Month: April 2025

Hammond, LA – Day 13: Just Another Day

I didn’t take a picture.

Sally and I had breakfast at the Airbnb before heading over to her Mom Adele’s house. From there, they were off to visit their Edward Jones rep for some financial wisdom. On the way they let me out at the local shopping center for some retail therapy and to await their return. I spent the next hour or so shopping at Target (a couple pairs of shorts) and Books-A-Million (a couple, well, guess.)

After, we all met up at Shoe Show or Shoe Town or Show Something where Sally looked for a pair of, well, shoes, while her mom and me, cooled our heels (pun intended.) I briefly considered buying a pair of Hey Dude flag themed foot coverings that I would wear possibly once a year on the Fourth of July before coming to my senses after seeing the $50 price tag.

After shopping, there was a lunch at a local watering hole with me, Mom, Sally and Sally’s big sister Susie. Satiated, we three returned to Adele’s house and whiled away the afternoon telling tall tales of our wasted youth.

A couple hours after Susie left, a friend of Adele’s arrived with our dinner. She had recently purchased a Big Green Egg and is breaking it in by cooking up a storm and sharing her cooking skills with her inner circle. Dinner was a pork loin wrapped in bacon, sweet potatoes and a succotash of broccoli and squash. Scrumptious.

When our evening repast was finished, Sally and I returned to where we started our day and watched the Red Sox game. The FRS charged to an early 6-run lead only to have the Blue Jays storm back in the 7th and 8th to tie it, and then win it in the 10th.

Tomorrow, I promise a picture, and it will be worth the wait.

Hammond, LA – Day 12: A Sucker Born Every Minute

Back in January during the first trip here I bought a bunch of postcards at CJ’s Antiques and Collectables in Ponchatoula to use as Thank You cards for the people who sent me Christmas cards. So, to kill some time while Sally was at her doctor’s appointment in that same town, I returned to CJ’s pick out a few more vintage postcards I plan to send off to friends and relations while on this trip.

That first time I came really close to buying something that for whatever reason really spoke to me, but just couldn’t pull the trigger. This time I almost bought a bunch of Boston Red Sox Media Guides from the Early 2000’s, but couldn’t pull the trigger on them either.

Carl Durbin – Leading District Manager 1977

But I did pull that metaphorical trigger on the thing I almost bought in January – Carl Durbin’s 1977 award as Leading District Manager for the United National Insurance Company. There is just something about a trophy for a businessman. That Fedora! But what really chinches it is the portfolio tucked under the arm, not a briefcase, a portfolio is so insurance salesman.

Hammond, LA – Day 11: Sport, Off-Road, Touring

R.I.P. Edition of SORT
As of Monday, April 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM Central Time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2006 Honda S2000 1999 Jeep Cherokee 2001 BMW 325i
This is the last SORT. I have missed the last two weeks because of travel and I didn’t realize I missed them until today. Three weeks ago I was a day late on Tuesday. I have been doing this since August of 2020 and I’m tired of trying to find different ways of getting creative with the picks, the well has run dry. Before that I did a Track/Daily/Crush version, also using Bring A Trailer, for a little over a year. That’s nearly 6 years total of Mondays looking at and judging cars. I like cars but I need a break (pun intended.) SORT might return someday or maybe I’ll go back to the Track/Daily/Crush version.

Here is what 3 weeks ago’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sport: 2006 BMW M3 Coupe Sold for USD $44,060 on 4/10/25
Off-Road: 1994 Land Rover Defender 90 Bid to USD $36,750 on 4/10/25
Touring: 2015 Maserati GranTurismo Sport Sold for USD $34,222 on 4/10/25

Hammond, LA – Day 10: Hipster Coffee

Metal Lizard

Another jam-packed day of chill. Slept in late, followed immediately by my usual cereal and banana breakfast, then a trip to the grocery store for sandwich fixings for Sally and I for the week, then a stop at a coffee shop (more on this below) on the way home for me. We were going to go to Subway to to buy a couple three footlongs to feed son Stuart and family when they arrived, but we just didn’t feel like going out again, so they got a meal of most of our sandwich fixings. Now Sally and I will have to go back to the store for ourselves later…

After lunch with us, the 4 of them and Sally and I piled in two different cars to drive the couple miles to see GG, AKA Adele. I’m not sure of the spelling of GG, it might have two i’s in it, but quite possibly no one else does either. There, we adults chatted while the kids played with some toys and the cat for the afternoon.

