Hello from New Orleans, LA
Thursday August 25, 2022 (Third post of this travelogue)
We are staying at the Marriott at the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans (Google Map)
{google_map}29.9523 -90.0672{/google_map}
I am going to try something new and make a link that shows our trip down here in Google Maps (Link to Google Trip Map). Assuming that works, you can see all of the stops we made in our 1500 mile journey down here.
Before we start documenting our stay here I need to catch up on our rather quick visit to Laurel, MS. This stop was made to explore the area where the HGTV “Home Town” show is filmed. The show features Erin and Ben Napier, and like “Fixer Upper” they remodel/rebuild homes for their clients.
We did not take an official tour of the area, but we did make two stops that are noted in the TV Show: Laurel Mercantile Co and the Scotsman General Store and Workshop. The latter is where Ben’s workshop is located. From inside the General Store, you can look through a glass wall and see the shop.
On the way down to New Orleans we stopped at a Stuckey’s store. In the ‘60s Stuckey’s had become an integral part of the American road trip. It boasted 368 stores/restaurants in over 30 states, each offering kitschy souvenirs, clean restrooms, Texaco gas, and of course, their famous pecan based candies. They went out of business in the 70s as I recall. On this trip we were watching an NBC broadcast and our favorite reporter (Harry Smith) visited a “revived” Stuckey’s store and interviewed the Granddaughter of the creator of Stuckey’s. In the interview she talked about trying to re-create the business. It looks like they are not very far along in that process. We did buy a couple of their famous Pecan Log Rolls. I have included a photo of an abandoned restaurant/service station that shows what all the stores looked like in the glory time.
I will catch up on our tours of New Orleans (the good and the bad!) in the next post.