Fried Oysters, Rocks and Alligators-Tales of the Road Part I

The photo was taken on a recent road trip to the east coast. This place is called Louie and the Redhead Lady in Mandeville across Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, and has been featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (DDD). This is one of their signature dishes, Oysters La Luzianne, and they were amazing. In fact, this was the first time I ever tried oysters (hard to believe, right?) Check it out at www.louieandtheredheadlady.com

In fact, we are DDD followers. I have heard of some people who actually plan their vacation around DDD locations. We are not that fanatic, but when we are on the road, we find out if there is a DDD place nearby. But this hub is not about DDD, though food is part of it. This hub, and those that will follow, are about traveling on the road. It is about the call of wide open spaces, the need, the drive (no pun intended) to, as Alton Brown so aptly put it, feast on asphalt.

There is something magical about traveling on the road. Unlike airports or train stations, the road has no schedule, no departure gates, and no whistle-blowing conductors. It's you and your lane and the other drivers, mile after mile of concrete and center dividers or the hypnotizing double yellow line. There is a certain solitude about driving, even if you are not alone in the vehicle. You alone steer, brake, shift, turn the lights on and off, slow down or speed up. It's even more fun when you drive an RV, like I do. You find out that tonnage rules. Yup, you are bigger than passenger cars, and they defer to you. Tiny Hondas or a shiny new BMW's usually don't argue with 28 feet of living space on wheels that's trying to pull into the gas station they are leaving. On the other hand, when an 18-wheeler barrels past me at 75mph in blinding rain, kicking up even more water and nearly pushing me off the road through their air displacement, you learn the true meaning of tonnage. Your knuckles can turn white trying to keep the RV straight--it's an acquired taste.

There are many stories to tell about the road and our travels. Why don't you come along for the ride--you'll never know what lies behind the next curve.

©MFSolutions