A Memorable Thanksgiving Day

We left Memphis on Thanksgiving morning, heading due south into Mississippi. This route was about 1 to 1-1/2 hours longer than our original plan, but it was just far enough east to keep us away from the strong storms predicted for Little Rock.

Paddington was a little disappointed about having to travel on Thanksgiving Day, she was looking forward to Turkey!  She settled in between Dennis' seat and the slide-out wall.

We made a good choice and stayed clear of the storms by going south on I-55 to Winona, Mississippi and then taking Route 82 across southern Arkansas. It was sunny and in the 80’s most of the day and we enjoyed seeing families gathering in their lawnchairs, sitting outside after their Thanksgiving dinner.

One town we passed through in Arkansas had a drive-through liquor store called the Buzz-Thru.  We thought that was appropriate.
We were headed to Texarkana, TX and finally made it there around 5:00. By the time we got checked in and set up at the RV park, Thanksgiving dinner sounded pretty good to us. We went out in search of a restaurant that was open. Nothing!! We had been on the road 10 hours and now couldn’t even find a McDonald’s that was open. We stopped at a gas station that had a little deli in it. I asked the lady what was the best thing to choose. I told her that this was going to be our Thanksgiving dinner and that we’d been on the road all day. She looked at us with an apologetic look and said, ‘Well, honey, I guess the catfish is the freshest thing I’ve got.’ So catfish it was, along with hush puppies, fried okra, and some things like corn fritters. She gave us a wink and whispered, ‘I gave you extra but don’t say anything.’ I guess she felt sorry for us. We’ve had some memorable holiday meals on the road before, so this one just adds to our list.

We stayed in Texarkana for several days, not wanting to travel on the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We tried to visit a couple museums but because of the Thanksgiving holiday, they were closed.  We did visit the Post Office in Texarkana, which is the subject of many photographs because one side is in Texas, and one side is in Arkansas.  State Line Avenue was interesting to drive on, as one side (Texas) was dry (no alcohol), but on the other side of the street (Arkansas) bars were plentiful.  This photo was taken in front of the Post Office. Dennis has one foot in Texas and one foot in Arkansas.