Road trip / not a billionaire

So... Candy had this crazy idea that we needed to drive to Louisiana to buy lotto tickets. The prize is in the billions now. Well she talked Anna and I into accompanying her. We headed out in high spirits with road beverages...

and snacks ( we actually went back to water aerobics first ). 

We hit a snag before we left the neighborhood. A terrible 18 wheeler accident halted traffic for miles on the interstate to Vicksburg. No other route seemed viable. Not ones to give up on a road trip day, we shifted gears. I didn't really want all that money anyway. Anna suggested a visit to family ground in Kosciusko. 

The day was gorgeous. Beautiful blue skies and cool temps followed us down the Natchez trace. Our first rest stop, inexplicably named holy hill gave us respite. 

We pulled into the Kosciusko welcome center which was charming. 

Anna struck up a conversation with the volunteers there, to of course discover they knew her Mama and them. 

Kosciusko himself. We asked a gentleman there where he recommended we have lunch. As he scratched his ear canal with his key, he directed us to the Italian restaurant next door. Or we could try the Mexican one behind it where he said they also serve Italian food(??). We looked for something local. We settled for the only thing we could find open. 

A sports bar on the square. 

Ended up with great burgers and fries ( I stole off their plates 😞). Great service and an owner who checked on us. We decided to give the waitress the money
we were going to spend on our lotto tickets. So someone won today!

The town was lovely. 

A shop on the square. They actually had really cute clothes too. 

Apparently the town was named "the Beehive of the Hills".  These beehives on the corner of the square looked like something else to Candy. On to my favorite. 

City cemetery. 

This statue was put there by a bereaved husband. He could see it from his nearby mansion. 

We pressed our faces to the window of an antique shop only open on Wednesdays (?). Looked in one that was open 😬   Not so great. Then on to Anna's ancestral cemetery

Hauntingly beautiful. The Hight family row. 

One of many babies. 

Anna's grandfather. Born in 1858!

Her dad was born when he was in his 60's. Wow. 

There were many rows of tombstones that were simply rough stones. Anna said they were always told they must have been Indian graves. I think it was probably early settlers who did not have access to carved stones. 

Headed home. Gliding along empty highways with the sun flashing through the deep trees, with an old Neil Diamond CD playing. (My first 45 I ever purchased was Sweet Caroline) , it all seemed surreal. We wanted to hear David Bowie as we were all a bit traumatized by his death yesterday. But we could not get a signal in the middle of nowhere. We did swap stories of him and how he and his music / acting had affected us. We agreed he would be missed. 

The only way I could decide to end this day is with chicken and dumplings. I used flour tortillas!! Pretty good.