Retracing Papa's History...Day 3

Well, this was the final day of Papa looking at his history.

We started it by attending Sacrament Meeting (Church) this morning in Winnfield.  We knew Edna Jean would be there but were not really expecting to see anyone else from Papa's past. Papa was pleasantly surprised to meet Mildred. She got out of her car as we were walking into the building. She recognized Papa before he recognized her. They enjoyed a big hug after many years of not seeing each other. Then the talking began. Mildred (I can't remember her last name) is the daughter of Gilbert Conner. I remember Gilbert because he had a hunched back. He was such a sweet man. He just radiated gentleness. I did not remember Mildred. But Papa remembered her and she knew him right off. Turns out she is the organist for the meetings.

As we entered the building another man was standing outside the chapel to greet people and he also knew something of Papa's history. Claude and I left him and Papa talking and went on in the chapel to find us all a seat. Jean came in and sat with us.

There was a lady sitting two rows in front of us. We talked a bit and I learned her roots were in Many, Louisiana. Her last name was Muse. I remembered that name. I told her my era was when Pres. Belial was stake president of the Shreveport Stake. She was able to share a little about people from that era. (Wow, that sounds old, era...)

We met Jean's son and grand-daughter. I learned that the man with the last name of Lawrence that was also a greeter at the chapel door was the son of Freddie Lee who was Papa's dear friend from childhood. We all knew him as Cuz and that was his son. Robert Taylor came in who was also the son of the Taylors that were Papa and Mimi's age. So Papa ran into some people with a knowledge or remembrance of him. It was a good morning for him.

After the meeting, we changed into our traveling clothes and hit the road. Our goal was Meridian, Mississippi. That would be about a 5 hour drive from Winnfield.

Before leaving home I found two restaurants that struck my fancy around Meridian. One was named Chunky Shoals Fish Camp. They had a restaurant that served fried catfish. Papa loves fried catfish. I checked it out as we drove and we determined we would go there and eat before finding our hotel. It turned out to be an excellent restaurant. We all totally enjoyed our fried pickles for an appetizer, the hot and not hot hush puppies, the best cole slaw I've had in many a year, the boys enjoyed their fried catfish and I enjoyed my fried shrimp po-boy, and Claude even tried fried corn on the cob. Yummy meal! Highly recommended for anyone in that area.

Now, one might ask, why in the world would one name a place 'Chunky'. Thank heavens the menu answered the question for me. It seems the Chowtaw Indians from this area played a game named Chunka. From that the area was named Chunky. I would have never guessed that.

After dinner I took a walk along the creek beside the restaurant. The restaurant is really a vacation spot for people. There is a boat landing and canoes were seen paddling downstream thru the windows of the restaurant. There is a white sandy beach with a playset for kids and picnic tables. People could swim in the stream and enjoy that white sand beach. Across the creek a rope hung from a tree. I looked at that rope and thought, "Nissa's kids would go bananas swinging from that rope and landing in the water." And they would.

We headed into Meridian and found our hotel and checked in. After a brief period of time to rest, I went to the front desk and asked if there was a Dairy Queen close by. She assured me there was and gave me directions. I came back and found it on my cell phone maps and we were off for a cool treat before time to settle in for the night. So happy they have smoothies at Dairy Queen.

Now we are all tucked in. Papa so enjoyed seeing people. He was and is very frustrated with finding the places so changed where he grew up. But it is a good thing for him to have settled in his mind. Now we'll all hopefully have a good night's rest and be ready for a long drive home tomorrow.