Valentines Day in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I wanted to say we got an early jump on our road trip to Baton Rouge Saturday but it would be a lie,

we did not get out of the house till 11:00a.m. We stopped off at a little store near the house to top off the gas tank on the truck

and got a bag of popcorn, two bags of sunflower seeds and two bottles of water for the road. Then we were off up Interstate 59 till we reached I-12 where I snapped a photo

for Facebook as we were passing through Mandeville. About 45 minutes later we reached Nancy and Jimmy Gosserand's house

(Nancy is my wife's sister). We were greeted with hugs and kisses from their dog Gibby, once inside Jimmy and I watched TV

while catching up and the girls and Ryan made a quick trip to the mall to pick up a last minute valentines gift for Ryan’s little woman…shame…shame on you Ryan. Ha-ha.

Once the girls and Ryan got back we decided to go out to eat…we did the old folks trick

and went to dinner at 5:00p.m. to beat the crowd. Well it worked well we got right in and got a seat, no waiting. The girls order a bottle of wine and a couple of appetizers, crab cakes and some kind of stuffed pasta. Then it was time for the main course, I order the 12oz rib eye with grilled vegetables and steamed broccoli as my two sides.

Jimmy had the same except he had potatoes with his and the girls got pasta; Nancy’s with chicken and my bride Signe’s with shrimp. Delicious meal, not a bad price either, a little over 60 dollars before tip for the two of us splitting the wine and appetizers down the middle, not bad, not bad at all.

Once out of the restaurant, Jimmy our now chauffeur,

drove us to, (I can’t remember the name) a place that is kind of like an outdoor mall and community all in one, townhouses on the roofs of the stores are going for 650,000.00 to 700,000.00 dollars. We walked around and went into a few stores; I took a few photos of water fountains I liked, I know the tall one was 1,196.00 dollars

and the shorter ones were around 600.00 dollars.

I took the photos incase I decide to build them later at home for about a 10th of the price. I once did the same thing with the headboard for our bed; I found it in a store for around 1,200.00 dollars took a photo and ended up building it for 127.00 dollars,

not counting the matching night stand,

I think I had 50.00 dollars in it. Ha-ha. We ended up walking to Barns and Nobles to get a cup of coffee, and do a little people watching, we had a great time making fun of everyone, it’s a shame everyone is not perfect like us…ha-ha.

It was starting to rain now so off to the Gosserands house we went, talked for a while then went to bed. My wife and I slept in someone’s room…if only I had a clue…

hmmm that's right- it was Ragen’s room, Jimmy & Nancy’s 13 year old daughter. She was out of town to Houston Texas (I think) staying with some friend while watching a cheerleader competition.

Got up the next morning, drank some coffee and worked on planning Signe’s and Nancy’s mom & dad’s fiftieth Wedding Anniversary party, then before we knew it, it as 11:00a.m., time to head home. We took the long route home from I-12 to Hwy. 55 to Hwy. 98; a little more scenery and a lot less traffic. Great weekend trip; hope to get to do it again soon.