Engines Ready to Blast Off

Day 2 - May 7th

After a well rested night, we set out for another day of mostly driving.  We left Spanish Fort, AL  and ended our day in Lake Charles, LA...total of 334 miles.  

State 3 - Mississippi

After Starbucks and breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we set off around 11:00 CDT for the day's driving.  We quickly crossed into MIssissippi and of course stopped at the Welcome Center to get pictures and a free map.  We didn't realize all of the first rest areas in each state (so far) have free maps whether they are a welcome center or not. Kids, you better be glad I am retired, because otherwise you would have lots of Math and Social Studies assignments using all of these maps!  

At the Mississippi Welcome Center, we were intrigued with some artwork on display.  A local artist creates sculptures out of the large oaks that fell in Hurricane Katrina. He looks at a tree and sees an animal to carve. He adds any additional features in metal to create mixed media sculptures.  Really unbelievable!  

Space Centers/Museums #1 - NASA John S. Stennis Space Center

After admiring the artwork, we continued traveling to NASA John S. Stennis Space Center. In all of our planning, we somehow missed the fact it was right on our way!  Of course, that quickly became our destination for the day!  The NASA Stennis Space Center is a unique federal city that is the nation's premiere rocket testing facility.  It is also home to the Applied Science and Technology Office (NASA spinoffs people now use, such as GPS and battery powered tools.).

We went to their visitor center/museum called Infinity.  It was very interesting but very tiny compared to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.  We knew it had to be small when we saw the admission price of $10 ($8 for seniors,,,love when it starts at age 55).  However small, it had some very interesting exhibits and offered a free bus tour through the NASA Stennis restricted areas.

We visited "Mars" and saw the model of Curiosity!

Some of our favorite exhibits included a replica of Dr. Wernher von Braun's office, model of Destiny module on International Space Station, and a wall of cross-stitched mission patches.

We took a bus tour through the the NASA Stennis Space Center. We really enjoyed learning about the engine testing process and seeing the towers they used.  We also saw the tower where Dr. von Braun had his office and saw the NOAA buildings where they design and test various buoys.

When we finished our bus tour, we went to the west Mississippi Welcome Center and saw the outside model of the lunar landing module.

State #4 - Louisiana
We left Stennis Space Center around 3:00 CDT and quickly crossed into Louisiana. Of course, we stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center. Dean knows his job is to go get a free map while I take pictures of the welcome signs. 

We continued to travel on I-10 and saw mostly Louisiana swampland.

We arrived in Lake Charles, LA around 6:45 CDT and found our Fairfield Inn.  While the front desk staff was very helpful and friendly, his pick of seafood restaurants certainly didn't meet the same standard as the previous night.  He sent us to Holliers Cajun Kitchen for some good seafood and creole.  However, what we found were people eating tons of crawfish, no seafood creole or gumbo, and tables being balanced by wadded up napkins or sugar packets.  




I did get to play Lily Tomlin in the oversized wooden chair outside.


As we backed out of the parking lot, we saw what the back half of the business was and were certainly glad we hadn't seen the sign before we went inside.

Once we got back to the hotel, we went to the fitness room. Much to Dean's dismay, there was a sign on the door stating it was closed for renovations.  No working out tonight. 

Oh well, we had a productive day so we headed to bed!