We tried to do the nice thing and stop at the Magnolia Market at the Silos to pick up a special Chip & Joanna treat for Tara, but of course it was closed today. Not only was today Sunday, on which they are always closed, but it was also Easter. Duh! The best we could do was take a couple pictures of the building for her (though we couldn't get a picture of the main entrance area, as there were a lot of homeless people hanging out there, and I didn't want it to seem as though we were taking pictures of them). I later discovered that less than a block away from the silos was the Dr. Pepper Museum!!! Of course it wouldn't have mattered if I had known ahead of time, as it too was closed on Easter. While leaving Waco we also got a chance to pass McLane Stadium, home of the Baylor Bears football team.

Our next stop came around 11:00am, for our visit to the Kroger store in College Station, Texas (home of Texas A&M). We had to satisfy our chocolate milk fix, and boy did we! Tasted just as good as the Michigan chocolate milk, and far better than what we bought in Georgia in the past. With our supply in hand, it was time to get back on the road.

As we passed 12:00pm on the clock in the car, we were getting hungry. Drew and I settled for sharing a box of popcorn chicken and some fries from KFC in Cypress, Texas. Like most KFC's that I've been to, the service wasn't super fast, but this was a really nice KFC and the people inside were super friendly, making it worth the wait. I'd definitely would stop at this restaurant again.

By 1:15pm we were in need of gas and a restroom, so we pulled into the Buc-ee's in Baytown, Texas. Despite have what seems like a thousand pumps, we had to circle around  each and every pump before we were able to find one without a wait. We also headed inside to grab some drinks and to top off our candy supply!

By 4:00pm we had made it into Louisiana and were getting hungry for something other than our usual snacks. The two of us decided that a shake from McDonald's sounded pretty good. The closest one we could find was in Jennings, Louisiana, which is was our next destination. Shamrock shakes sure hit the spot! After leaving Jennings, we skirted by some of Louisiana's biggest cities - first was Lafayette, then Baton Rouge (home of Louisiana State University), and finally New Orleans. From the highway we were able to see Tiger Stadium, home of the LSU football team as well as the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, home of their basketball team. Once we were home I also realized just how close we were to the French Quarter in New Orleans. I'm not sure what we could have done there on Easter Sunday, but I can now kick myself for not at least driving through...

Anyway, we were on our way, and after making it through the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area we found ourselves in Mississippi once again. We made a fuel stop in Bay St. Louis at an Exxon station, topping off after almost 375 miles on the odometer. Before long we had made it through Mississippi and found ourselves in Alabama. Despite my desire to make it home, I knew that we were going to have to spend one more night in a hotel. Around 8:30pm we ended up settling on a Holiday Inn Express in Mobile, Alabama.

Since we hadn't had dinner, we had to find something to eat while at the hotel. Drew likes chicken wings, and there was a Hooters almost right across the street, so that is where we headed. This was an interesting experience, to say the least... and a frustrating one as well. It took us 40 minutes to get our food - our TO GO food! At least we got to watch sports on TV while we were there, because the "Hooters" eye candy was just... OK. By the time we got back to the hotel, the food was just OK as well. At least we could not get some sleep!

Texas to Alabama

Drew spotted this interesting sign on a closed Long John Silver restaurant!

Here is one of the Magnolia Market at the Silos buildings...

...and the famous silos...

We spotted this nice Waco wall painting while we were downtown.

We also drive by McLane Stadium, home of the Baylor Bears football team...

We also drove past this sweet road!

This interesting looking bridge was one of the sights that we saw on our drive today...

...as were these wetlands...

Another bridge...

...and more waterways.

These bridges look like that have water between the roads...

Drew behind the wheel (which he was for the entire day today).

Boobs!

In the distance you can see Tiger Stadium, home of the Louisiana State University Tigers football team with a tug pushing some barges up the Mississippi River in the foreground. The domed building between the two is the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, home of LSU's basketball team.

This interesting looking building is home of the The Water Institute of the Gulf, a non-profit research institution.

Another section of roadway with water between them.

A railroad bridge spotted on out trip.

Another picture of the railroad bridge and the waterway leading to it.

In the distance - New Orleans!

Another picture of New Orleans.

A bunch of railroad tracks and train cars along the highway.

An interesting church steeple was spotted on our drive.

This interesting house is known as the Fishermans Castle At Irish Bayou, and can be seen from I-10. The 942-square foot castle was built in 1981 for the World’s Fair in anticipation of tourists wanting to visit it.

These are some views of Lake Ponchartrain in Louisiana...

Some of nature spotted in Louisiana.

Welcome to Mississippi!

Some of the wetlands that we drove through in Mississippi.

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama!