopped at, I just had to take a photo of the snack aisles.  I was shocked by the variety in the gas station.  Also, check out the sign for alcohol sales.  Yes, I tried the door and the cooler was closed 2 minutes before noon.  You've got to love the bible belt.  But for the demographic stereotype, I have to say, it surprised me. 

We took a 4 hour detour and headed north.  The circus started at 3 pm and we arrived around 45 minutes early. We went inside the tent and watched the practice.  He was in heaven.  The show started at 3 on the dot and lasted just over an hour.  

Sadly, it was a group out of Normal Illinois and not the FSU troupe.  But George loved it anyway.  It was more of a dance themed circus act.  They went from the early 1900's through to the 1990's with a variety of different dances that incorporated juggling, jumping stilts, unicycles and much much more.  Below are some of the photos from the show. 

When it was over, George went up and spoke at length with one of the jugglers.  

The look of shock on that young man's face was when George explained that he performed here 60 years ago this summer.  The whole crew were all college students from around the US.  Mostly Illinois and Florida, and all were impressed by this old man from the past who came to see them.  

We have now traveled to Italy, Spain, and Alabama to see where George has performed.  On the way back to Boca, we will swing by a Tallahassee so we can add his original performance location to our trips. 

When we left, my plan was to drive to Mobile for the night.  Sadly, mother nature had other ideas and we only made Evergreen, Alabama.  The rain was so strong, I was driving at 35 MPH on the interstate.  I pulled over at the first exit and we took the first hotel we could find.  UGH! The Red Roof Inn at Evergreen should be avoided at all costs.  Everything was sticky, the floors, the tables...I didn't look too hard, took a shower and fell asleep to the sounds of a tropical storm that only happens in this part of the world. 

The next day, we had a leisurely drive over to the Marco Hotel in Lake Charles.  I have to say, if you are in the area, it was a wonderful hotel. Clean, spacious rooms at a good price.  The only drawback?  No EV charger.  It was advertised as having one, but didn't.  No big deal.  We charged again along the way to Houston. We even had a table in the room that was large enough to play a game of Eurorails! 

On the 2nd we drove the last 3 hours to Houston.  Along the way we stopped at a Buck-eeys to charge up.  That place is insane!  I'm sure I'll insult many, but there is so much kitsch and crap there it isn't funny.  It's like Walmart on steroids.  

There must have been at least 40 gas pumps,

and the soda fountain and coffee bar was just crazy!  

One man showed us his out of production 52 ounce mug.  He was very proud of it.  And promptly turned around and filled it with soda....

After our stop, we headed on into town to see an old university friend of George's.  He and Willis have known each other since the mid-60's.  

The two chatted for a couple of hours then we headed out to lunch.  A local place called "Local Market".  I highly recommend this place.  The food was great. I had a vegan taco salad.  I wouldn't have know had I not been told.  Simply delicious!

And at 2 pm we left to check into the IPP hotel.  I'd like to say 10 minutes later and we were there, but we made 2 stops along the way to get juice first.  All is good though.  We are here now and enjoying ourselves as always!