Day 2: July 25, 2018

Oh, what a
beautiful morning! Sherry Ann and I woke up before
sunrise. We grabbed our camera and iPad and
walked across the street to the harbor. Without knowing
the danger that lurked ahead, we decided to make our way
across the grass as a shortcut. Little did we know, the
grass was full of blood-sucking winged beasties.
We counted not less that 6 or 7 mosquitos on our
arms and legs...EACH. But the pain was worth it.
Not long after we arrived at the waterfront, the sun
began to rise slowly
from the horizon, a deep red through the haze of the
Gulf Coast. It was so nice to sit and watch in serene
silence, holding my love’s hand and watching. Pretty soon,
the sun was too bright to look at any more, and we made
our way back to the hotel...where we promptly crawled
back into bed and tried to sleep for another hour or so.
It didn’t work out too well, so we went down and had
breakfast at the hotel office. It was small, but worth it.

We decided against going to the Bourbon Street Candy
Company, since it’s just a candy shop, and not a candy
factory. So, we just headed off toward Austin. Our long
day in the car began at about 9 am. At some point, we
discovered that we were only a few (40 miles) away from
Granada, Texas, where my Grandpa Reep (age 98) is
at the care and rehabilitation center. So, we made the
detour today instead of on Tuesday when we planned to.
We entered his room, where he was sleeping so
peacefully. I wasn’t sure whether we should wake him
up or not. I knelt down at his bedside and gently said
his name. He opened his eyes and looked around. He
was a bit disoriented, and didn’t

really know who we were. The conversation kept
going in circles. He kept asking AJ when he gets out of
the service, and commented on how tall and big he is.
We only stayed for about 15-20 minutes, but it was
well worth it.

We got back in the car after our visit and decided
that it would be better to just go directly to Dallas
and to our hotel. It was a loooooong journey. Just
outside of Houston, in Sugar Land, we stopped for
gas and a few snacks at Costco and then grabbed
lunch at Subway. Sherry Ann and I split a Cold Cuts
footlong, and AJ had his steak and cheese footling...with
double meat. It was a good lunch; just what we needed.

After we arrived at our hotel in Dallas, at 6 pm, we
rested from the loooooong journey before going to
dinner at Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke.

Can I just say that I barely finished
my dinner? I was so full. Sherry Ann and I split a
3-meat plate with mashed potatoes and Texas potatoes
(kind of like loaded potato salad, with cheese, bacon,
and potatoes). We enjoyed sliced smoked brisket,
BBQ pork ribs, and pulled pork. AJ ATTEMPTED to down the
Flying Pig sandwich (pulled pork, glazed ham, hot link sausage,
hickory smoked bacon) with fries and mac & cheese
.
He ate the Mac, half of the fries (maybe) and only about half
of the sandwich. Ya...remember the double meat footlong
from lunch? He was still feeling the effects. The service
was great, and the BBQ was AMAZING!!!

When we got
back to the hotel,
we spent about
half and hour
in the pool. It was
nice to have the
time to relax and
unwind from the
day.