Quiet Moments

Sitting in the hotel while Woolfs nap and/or watch Nickelodeon.  It just started raining, so I don't know if we'll be going back to the saltwater pool after all.  I either don't have any thoughts on the upcoming major change in my life, or they're so deeply submerged in my subconscious that I don't know what they are, so I'll share a little bit of the delightfulness of this "last" week so far instead.

"So Long, Farewell" lunches, dinners, drinks, and hugs from 'WOW' moms, HHS Choir friends, and a "Same Person" best friend.

Road trip around southern Mississippi with Woolfs.  I've never been to the MS Gulf Coast.  Granted, it doesn't change my opinion of Mississippi, but there are actually some gems in this oft-neglected state. 

Mary Mahoney's Old French House Restaurant
We had dinner there last night.  Built in 1737, this lovely old house takes you right out of Mississippi and straight into the French Quarter.  The ambiance and surplus of crab on the table are worth the visit.  In the courtyard, there's a 2000 year-old oak tree called "The Patriarch," interesting art- and metalwork, and a fountain.  It was completely magical, most especially for the kids.  We had crab claws for an appetizer (YUM), and then I had the Back Room Crab Cakes, which have made appearances in two John Grisham novels, the menu pointed out.  The kids' menu includes healthy (a.k.a. GINORMOUS) portions of chicken fingers, fresh fish, and, get this, prime rib.  It's Itsy Sister's birthday tomorrow, and she told them, so they brought out a birthday dessert after we stuffed our faces with bread, salad, seafood, etc.
It's pricey, though.  Like, fo' realz.  They let us in with jeans on an' everything, but it's someplace I'd recommend going for lunch (which is still steep as far as lunches go), unless you've got a company card that's footing the bill.




Paul's Pastry Shop
I've known about this place since last August (special thanks to a certain Irish-Cajun clan), and will shout it from the rooftops till I die: IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF HEADIN' TOWARD NOLA FROM EAST I-59, YOU ARE MANDATED TO STOP.
EXIT 6.
PICAYUNE, MS.
I'LL STOP YELLING NOW IF YOU PROMISE TO GO.

Good.

I told Mama Woolf about it when she said she had business in Picayune, and she came back to us this afternoon with cakes to continue celebrating Itsy Sister's birthday.  Today's flavor was pink lemonade, and it was perfect.  Whipped icing, lemon curd between layers of pink cake that would've made Daisy Buchanan proud.  Tomorrow's cake? TBA.  It's a surprise.

Must haves when you do go: Cannoli.  King Cake. 

The troops are stirring, so I'll have to continue this after the hotel-room, madcap misadventures cease.