Living it Up in Lumberton

You might be asking yourself...where the hell is Lumberton? No worries as I did the same thing. Ever since my niece was born I have been talking about traveling down to Southeast Texas to the bustling metropolis of Lumberton to spend the weekend with her, my brother (known to many as Ol' Red), and sister-in-law. Well, three months later, I finally pick a date. The only problem....there is absolutely no convenient way to get there!

After sneaking out early on Friday afternoon, Robin Leach and I were off on our adventure, opting to drive instead of flying to Houston and then driving another hour and a half. Ol' Red's directions took us through some interesting places in southeast Texas, down some barely inhabited county roads where I prayed we would not have car trouble, and through plenty of trailer park areas. I was beginning to think the majority of people in that part of Texas lived in manufactured homes, homes that were delivered via 18-wheeler.

We arrived just in time to pop open some cold beers (and to start up the blender for margaritas for me) and get the tour of the Lumberton estate where they call home. Most importantly, I got to spend time with my niece, holding her while she made faces, smiled at me, and for the most part, just stared at me - what else could I expect from a 3-month old???

We were able to tour much of the area, including Beaumont as we made our way downtown to eat Mexican food, checked out where my brother and sister-in-law worked, and lived it up in Lumberton. We even ended up at Larry's French Market for dinner on Saturday. Larry's is a unique Cajun/East Texas establishment, complete with a dance floor and live band on most nights. It is located right across the street from a refinery, which is pretty typical from this very industrial part of Texas. Larry's features cajun fare and seafood entrees that I rarely eat (unless it is Black Cod with miso from Nobu or hibachi shrimp). In fact, the joke of the night was that I didn't know what gumbo was. I went against every one's advice and ordered the chicken/sausage gumbo instead of the preferred shrimp gumbo.

We listened to the cajun band, stuffed our bellies with seafood, and enjoyed the company. The most humours part of the evening came when one of my brother's friends used a cheesy pick-up line on the waitress and it actually worked. He waited for her to walk near the table and then dropped a packet of sugar on the floor (it had to be sugar and not Splenda, Sweet-n-Lo, etc). He then said, "Excuse me. I believe you dropped your name tag." Lo and behold, it actually worked.

Camden took a nice nap for part of the evening. As Ol' Red said, "She had 3 Jack and Cokes and a few lbs of crawfish and was done for the evening!" Nevertheless, she was still the highlight of the group as people marveled about her dark hair and her cute face!

Our adventure continued on Sunday when we drove even further East to see Robin's grandmother. After a delightful visit in Orange, TX, we prepared for the long drive back to Dallas. It was a fun weekend spending time with everyone and seeing a new part of the state. However, next time we are going to fly!

Here are some pics from the weekend (including one where Ol' Red is threatening me with a boiled crawfish!):