Post 17 Back Home, Laurel MS, New Orleans

Nov 20- Dec 9

On our third day in Austin, Cindy got a call from the care facility where her parents are. They said that her dad was not doing well and that we should come home.

We arrived in Boston at 11pm and went directly to Rivercrest, the care facility where Cindy’s parents are. Dad was resting comfortably, but unresponsive. We relieved Cindy’s brother, Chris and sister-in-law, Sally who were sitting with him. We spent the night with Dad, holding his hand and talking to him. The week before, Dad had fallen in the night fracturing his hip. Given his dementia and decreased physical status, we decided not to repair his hip. His pain was well managed and he was repositioned by the caring staff every few hours. I wished to be able to have one last bear hug from him, but would not be able to. It was just nice to sit with Dad and to be present in the moment. With Mom and our family gathered at his bedside, Dad passed 20 hours later. Rivercrest staff were wonderful with the care they gave to Dad and helping Mom be present in the days before his passing. Our family was fortified by lots of coffee, snacks and dinner sent to us from the kitchen.

We are so glad that we were able to be home for his passing. Plans had been made before our trip in case either Mom or Dad were to pass. The Rivercrest chaplains were available and very caring. Reverend Kristin facilitated Dad’s service at the Chapel along with family members doing readings and eulogies. The music was wonderfully played by Kevin and Rob from Mom and Dad’s home church, SUMC. Mom especially liked the music.

We flew back to Austin early Tuesday morning after Thanksgiving, just missing the forecasted snow. Rad and Linda picked us up at the airport and had a delicious dinner waiting for us. It was nice to chat and catch up with each other from our trip home. We stayed the night and headed out the next morning. Thank you for everything, Rad and Linda!

We had originally planned to go north through Waco and on to Oklahoma City for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we had reservations for the weekend in Mississippi, so now we needed to hi-tail it to Laurel, MS. with a couple of overnight stops on the way. Rad suggested a more easy-going northern route around Houston, so we were still able to make a stop in Waco.

We have watched the HGTV show Fixer Upper, which takes place in Waco, and wanted to stop at the Bakery, Magnolia Table and the Silos Mercantile. Mission accomplished.

Next stop Corsicana, TX. Rad and Linda raved about the world-famous fruitcake made at the Collin Street Bakery. Ok, we’ll check it out. There were lots fruitcake varieties and lots of samples to help decide which one to buy. Yup, very delicious! Their fruitcake will not become a doorstop.

Since we have no TV, Cindy was complaining about missing holiday Hallmark movies. Where could we find a small town that celebrated the holidays the way they did in a Hallmark movie?? If any of you watch the HGTV show, Hometown like we do, then you know the stars, Ben and Erin Napier, have a vision to revitalize their hometown of Laurel, MS. Anne checked on what was happening in Laurel and, damn, if it wasn’t a Hallmark movie waiting for us to step into!

We decided to rent a little condo right in downtown Laurel to be where the action was. We didn’t need to move the car the whole weekend.

We arrived on Friday night just in time for the tree lighting and carol sing. That was followed by the downtown cookie stroll where the merchants all stay open late and serve cookies while you shop.

We also made a stop at the Prancer Path, a large display of trees decorated by local merchants and organizations. It was free and all donations benefited their United Way campaign.

Saturday was the 71^st annual Kiwanis Pancake Day serving pancakes, sausage and coffee at two locations in town. Trust us when we say the whole town turns out for this event! Saturday was also the day for the Laurel Christmas Parade, the largest holiday parade in the state.

Ben and Erin Napier own a few stores in the downtown area and someone suggested outside of Ben’s store/workshop is a good place to view the parade. We made our way there to do some shopping in the store and then went outside and upstairs to the lookout to take our picture in front of one of many murals about Laurel. There were some people sitting in chairs by the railing and we struck up a conversation about what a great place they found to watch the parade. We stood there for 15-20 and figured we’d just stay there to watch too. Suddenly, Cindy said to Anne, “don’t look but Ben and Erin are standing behind you.” Before we knew it their other friends from the show started arriving. We began to wonder if we should be there?? After a bit, Ben was standing next to us and Cindy asked him if this was a private event. “Yes”, he said, “but, no problem, you can stay.” Well, now we felt a little weird having crashed their parade party. We stayed for a little longer and then slipped out and down the stairs. Gotta say, it was pretty cool to be up there with them, though.

That evening, we took in a performance of Scrooge: The Musical performed by the local theater group. Tiny Tim was staying in the condo next to ours. He was adorable.

On Sunday morning, we hunkered down in the local coffee shop and made plans for the following two weeks and then spent the rest of the afternoon on a self-guided walking tour of the historic neighborhoods.

Laurel and the larger Jones County have an interesting history. It’s agricultural history is in sheep and rice rather than cotton, with less slave ownership. During the Civil War, they rebelled and declared Jones County independent and a “free state”. It’s still known as the Free State of Jones. In the 1900’s it became the largest producer of white pine lumber in the world, leading to significant growth and high land ownership.

We left Laurel on Monday morning after taking a golfcart guided tour of Laurel’s business district and some of the homes the Napiers have renovated. It was interesting to see the renovations in person after watching the renos on TV.

Next stop was New Orleans. Once again, we opted for an Airbnb right in the city so we could walk to everything. We only had one day, so we crammed in as much as we could.

We started the day with a walk to the French Quarter (just a couple of streets away). We happened across the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park which had displays and a ranger talk on how the French landed in New Orleans. From there we made our way to Café du Monde for their signature beignets hot out of the fryer and covered with powdered sugar! Yum!

We walked the French Quarter and Bourbon Street with a stop at the local brewery before departing on a paddleboat ride down the Mississippi River.

The boat ride featured a jazz band and a menu that included Cajun/Creole offerings. We tried some chicken and alligator sausage gumbo with rice - Also yummy!