Needed vacations…

Well, here I stand at the end of the first day of a three-day work week. Today was not fun for reasons I REALLY don’t want to get into, but at least the day is over and done with. Of course, it didn’t help either that today was the first day back after a long three day weekend… heh.

I actually spent this past weekend in Jackson, MS, visiting my old old friend Misty. She and I have known each other for eleven years and I figured it was about time I finally made my way out there and met her. (That and she was getting tired of me making excuses for not coming out there.) I arrived in Jackson at around noon, and made my way to the hotel in Clinton (not too far from where Misty lives). She came on over, and we ended up hitting this nearby BBQ place for lunch. Afterwards, we hung out in the hotel room, and that evening we made our way over to Hooters, where her friend Dani was doing an event for the radio station she works for, Rock 93.9. After dinner there, we made our way over to Tinseltown, where we ended up watching Casino Royale. I have to say that Casino Royale is probably the best Bond film I’ve seen since For Your Eyes Only. After that was done, she dropped me back off at the hotel, and I headed on to bed.

Saturday was spent having breakfast at the hotel, and then I accompanied Misty over to Home Depot while she got some stuff for her father. We also ended up over at Burger King for dinner; I tried to see if I could pick up a copy of Sneak King, but they weren’t selling the games yet for some reason. After that, she dropped me back off at the hotel while she took the stuff for her father. Later she returned, and we hung out at the hotel for a while again. When dinnertime came, we decided to look for a place to eat. We looked… and looked… we started at Applebee’s, then went to Ruby Tuesday’s, then headed over to Olive Garden, and then Chili’s. Every place had a HUGE crowd and/or a minimum hour and a half wait. (Apparently some big high school rivalry game had been played that night.) We ended up driving down Lakeland Drive to Flowood, and ate at Logan’s Roadhouse there. Never been to Logan’s, but the food was actually pretty good. After we got done in there, we walked over to Border’s and browsed for a bit. From there, I drove us back to the hotel, where she picked up her car and went home.

The next morning, after I had breakfast, packed, and checked out of the hotel, she came around and we headed over to North Park Mall off of County Line Rd. We browsed the mall for a bit, and had lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s in the mall. After we finished eating, we wandered down to the food court at the opposite end of the mall, where the Rock 93.9 folks (including Dani) had set up a turkey bowl to benefit the Stewpot. (I assume the Stewpot is a local food bank in Jackson.) Turkey bowling is just what it sounds like: you take a frozen turkey, and bowl it down the lane to hit the bowling pins. Misty and I both made donations, and both tried our luck… and both scored strikes. (Amazing in my case, considering how badly I bowl.) We talked to the DJs for a while, and watched people try their luck. By the time it ended, it was time for me to head to the airport. We went to our cars, and we bid each other goodbye (which wasn’t fun, mind you)… and then I made my way to the airport.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip. I hadn’t even considered this until after I got home, but this was the first non-working vacation I had taken since spring of 2003. (Other vacations I had taken since then were almost all to do with MK Online related events.) It was great to see Misty, and I’m sure it won’t be another 11 years before I go back and visit her. :-)

As for this coming weekend, well… it’s the typical four day Thanksgiving vacation. I won’t be travelling, of course, but I do hope to put some time in on my Xbox 360 and watch some movies. It’ll be good to just relax at home for a few days.

And speaking of relaxing, a cold Shiner Bock sounds good right about now, so I’m going to just post this and go grab one. Fun fun… :-)