larry kubin

We just finished a week long road trip to visit our friend Kevin, who recently moved to Birmingham, Alabama. The trip started in Austin, TX and spanned several southeastern states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The trip was flawlessly executed and well-documented, thanks to the infinite utility of the iPhone, the high quality pictures and videos provided by the Sony Cybershot DSC-T20, the fuel efficiency of the Kia Rio, and the sheer buying power provided by the American Express Clear Card. We drove over 1800 miles (and by “we”, I mean Mike) and stayed in 4 different cities over the course of 7 days. From the Shreveport casinos to the blues clubs of Memphis, each city offered unique experiences and unforgettable memories. What follows is my personal account of the trip, complete with photos and videos.

The Trip Map

First, some barbecue

We left Austin at around 10am and made our first stop at Louis Mueller’s Barbecue in Taylor, Texas shortly thereafter. Started in 1949, Louis Mueller is listed as one of the top 25 barbecue restaurants in the world. Yes, in the world. Not only did the food complement our low-carb diets, it was damn good too. Over the course of the trip, we ate barbecue in five different cities, and Louis Mueller’s was definitely among the best — thanks to the fatty brisket and 100% beef sausage.

Picked up the cash flow

After filling our bellies to capacity, we drove to Shreveport, Louisiana, where we would meet up with Jason for a night of gambling at the El Dorado Hotel and Casino. We spent about an hour playing blackjack waiting for Jason to arrive from Dallas. Once Jason showed up, we went to the craps table and didn’t leave for 7 hours. Things were going well. There were several rollers who were hot for a while, including “G Money”, a young fratty looking guy with a backwards baseball cap, a couple of older black men, and even yours truly. The Jack and Cokes and Absolut on the rocks were flowing smoothly and the waitress kept queueing them up while we played. After an uncountable number of high fives and cheers, we were officially having a great time. Jason and Mike won the most money, as they pressed big on the 6’s and 8’s when the going was good. As a group, we finished about $1500 ahead. Couple this with free drinks and food, and we had a very nice paid vacation.

So we wake up the next day feeling crappy but happy. Mike and Louis talk to the pit boss to get our meals comped. After brunch, we buy in at the craps table again and everyone wins some more money. At this point, we are way behind schedule. We are supposed to be in Birmingham, Alabama that afternoon, and here we are at a craps table, barely in Louisiana. Everyone decides to cash out and call it a day. We say goodbye to Jason and continue our trip.

Mighty Mississippi

On the way to Birmingham, we stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi to take some pictures of the Mississippi River, explore the town, and of course, eat some more barbecue. Our first thought when we reach the border between Louisiana and Misssissippi is: “what’s up with all of the confederate flags?”. They are everywhere, and have many different connotations, depending on who you are. We park on a street in Vicksburg and walk around for a while to see what our options are. There are some pretty cool murals near a riverboat casino, so we stop to take some photos before it starts raining. We rush over to some barbecue place whose name I don’t remember and have some pulled pork and sausage. The food was forgettable, but we did get some good laughs by simply listening to the locals talk. For some reason, we couldn’t help but laugh hysterically when we heard the Southern Twang of everyone in the restaurant. Some lady is showing off about winning a hula hoop contest and we just lose it.

After eating, Mike and Louis stop in some swanky bar to grab a couple of drinks. The place is so posh and out of place in such a small Mississippi town — it looked like a place you would see in LA, except completely void of customers. The bartender immediately knows that we aren’t from Vicksburg, since everyone in town knows each other. She’s a nice lady and makes some smalltalk with us. She also allows us to check on the Texas-Arkansas State score, since the game is starting and we are missing it. We hang out for a little while, then ask for the check. Since the bartender knows we are just passing through, she completely jacks us on the price when we close out our tab. While we can’t prove that she ripped us off, this was the most any of us has ever spent on two drinks — and this is just a small town in Mississippi. So it goes.

We continued our drive to Birmingham and were making great time until we arrived in Tuscaloosa……