Brakos' NFL Tour 2009

No. She stole the camera again and somehow ended up deleting the pics. LOL

I'm the only one good with modern technology that I know it seems.

 

Maybe she deleted the seagulls because she killed them!?

 

note: I didn't update yesterday's at the time because nothing exciting happened, so I threw it in here for extra measures.
Day 6 - Wednesday, Sep 16

Nothing exciting. Went back to the pizza place for lunch (with leftovers for dinner), went back to the casino for a little while (I lost $20, Dan won $30, and Megann sucks at blackjack, lost $80 after I bailed her out from losing about another 100...)
We took another walk around the French Quarter around sunset, and eventually ended up down at the Cathedral. Pretty impressive building considering it's made it through 150 years almost unscathed.

Day 7 - Thursday, Sep 17 (New Orleans, LA to Biloxi, MS)

We took off for Biloxi around 12:30, waiting for a break in the weather before we headed on out of town. The drive was leisurely along highway 90, although there's still noticeable damage along the coastline where Katrina made landfall. We made it to Gulfport/Biloxi right around 2, with the thunderstorms off to our east.

(off-topic) So Megann's been bugging me since we went into the casino in New Orleans on Monday to go play a slot machine. I'm historically horrible at slot machines, but considering we're staying in a casino for tonight, I figured hell, why not? I headed on down to the floor just after 6, found some old guy who's probably been playing the same machine for 20 years, and sat three seats down. The machines are built so that they look like your stereotypical slot machine: 3 reels, gold trim, handle, a few buttons. It's a quarter machine, so I put a five in. it tells me to spin, so I go to grab the handle to pull it... and it doesn't move. So I try it again. Nothing. I stand up, look at the lever, thinking it must be broken. By this time the old man, some tourist, and one of the security guards are looking at me. After a few seconds of trying to get the damn lever to work, the old guy tells me: "You can't pull the lever, you have to push the button." Since when did that start?! Why the hell would somebody play a slot machine if you can't pull the damn lever?! And then when you win, it doesn't even spit the coins out at you, it gives you a damn ticket that you have to take to the cashier. Major eye-roll.

We headed down to the beach a couple times intermittently. There's still some damage from Katrina outside of the downtown area, but for the majority of Gulfport/Biloxi, the area seems to have recovered nicely.




The tentative plan for tomorrow is to leave Biloxi in the mid-morning hours (call it 9 for now). We're going to stop in or near the cities of: Meridian MS, Tupelo MS, and possibly Columbia TN, before arriving in Nashville, hopefully around 8:00 tomorrow evening. The weather looks spotty once again, as that pesky low hovers over Texas and Arkansas, drawing up all the Gulf Coast moisture.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooo beach pretty

lol at the casino lever

 

Awesome pics brakos!!!

Hope you guys are having a blast!

:cheersbeer:

 

There is little to do in Columbia other than civil war history, unless you are just mapping routine bathroom breaks.

Whats your situation in Nashville? I'll try and help if you have any questions.

Appreciate your updating us, we are all jealous.

Also, I assume you'll be heading up I-65. Franklin (exit 65/Murfreesboro Rd/Hwy 96) is my hometown. Two exits down (exit 68A or B, you'd want to go WEST) is Cool Springs which offers shopping, movies, food and the works if you want to make a stop before you head into the city. Enjoy.

 

Okay, yeah I see you guys on the map. We aren't getting on 65 until Columbia (taking the Natchez parkway), and we'll probably stop somewhere in that general area. Columbia was just the big name on the map before Nashville LOL. We're gonna need to eat around there, and I have an addiction to 50's diners. Don't ask.

We're staying out by the airport for the week, heading out next Friday. Not sure what we have planned so far (except for the game of course), but a trip to the Opry seems in order. It'll be different actually having to drive just to go somewhere. New Orleans is a really compact town to be honest. I think the car was in the parking garage for 3 straight days. But then again, if you're doing the tourist thing in Houston/Galveston, you'll spend half your day driving around.

 

What will your avatar be when you get to TN?

 

I dunno. Haven't decided yet.

 

LMAO...all this time I was wondering why was saintsfan giving Brakos' updates

Good job, man.

 

Is it up for a vote?

:Loco:

 

:Loco:

 

I've never actually taken the Natchez parkway but hear its a pretty awesome sight. Not sure about 50's diner's anywhere near Nashville, sorry .

So you'll be in town for a week? Country Music HOF if that's your thing, the opry is exciting. Also, the Opryland Hotel is a nice sight that has shops and restaurants throughout. Downtown you've got the Wildhorse Saloon on 2nd Avenue that I hear is a blast (I've just come of age) and 2nd avenue in general is a good time. Broadway has little bars and pubs all the way down to West End (where Vanderbilt and Belmont University are), some really good steakhouses that way (Ruth's Chris, Jimmy Kelly's, etc).

If you like country music/live music you'll love 2nd Avenue/Broadway. If not I'm not really sure how you'll spend a whole week. Civil War history all over the place. Hooters on 2nd Avenue. Try to find Bailey's on Broadway, that's a real popular Irish Pub. Again, like New Orleans, live music is the real gem of Nashville.

 

Good pics brakos.

 

Thanks for the info. We'll probably spend at least a full day in downtown, and probably after the game as well.

Well, we're about to hit the parkway. See yall later. :cowboy1:


**********Automerged Doublepost**********

Day 8 - Friday, Sept 18 (Biloxi, MS to Nashville, TN)

About 12 hours after we started, we finally made it into Nashville. They should nickname it the Blue City because all the buildings look kinda blue at night. LOL

(if you want a visual of the route, go to Google Maps: Biloxi MS to Nashville TN, then drag the blue line to Tupelo)
We packed up and headed out around 9 this morning, starting off mainly on I-59 to Meridian. We stopped for lunch at Binke's on 39th, which is recommended if yall's looking for a down-home, southern-style meal. The rain was right on our heels almost the entire way from here to Tupelo, where we stopped at a diner in... Sasparillo? Sacarillo? That small town just north of Tueplo. Anyways, after we stopped there, it was about a 3 hour ride down the Natchez Parkway, which looks great this time of year. We ran into some showers going across the MS/AL border, but other than that we were able to dodge the raindrops all the way here.

The place we're staying at this week is quite nice, although we could use without the airport being literally right across the street. LOL

Not sure about a day-to-day plan for this week (other than the Opry), but at least 2 days downtown and 1 at the Opry are likely, along with a day at the lake if the weather stays nice. And then of course the game on Sunday. I had my doubts about this game even before we came out flat against New York, so... yeah. LOL

 

Day 9 - Saturday, Sept 19

So we finally decided to wake up around 10 this morning. Yeah, we were lazy LOL. We never really got out of the local area much, except for a trip to the lake during the early afternoon. It was a bit foggy/hazy right on the lake (is this normal up north?) when we got there, but it cleared up shortly thereafter. I'm not sure if it was the 12-hour drive from yesterday or what, but we really didn't want to deal with the city stuff today. We finally decided to go to a local place called Shoney's for dinner. It's your prototypical small-town restaurant, but the food was good and inexpensive, so we're not complaining. LOL

Assuming the weather's tolerable in the morning, we'll take off for the Texans/Titans game around 10, with kickoff at noon. The number of beers that I drink at the game will be directly proportional to how much the Texans suck tomorrow, so if I'm posting something undecipherable tomorrow evening, well....

 

:Loco:

 

Yeah, I'm trying to be nice here. LOL

That's what we get for being right next to the airport.

 

Why aren't you posting pictures of the airports?

 

It's a friggin' airport!