Vegetables, chair caning and Civil War battlefields in historic Vicksburg.

Sam’s flight home from L.A. on Sunday was uneventful, thank God, and exactly on time. I had to leave a little earlier than usual to pick him up, however, because my route to the airport took me through Irving, Texas, where round four of the Byron Nelson Championship was underway at the TPC Four Seasons Country Club, and the final day of Dallas Comic Con was wrapping up directly across the street at the Irving Convention Center. I managed to avoid all the traffic. I am a genius.

Breaking news. WE’RE PLANNING A ROAD TRIP! Sometime in June we’ll be heading east to Vicksburg, Mississippi, home of Civil War battlefields, the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum, Mississippi River sunset cruises, the Cedar Grove Mansion and a bunch of large riverfront casinos.  The map below indicates: A) Howdygram headquarters in Mesquite; and B) Vicksburg.

At first we were thinking we’d need one overnight on the way but I just figured out that Vicksburg is only 5½ hours from Dallas so there’s no reason we can’t do that in one day. Pictured below are sweaty people buying vegetables at the Vicksburg Farmer’s Market. I have no idea whatsoever why the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau thought this would be an asset to their home page.

Sam and I may also consider a number of exciting scheduled June events recommended by the Vicksburg CVB, including: 1) the Mississippi Outstanding Teen Pageant; 2) the Dexter Allen Blues Band concert on Clay Street; 3) an Intro to Microsoft Excel workshop at Mississippi State University; 4) the Seven Step Method of Chair Caning hosted by the Southern Cultural Heritage Center; and 5) the Milt Hinton Memorial Jazz Festival. The aforementioned Milt Hinton appears below.

Although Vicksburg appears to have a little of everything where dining options are concerned, the only restaurants right now that interest me are the Panda Buffet on Iowa Boulevard next to Wal-Mart and China King on the I-20 Frontage Road. I’m probably not joking about this. Please don’t tell Sam, okay?

Thank you for reading this.