Alabama...a Visit Long Awaited.

When we left Dallas, we headed into rolling hills. 

Soon we were in the land of the bayous, Louisiana. It was very green, and of course, humid.
We knew we would go through Monroe, and all of a sudden, Vickie was like, "That's why this name sounds familiar! This is where Duck Commander is! My family loves that show!"

So guess where we stopped for a break and lunch? :-)
It was quite the spot:

We went over from the warehouse/ gift shop to Willie's Duck Diner... "Where Saying Grace is Encouraged!"

I couldn't resist trying the "Swamp Basket" which contained Cajun fried duck strips, gator, crayfish, and shrimp. 

It was soooooo good, and I had to finish it later! I also enjoyed their cornbread muffins and hush puppies. Topped it off with some sweet tea. Vickie had a po boy which was over 8 in long! She enjoyed the sweet tea and other yummies, too! We were set for dinner after that meal had leftovers.

Soon the hills started rolling again, and we crossed the mighty Mississippi River! 

It was like two bridges...it is very wide at that crossing. The welcome center is also the site of the Vicksburg siege in 1863 (Civil War).

Mississippi isn't very wide at Interstate 20, so after dodging some crazy truck drivers, we were soon in our destination for the next two nights, Alabama!

Vickie offered to drive me to spend the night with my sister, Amanda, rather than us driving up the next day, so we were really thankful and excited to have more time to visit. That was really thoughtful of her.

So we drove up to where my sister lives, Vickie dropped me off, and then she went to enjoy our lovely hotel, which had all kinds of amenities.

Here's a picture of my sister, Amanda, and I: