When Life Hands You Peaches

No more Mad Men on the tee vee. Bachelorette this season totally sucks (the reality show, not Bachelorette the movie which I love and am absolutely obsessed with). and No football. of any kind. Booooooo. Remember when the Cox Sports TV would air classic Tulane football games? Yes. I think the last time they did was 2 or 3 years ago.

Haters.

Speaking of Bachelorette..... Mrs. Dr. Hullabaloo is FBF's with a former Tulane quarterback and we message back and forth about episodes of Bachelor/Bachelorette. It's all in fun, and I have very much been enjoying discussing the finer points of reality television drama with him. He is a Desiree fan, but I, unfortunately, find this Bachelorette season SOOOOOO BOOOOOOORING, the dates have been laaaame and while the potential candidates are all reasonably attractive, the only drama are the loads of guys swarming on the show with ulterior motive of becoming famous. It all makes me roll my eyes. Plus I read Reality Steve and Desiree picks Brooks in the end. Shocking. I know.

Anyways, so to occupy my time for the next 8 weeks, I decided to start just dealing with this Swan Song of a football schedule. I've decided to post once a week ideas of where to stay and what to do in the random locations the Wave will be road tripping to next season: Ruston, Syracuse, Monroe, Boca Raton, San Antonio, Houston. So each week between now and the beginning of the season I'll profile a new hamlet and What Mrs. Dr. Hullabaloo would do there.

But before we get started, I am SO excited! One of Mrs. Dr. Hullabaloo's sorority sisters from my days of yore at Newcomb just got voted on to the Executive Board of our international NPC sorority (we have Canadian chapters, hence our global designation). Miss Amber (she's married, but I'll always call her Miss Amber) is now International Vice President. It's like omg! Because I RUSHED her! Yes, me! I still remember picking her up on the porch of our house and chatting her up.



Miss Amber had a car, and I did not. I was an upperclassmen, so I would call her up and as a bossy older sorority sister ask her to take me to go get daiquiris. She would oblige and she would drive my carless tush around New Orleans jamming to pirate radio and such. Amber is also from a smaller hamlet than Ruston up in North Louisiana. After my graduation I snagged her as my co-pilot for my very first trip north of the Mason Dixon line. Lots of wonderful memories with Miss Amber. And now she's a Very Important Person.

So speaking of important people from North Louisiana, our first road trip this season is to RUSTON. Ruston is hometown to our very own Patrick Ramsey! Roll Wave!


Oy, Ruston! Just kill me now. Of course, adding fuel to the fire is that the game is on a -shaking my head- Thursday. Life has handed Greenwave fans peaches, so below is where my snobby self would pitstop in Ruston. These are potential Hullabaloo Huddle-worthy recommendations.

About Ruston: Home to Louisiana Tech and Grambling. Peach Capital of Louisiana. Population 46,000. So smaller than Algiers. Ruston is where Tulane Football resided during the Katrina season. Your Summer Reading/Homework Assignment is to read "Fourth and New Orleans." I am serious. If you consider yourself a true Greenwave fan and you have not read that book, then I will look down upon you. Of course, I wish that Scott Cowen hadn't acted a fool and that Rich Rodriguez had been the author. But be that as it may, read it.

Where I Might Stay

lawd y'all! This is the crazy part.

The Sleep Inn is the highest rated hotel according to trip advisor and hotels.com and is $118 (!) a night. That is crazy. This I gotta see. I'll worry about booking a place when it gets closer though. There's a Holiday Inn, a Days Inn and a Hampton Inn. and an RV park in Lincoln City Park.

Where I Might Dine



Portico
Portico looks like contemporary comfortable bar and grill. Burgers, Steak, Fish, Gumbo. Some of the trip adviser commenters categorize it as fine dining (snicker). But the menu looks decent. So on the recommend list it goes.



Blue Light Café
Blue Light Café serves southern, soul comfort food: Chicken, Pork Chops, and the Thursday veggies are: Rice, Corn, Yams, Black Eyed Peas, Butterbeans, Turnip Greens, Mashed Taters, Squash, Pinto Beans, and Cornbread Dressing....mm-mmm! These are my favorite kind of places. Unpretentious and keepin it real. As a properly raised Texas girl, I have this one highlighted and underlined.

Where I Might Shop (very important)


Beehive Outlet.
Beehive is a wholesale distributor of gifts, women's shoes and accessories. And they started up in Ruston! So they have outlets in Ruston, Texarkana and in Tennessee. Bless our hearts!

Now, the Ruston Visitor's Bureau and the Ruston Chamber of Commerce both tout 18 blocks of historic shopping in downtown Ruston, but I will need to see about that.

How to actually get to Ruston
There's three ways to get there from Nola. Well, four if you take a private plane straight into the Ruston Regional Airport. A plane flight will take you anywhere from 30-45 minutes out of Lakefront Airport. If you take a personal jet, it will take no more than 30 minutes. I know this because I had to fly to Monroe weekly when I had a corporate job.

So driving is probably what most of us will do. It's a 4.5-5 hour drive from Nola. So as I was saying: there are 3 different suggested routes.


Option One is to take 55 North to Jackson and then swing west on I-20 to Ruston (317 miles). Simple. Option Two is to take I-10 west to CorndogLand/Bataan Rouge and then exit and take rural Highway 61 to Natchez, Mississippi stop for lunch and then continue on via Highway 425 thru Ferriday to Interstate 20 and bypassing Jackson entirely by swinging out to the west (300 miles). Scenic Route. Option Three is to take I-10 West to I-49 North and then exit in Alexandria, stopping at Joe Muggs for a chai latte and then continuing north on US Highway 625 thru Winnfield and straight into Ruston.

How to get to the Stadium



Joe Aillet Stadium is a straight shot from Interstate 20. Take exit 84 from I-20 if you are heading in either direction, and head SOUTH on Cooktowne Road until it forks with Tech Drive. The Stadium will be to the right (west) of Tech Drive.

Tailgating at Joe Aillet
There are reserved tailgating lots that they sell spaces for $1000 per space for the season, or $100 per game. There are also "open" tailgating spots that are west of the blacktop lots around Joe Alliet Stadium. If I find out about any Tulane tailgating functions for a Thursday afternoon in Ruston, Louisiana - you will be the first to know.

Visitor Seating at Joe Aillet


I'm not sure where they will seat the football families, but Visitors' seating is on the WEST side of the stadium by the endzone. Section "i" noted below. It is surrounded by reserved season ticketholder seating and on the opposite side of the stadium from the student sections and band.



So next profile up will be Syracuse!