Once upon a time, a hurricane named Gustov came and ravaged a quant little town in Louisiana named Baton Rouge. But this is not where the story began! At 5:30am on Monday, September 1, our heroine, Marissa, awoke to a constant drip, drip, drip... she dragged herself out of bed and arrived in the kitchen to find a steady stream of water coming from the kitchen ceiling. AGGHH, she reacted and awoke her husband, Jeff. She called maintenance and was told to wait and they would be over. She waited, and waited, and waited... She used all the towels to start sopping up the puddle that was now beginning to form on the hallway carpet, but to no avail there were not enough. Maintenance arrived at 8:30 and prompty determined that the water heater in the upstairs apartment had broken and shut off the water. Finally, the drip, drip, drip had ceased, now to deal with our own personal hallway swimming pool. The wet towels were placed in the dryer, but were to wet to even dry. The apartment complex was notified that the carpet needed be cleaned and dried. About 3 hours later, Gustov struck. Power went out at 1:30pm, while Jeff & Marissa were still asleep. Needless to say, the carpet never got cleaned or dried. On Tuesday, September 2, the carpet was beginning to stink and Marissa's allergy to mold and mildrew began to flare up. Jeff's friend Kerry suggested escaping from Baton Rouge to Florida where they have power and no wet, moldy carpets. So Jeff & Marissa went on the lam. They planned on staying with Marissa's friend Shana in Orlando, Fl and Pensicola was 1/2 way, a good stopping place for being on the lam...
Day 1 - Tuesday - The Conspiracy Theorists
On their drive to Pensicola, they witnessed tree damage for at least 2 hours as they drive east. They stopped for lunch at Longhorn's Steakhouse in Gulfport, Mississippi. Upon talking to Shana some more, hearing about hurricane Hanna, and getting an offer for a paid hotel room, Jeff & Marissa decided to stay in Pensacola until Friday. Upon arriving in Pensacola, Jeff & Marissa checked into the hotel and ventured out to find food. Luckily, Denny's was right down the road. While Jeff & Marissa ate french toast and buffalo fingers (you can guess which ate which), a group of about 15 men and 2 women were organized and holding a meeting. A member of the group passed a flier back. They were talking about the wonderfulness of Ron Paul (not, Ru Paul) and how 9/11 was a government conspiracy blamed innocently on Bin Laden. They were aiming to recruit "real Christians" who would stand up to democracy and the government (i.e. abortion = murder). Jeff was intrigued and enthralled by what they had to say, Marissa was absolutely enjoying her french toast! After dinner, Jeff & Marissa retired to their hotel for their first night on the lam...
BR Update - power is restored to Embassy
apartments, but no where else in BR!
Once power is back, the carpet cleaners will come and the carpet will be replaced.
Gas lines are about 6 hours long. LSU to resume on Thursday.
Day 2 - Wednesday - The Great Flood
After a scrumptious continental breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by Marissa, the newly co-habitating couple decided to drive around and explore the area. Marissa drived along Scenic Highway, expecting to see some highway that was scenic... there was none. After their exahusting (not really) excursion, the happy couple went back to Denny's for a quick bite. As they were finishing up, the ceiling by the register began to drip and then stream for five minutes until the puddle on the roof was now a puddle on the floor. Jeff & Marissa went to they favorite place, Barnes & Noble, to spend several hours reading. Marissa is currently reading the Twilight Series and Jeff is reading god knows what... Barnes & Noble was where they had their "first kiss", almost 21 months ago. On their first date, they ate at T.G.I. Fridays, continuing with tradition, they are there as well on this day. After dinner, Jeff & Marissa retired to their hotel for their second night on the lam...
BR Update - LSU closed for the rest of the week! Yahoo! We can stay!
Day 3 - Thursday - The Zoo
After a scrumptious continental breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by Marissa, she dropped Jeff of at Books-A-Million and went to purchase a camera. She found a kids Pirate of the Carribean cheapie digital camera for $20! She to get a few more things then picked up Jeff and the couple debated what to do. Jeff gleefully pointed out there was a zoo... so off they went. Marissa & Jeff left Pensacola and drove across a huge bridge to the island of Gulf Port, where the Southwestern Florida Zoo was located. The zoo was amazing, there were lions and tigers and bears, Oh My! As well as, zebras, large snakes (which Jeff especially liked), as petting zoo, and a train ride though 30 acres of free-roaming animals.
Marissa & Jeff were very happy as they rode around on the train.
On the train, they saw baby wild deer and a circle butted antelope...
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... and a gorilla and zebra...
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...monkeys on a post and a big gator smile...
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...and wilderbeasts. YES! Wilderbeasts!!!
After the train Jeff & Marissa explored more of the zoo on foot.
They saw alligators and more alligators...
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Of course, Jeff had to talk smack to the gators, then he got scared so we had to go away!
We also saw BIG KITTIES and little kitties...
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...and a big black bear and giraffe...
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...and iguanas eatting their lunch and orangatangs...
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...and a big snake (which Jeff loved) and a beautiful butterfly...
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Time to explore the petting zoo, where Jeff found a friend and his dad!
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Both Jeff & Marissa were exhausted from their day at the zoo, so they ate dinner at Wendy's...
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...and retired to their room...
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...for their third night on the lam...
Silly/creepy faces of the day (courtesy of a cheap digital camera)...
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Day 4 - The Beach, Part 1
After a scrumptious continental breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by Marissa, she was hit upon by the chef. Jeff came down with Marissa for breakfast part deaux and she was hit upon again by the chef... Jeff & Marissa drove from Pensacola (mainland) through Gulf Port Island to Pensacola Beach Island an drove from one end of the island to the other. It was absolutely beautiful! The beaches were made of snow white sand and clear blue waters. One side of the island had 2 foot waves (Gulf of Mexico coast), and the other side of the island was calm (Gulf Port Bay). Jeff and Marissa stopped at the shops along a boardwalk and did some window shopping on Captain's Landing. The couple became quite hungry and Marissa talked Jeff into eating at...
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...where they really do have awesome chicken wings! Marissa made friends with the waitress and found out that the girls have to wear tights as part of their uniforms and on causal fridays they wear black instead of the traditional white and orange... how nice! Jeff & Marissa then walked along the boardwalk some more (Jeff on the phone) and shopped (Jeff tries on a hat)...
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the happy & tired couple then went to Books-A-Million to relax & read in good 'ole AC!
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They ended the day at Olive Garden and had fun waiting for a table!
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After dinner, Jeff & Marissa retired to their hotel for their for their fourth night on the lam...
BR Update - Power is still out everywhere in BR except Embassy apartments, the carpet has been cleaned, but not yet replaced... hopefully Monday The lines at the gas stations are now about 3 hours long! Woo hoo!
Day 5 -
After a scrumptious continental breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by Marissa (& Jeff)... Jeff went and hung out on the boardwalk and Marissa went to the beach!!!!!
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Day 6 -
We go home. Our apartment is all fixed up although we don't want to go home. We have deemed our Pensacola Lam experience as our official honeymoon. We plan on going back as soon as possible.