Let me entertain you

In a week or so, this Domestic Church will be embarking on a tour of the nation. We like to call it OBLI-Cation 2013! (An OBLI-cation is a trip mimicking a vacation but involving the visiting of family.) We'll leave Virginia, traveling across the state toward Tennessee and heading into the Arkansas delta area. We'll roll into my in-laws' home and visit for a few days to enjoy family, fishing, and fresh Hope watermelons. While the boys are fishing Lake Catherine with their Grandpa, the girls and I hope to kidnap my mother-in-law and visit the Arkansas Arts Center. I think Jazz would really enjoy viewing the masterpieces on display.

After Classic Rock finishes all the leftovers and begins his forages through the pantry, we'll decide it's time to move on.  The packed van will then head south into Louisiana to tour the Louisiana Tech campus.  Mr. Neoclassic and I will tell [greatly edited] tales of our time spent at Tech.  We'll then roll into New Orleans for dinner at my parents' home.  The list of activities planned for the New Orleans leg of the trip are still being debated.  The only things we've settled on are shrimp po-boys, snoballs (daily), and - for some - sitting through Saints practices.  My sister is treating the older three, along with my nephew, to a Zephyrs baseball game.  Mr. Neoclassic and I will take advantage of that (and my parents' desire to play with Irish Jig) to leave and have dinner alone. Without small people.  At a grown up restaurant, with cloth napkins and a wine list!  We might choose The Palace Cafe or one of the many wonderful Brennan family venues.

Apparently, we're planning to eat our way through New Orleans.  That's how we roll, I guess.  Even more so after eating all that....

While traveling the many miles together, we'll need some entertainment.  We'll allow the DS's and tablets, as well as stock up on books and card games.  We're also going to download new stories for the MP3's, and that's really what I planned to share today.

Do you know about Jim Weiss and his work with Greathall Productions???

We discovered his wonderful story cd's several years ago and have about five already.  When Zydeco counted up the hours we'll be spending in the van, he decided to campaign for new downloads and did the research for us.  Some of our top picks are:

(all images from Amazon.com)

We'll be downloading from Amazon's MP3 store as they have a huge selection available.  Jim's voice is spectacular and he brings stories and characters to life in a mesmerizing way.  We have so enjoyed American Tall Tales, Sweet Dreams, and Famously Funny, and we've played the cd's into the ground.  These wonderful stories will make that extra long return-to-home portion of the trip fly by [I say hopefully, with fingers crossed].  The return home will take us through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and finally, back across Virginia.

Anybody want to sign up now for our snack and refreshment breaks?  Do you live along our travel path?


Today's post title from Queen's Let Me Entertain You.