Country Come to Town and Getting More Personal Than I Intended.

The Sunday of Labor Day Weekend The Mr calls me around 3 in the afternoon and asks if I want to go spend the night in Shreveport with our friend, Bird. He recently purchased a condo up there. The Mr says to be packed and ready for when he got off work at 6 pm. All I asked was if I could bring the dog? Thankfully, Bird and Pumpkin are well acquainted so he said sure. She loves a good road trip.

I haven’t been to Shreveport in nearly 10 years and it was never for fun that we went. Always for medical reasons and maybe if anyone felt like it, squeezing in a bit of shopping and dinner. As a child I had taken a few trips to the hospitals there for tests on my joint issues and then in my late teens we went nearly weekly to Shreveport for my mom who’s chemo treatments where there and her oncologists. It was never for recreation but we always tried to make the best of those trips.

Needless to say, I had lots of feelings about going back to Shreveport. It isn’t a place that holds great memories for me. I’d spent so much time in the Fiest Weiller Cancer Center and The LSU Hospital on Kings HWY just wandering around lost in grief. I never wanted to see that place again to honest with you.

That being said, I was oddly excited about seeing a new side of Shreveport / Bossier.  Getting to go for fun and getting to see all the great features the town has to offer. I’d never gone there with Ross before either so that also made it something new.

When we finally got on the road it was about 7 pm and was the most beautiful sunset. The picture doesn’t do it justice.  We ended up taking a wrong exit into Shreveport, the Kings HWY exit. Right by the hospital and cancer center, but it didn’t upset me. I pointed out each building, where we ate lunch most the time. It didn’t send me into the panic I thought it would. I’m glad we took the wrong exit because there was something cathartic about seeing it all again with the comfort of Ross and Pumpkin snuggled in my lap.

We arrived at Bird’s condo around 10 pm and just hung out watching Bar Rescue.  Pumpkin played and explored then we settled down on the air mattress while the boys drank Kracken and Sprite. I passed out with the dog about 2 episodes in. LOL.

I was awoken by the sunlight streaming through the skylights of the condo. It was a lovely clear morning but hot, so hot. That’s not a bad view to be greeted with every morning. The neighborhood was so nice.

For lunch, the boys told me about going to eat at the Boardwalk and at a steak house called Saltgrass. I’m not one to pass up a good steak and shopping.

The Boardwalk is a giant outdoor mall with tons of outlet stores and restaurants. Not to mention it’s just really nice. it’s set up like a town with great views of the downtown skyline and Red River.

I had a Treat yo’self moment at Saltgrass and got Fillet Mignon. Holy Cow. pun intended. That was the best steak.

All in all, it was definitely a great trip. I can’t wait to go back for Christmas time. I hear the Boardwalk is lovely then and it won’t be burning hot. I don’t live in the sticks btw, but anytime I visit somewhere else I feel like I do. I go full on tourist. Shreveport / Bossier is what my city could be if they let it. We have an ideal location within the state, everyone who’s going anywhere passes through and we have a major international airport, an army base, tons of room. yet we remain the town things go to die. It’s true Louisiana is 5 years behind the rest and my town in 5 more years behind that. Not to complain, I’m content here. It’s just right for me, I live within the busier city area within a city that’s not too crazy. I’m not cut off, realistically I could walk to everything I need even and never have to leave the street my neighborhood is on but seeing Shreveport / Bossier made me a little envious but it is the 3rd largest city in LA we have almost exactly half the population where I live.