#14: Lunch Time at Village du Lac

Louisiana-Bound (2008) Part 14 of 40 - Lunch Time At Village Du Lac I think we were all talked out and now thinking about lunch. Melanie and I didn't know what to expect. Our hopes of connecting with John Lee and his SSP for lunch fell short. By the time I started looking for him, he had already gone to lunch. There was some possibility that we would be eating at the seniors' home. A female supervisor walked into the room and seemed surprised to see all of us there. I directed her attention to Dan and a lady who was helping with arrangements. The supervisor explained that we were fortunate. Usually the room was booked on Fridays, but not today. She did advise us though, that in the future we must make arrangements for the recreation room in advance. Then she asked if we were staying for lunch. Some showed a desire to do that. Did she ask for a show of hands, I think so because it was estimated that 15 people needed to eat. Quickly she left to see if the chefs had enough food to feed our large group. Minutes later the super returned with the announcement, "We have enough food for all of you." That settled it, most of us would be eating there. However, a short wait would ensue while the chefs cooked up extra food. It took a while to get the lunch ready and rats, Melanie and I couldn't eat it. There was shrimp in the main noodle course. There are some seafoods which we do not eat. Melanie did get two chocolate chip cookies though she did not eat them at all. And we would settle with that for the time being. We returned together to the recreation room where the snack machines were located. There we purchased snacks from the vending machines. Melanie finally got her bottle of Coca Cola and I got a bottle of Pepsi. The janitor was mopping the floor. He took a few minutes to explain the mess kids sometimes make in that room and that they also break some of the machines. But he was on guard, at least as best he could be, to prevent that. As for Melanie and I, we would be looking for a good dinner later on. Lunch took a while so Melanie and I walked back and forth, talking, visiting the restroom a few times and just moseying along through the whole building. The one mistake we made was walking down a smoke-filled hallway. Both of us are highly sensitive to cigarette smoke. We turned around half-way down the hallway and never repeated that mistake. In a while, everyone was ready to go. No, not to the restroom again, but to McGee's Landing for a swamp tour. We drove with Michael to McGee's Landing for the swamp tour. It was a long drive. But with very few adjustments Michael arrived there in quick time. I would have gotten lost. It wasn't a place you could see from the road. A road sign existed, but we were in a hurry because of running late and zoomed right by it. My feeling is that if they depended on that barely visible old sign, they'd soon be out of business. But we got there. Michael found a small place to turn and was heading back to the landing in no time flat and so was the vehicle following us. We saw the marker better this time, made a right turn, and went over a hill and there it was, McGee's landing. Many people were standing around in a slight drizzle. We joined them, excited, but not knowing what to expect. Written by Harvey A. Bond

 

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