Penny's Visit

Penny arrived from New York on Saturday night July 4^th amidst Houston’s finest fireworks. They were actually in celebration of Independence Day and not in celebration of Penny’s arrival – but we won’t tell her that!! Penny has been working in NY on a teacher exchange program from Adelaide.

Sunday morning we had a lovely breakfast at Le Madeleine and then headed east to Lafayette in Louisiana where John had business commitments. Bill & Anna were also in town on a different assignment however Anna, Penny & I were able to explore the area together over the 3 days we were in town.

We had a wonderful experience on Sunday night as we dined in one of the local ‘live’ music restaurants. We were enjoying the Zydeco music (a form of ‘folk’ music in the deep south of America - it has a fast tempo and dominated by the piano accordion and a washboard) and watching the fast paced dancing when a couple joined us at our table. They were locals and very friendly. Shortly after another couple came over and asked if they could join us – what a friendly place!! It was a fun night.

Monday night saw us aboard a tin dinghy (actually an open Cajun crawfish skiff) in readiness to enjoy the adventures of a Swamp Tour. We motored our way into the swamp passing ancient cypress trees covered with Spanish moss, seeing egrets and herons, large spiders and two small alligators and making our way through shallow water covered with muck and thick vegetation and generally enjoying the quietness of the untouched primitive surroundings we were in, when we felt raindrops. A bit of water never hurt anyone so we accepted the fact we were going to get a little wet when all of a sudden there was a bolt of lightning, then thunder, then more lightning…… Our guide quickly bought the tour to an end and headed as fast as he could back to land. It was a little frightening being out in the water in a tin can with the sky being lit up by high voltage bolts – however we made it safely to shore albeit wet to the bone! We ran to the car (the tour guide didn’t charge us – poor guy) and decided to sit the storm out and enjoy our food picnic style in the car. We were so wet but we laughed at the situation and really did enjoy our crackers and dip and bottle of red wine!

Penny, Anna & I spent our days discovering Lafayette - we had lunch at the Blue Dog Café, enjoyed time in the Blue Dog Gallery, took in the history of Vermilionville, had afternoon tea at a quaint little tea shop, shopped in several local gift stores (including a beautiful baby store where Penny found some great outfits for her brand new grandson), walked quietly through a wonderful church, and just had a fun time wandering around town. Our last night in town was spent with Bill, Anna and Bob (from Randy Smith) – we had a wonderful dinner together topping off our great stay in Louisiana. Wednesday night we drove back to Houston stopping in Beaumont for dinner at Suga’s Deep South Cuisine Restaurant and then fell into bed exhausted after 4 great days away. Anna took some great photos of us while we were buzzing around Lafayette however she has somehow misplaced her camera – so if it ever turns up I will post some more photos….

Thursday morning John left very, very early for the airport to catch a flight on the first leg of his journey delivering EDN workshops. He was away for nearly 3 weeks – see separate entry of his adventures.

Penny and I drove around Houston on a quick tour of the local sites, had lunch, went shopping and then had a quick rest before heading out to the movies with Judy & Patrick. We had a fun night together despite watching the worst movie ever produced!! (I Love You Beth Cooper – make a note never to bother…..)

Friday we lunched at the Path of Tea and Field of Greens, discovered more of the neighborhood and that night we met up with Judy at Jack’s Grill where we enjoyed more Zydeco dancing and music.

Saturday night we watched the wonderful musical 42nd at Miller Theatre. It was another free presentation put on by the City of Houston and despite the extreme and excessively severe heat we did enjoy the performance.

I drove Penny to the airport early on Sunday morning after a great week enjoying her company and look forward to catching up with her again on her return to the States later in the year (that’s if she can drag herself away from her grandson!!)