Sheila, my stepmom, asked this as a joke yesterday. Why? Because my Dad and I spent the better part of the day grinding tree stumps out of the yard. :) After that we did fun stuff and I definitely got fed well.

10-22-04
Dad and I spent a large part of the day grinding stumps out of their yard. Hurricane Ivan dropped a huge pecan tree and a couple other trees and left their upturned stumps as ugly reminders. Stump grinding is not easy work. My Dad worked himself to near exhaustion and I could tell I was working hard by the smell coming off of me! PEW

We worked from about 7am until 4:30pm. That gave us just enough time to fuel up the stump grinder, return it to the rental store, and get a shower before we headed out on a ghost walk of downtown Pensacola.

The ghost walk was real fun. Our guide was in costume, it took an hour, and there were plenty of natural elements that made the walk even more memorable. We encountered a street light going off as we passed under, creepy sounding birds flying over head (possibly sea ghouls), a black cat, a snake in our path, and a flickering house light (it flickered only as the ghost that resides there was mentioned).

Pensacola Historical Museum puts on these walking tours and you do not have to walk if you don't want to for $6 more you can take the tour in a horse drawn carriage. We chose to walk. There are many verified ghosts in downtown Pensacola. Plus the architecture down there is lovely.

Afterward we went to dinner at Tre Fratelli's. A lovely little italian restaurant that makes everything from scratch and to order. Needless to say we had to wait a while for our food. A bottle of wine made the wait tolerable. After an hour and a half my plate of shrimp scampi was put before me and all dinner conversation stopped.

I put fork to mouth with little time for breath, remember I was grinding tree stumps all day, and did not stop until the last bite of garlic bread picked up the last taste of sauce off my plate. DELIGHTFUL dinner and the ambience of this place is splendid. Two thumbs up!

10-23-04
Today we got on the road to Biloxi Mississippi. There are casinos in them there bayous! The three of us, Dad, Sheila, and myself, played hard. I came out the least of the winners with $18. Sheila walked away with a grand prize of $50. We all had a blast and then dined fine. Sheila's brother and his wife, Steve and Dee, met us for lunch and we feasted.

The Grand Casino - Biloxi has a wonderful buffet available. The best part of the buffet? Fresh fried catfish, an overwhelming amount of food choices and the chocolate fountain at the dessert buffet. :) Yes you read right. They have a white and dark chocolate fountain available for dipping fresh fruit into! Heaven...dipped in a chocolate fountain. ha ha

The drive to Biloxi wasn't bad either. I can honestly say that I have never heard of or read a sign such as the one found in Loxley Alabama that reads "All you can eat Quail". ha ha Only here folks.... only in Loxley.

My past two days have been wonderfully spent and I have no reason to think that my next two weeks before heading to Central America will be any different.

Take care now..... ya hear?