Step 2 - Precision Timing

After arriving in Fort Walton Beach airport and collecting our bags; miracle since we virtually ran from one plane to the next in Charlotte, we stayed at  The Comfort Inn at Crestview.   After such a long day, we knew we had to eat and there was a Cracker Barrel just next to the hotel so we walked there.

I love and miss Southern cooking so was really happy to eat here!  I got sweet tea to celebrate, but I cannot handle that much sugar anymore and kept adding water to it. By the end of the meal, my sweet tea was perfect!   I also got a vegetable plate, 4 not very healthy vegetables:  baked sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, fried okra, buttered green beans and steamed seasonal vegetables, with biscuits and more butter!  Alan's dinner is at the other side of the table. I only had to deal with 4 dishes! 

We had a meeting in Geneva at 8 am, made it just fine, another appointment at 9, but had time to stop in at the bank before going, then we had to be in Dothan at 11:30.  All arrivals on time.   In Dothan, Alan and I were treated to lunch at the Old Mill.  I got the best shrimp of my life, and that is saying something coming from a Florida girl!  We were told it comes from Panama City, so that is the reason it was such great shrimp!

We had hoped to go to Cowboys in Dothan since we were prevented from going last time due to weather.   Cowboys has always been a really fun place to go and we even chose our hotel to make it easy for us to get to.   However, we were simply too tired and decided to just get a drink at the hotel bar, Jake's, ended up staying the whole night and had a super time!  It was just a karaoke night, but all country music sung by country folk. I even got to draw the winning raffle ticket for one of the singers to win $100. What a fantastic way to start this trip - total immersion into local entertainment!  (no I did not sing!)


I must admit, we were originally disappointed with the hotel, it was not as clean or as nice as what we expected, but the staff were nice, Jake's was fantastic and breakfast was delicious.  So I would recommend the The Clarion anytime!  And it really is only only 1&1/2 miles from Cowboys ( and Walmart)!

"It is easy to pick up and move when the culture you know is all McDonald's. But if you grow up the way I did in Louisiana, you don't in your travels find anything like it. Some of it is the cuisine, but mostly it is a mind-set." --Glenn Petre