 
There is a NOLA local coffee chain called PJ’s and there are two in Hammond. Back in January I could walk to the one in downtown from the Airbnb we stayed at then, and I did probably every day. Yesterday I drove to the other PJ’s that is closer to this Airbnb because 2 miles one way is a bit far for a morning walk. Today because of my loll in bed instead of popping up, the morning caramel latte had to wait.

Coming back from shopping I thought I’d try another downtown place that was on the way back to HQ. I Googled my way to a spot downtown called Luma Coffee which has a 4.8-star rating. I was directed to the place, but I stopped around the corner to walk over because of the one-way streets. Trouble is when I turned the corner and started looking for a coffee shop I didn’t see it. There a couple empty storefronts and a lot of professional building places. Perplexed, I headed back to the car to tell Sally I couldn’t find it. She pointed kitty cornered across the street and all I saw was a Rexall Drug Store.

It was a Rexall Drug Store in a previous life, but now it housed a coffee shop that had left the original signage up and just had the storefront glass etched with its name. A very hipster thing to do. And the hipster thing was exceedingly apt as inside it had that vibe in spades. I could have been back in Portland, Oregon except no one had a beanie on. And it was a very popular place on a Sunday mid-morning with only 2 people working. I probably could have walked the 4 blocks one way to PJ’s and back before I got my order there.

Also, the 8oz latte cost about as much as the 16oz one back at Stomping Grounds which tasted a lot better than what they were serving up here. If I lived in this town I would have a different go to for my fancy coffee drink.

Hammond, LA – Day 9: Missed Discount

Back in Louisiana for a visit with the oldest person I know at 98, Santa Fe Sally’s mom. We are here for the next week enjoying the humidity and fried seafood. Tomorrow is a visit from Sally’s son and family and there might be a visit to the Big Easy there somewhere.

The rest of the week is jammed full of stuff not nearly as exciting as that. It is crawfish season, so we might eat a mudbug or two. Maybe we’ll test drive a RAV4 while we are here because the Santa Fe Toyota dealer had zero on their lot. I know, we can hardly contain ourselves either.

Wait, I almost forgot today’s big event. I got my haircut. It is a Great Clips-style place. Sally’s Mom has been going to one person at this place for quite a while, so Sally gets her hair cut by her whenever she is in town. Now, me too. This morning, Sally went first (ladies before gentlemen and all) and I went second. Like Great Clips, the senior haircut is a few bucks cheaper than for everyone else. When I checked out, the woman asked, “You’re not 65, are you?” To which I replied, “My next birthday my age will have a 7 as its first digit.” So, I got the discount.

On the way back to the car, Sally said, “She didn’t give me the discount.” I said, “You should take that as a compliment that she thought you were under 65.” She is a couple of years younger than me, but she was more upset about having to spend the extra three or four bucks to see that logic.

Bowie,TX – Day 7: Norris Wright Disembowelment Implement

World’s Largest Bowie Knife


 
On the road again. This is a short 2 day hop to Hammond, LA and the halfway point is Bowie, TX. The town is named after the famous Jim Bowie who actually was never anywhere near here in his lifetime. The town name was a tribute to the that famous Kentuckian whose brother, Rezin, designed the renowned knife. As befitting of the town name, it built the World’s Largest Bowie Knife. There is even a plague from the folks at the Guinness World Records. It is 20 feet long, with a blade length of 14 feet 5 inches, and weighs 3,000 pounds.

Santa Fe Sally and I staying in the Best Western one room apart. The lady at the front desk was fantastic, we had picked out a highly rated restaurant on Yelp, but I never checked the open times. Turns out that it is Breakfast/Lunch only, so it was closed. She gave us a great alt, The Armadillo Grill. If you ever get this way it is definitely worth a stop, the food was delicious and plentiful. Even if you are just passing through, a stop for the Armadillo Poppers won’t disappoint, bacon wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cheese and a choice of meat. On our return trip in a week and a half we’ll be staying in Bowie again, so we will probably eat there again.