Paul and his mob connections

On our recent trip to Arkansas, I really learned some history about where my husband comes from.

He had previously mentioned that one of his Great Aunts had been married to a mobster who owned the Cotton Club.



Well I just kind of dismissed it because as long as his name wasn't Al Capone, Bugsy Malone, or Bonnie and Clyde......it didn't seem like that big of deal.

WELL.....was I wrong!

When we visited Hot Springs, Arkansas they had a Gangster Museum. Wow....that sounds interesting. We've never visited a ganster museum before.



Well holy cow did I learn some things. Apparently Paul's ex Great Uncle WAS somewhat of a bigger ganster than I originally thought. Mr. Owney Madden is very popular in the Hot Springs gangster history.



Mr. Madden was one of the first gangsters to inhabit Hot Springs and in fact, was the "head guy" that the gangsters had to "check in" with when they came to Hot Springs. We learned that Hot Springs was a neutral ground for all the mobsters and that this town has a rich history of illegal gambling and moonshine.

Well Mr. Owney Madden is so well known in Hot Springs, that he was one of the featured "rooms" in the Gangster Museum. We found out lots of interesting facts about him. So eager are we to learn about him, we are searching out books of this distant relative.

Apparently, Owney was married to Paul's great aunt early in his "career" and they divorced. So this is not someone that Paul had ever met or was even part of his family when he was born.



How fun it was to learn about the gangsters of the early 20's and to find out that we actually were related to one!

Photos we thought were lost forever

Well back in May we took a little business trip to San Antonio.

We also threw in a day of rest and relaxation at a friend's house in Canyon Lake.

The problem was we left our camera in the San Antonio hotel and didn't notice it until a couple of weeks later when we got ready to go to Tucson.

Couldn't find that darn camera anywhere, but after calling the hotel a month later......they had it!

So here are some of the photos on that camera that we thought were gone forever. Actually there were some on there that I wish were gone forever. Sorry though......you are NOT going to see those here.

Way out in the boonies we found this car for sale. Had to turn around and take a closer look because it was an almost exact replica of Paul's very FIRST car. He sure did spend a lot of time walking around this thing and having me take pictures of it.





This was our primary mode of transportation as we explored the property where we were staying. We had a blast with this thing!



And this was our primary reason for going to our friend's property. The peace, quiet, and getting away from it all. We loved it!



Our visit to the San Antonio Zoo. Funny.....this is the only picture we took. A picture of our business card at the Zoo sign!



I know.....I know.....you thought you were going to see some of the exciting pictures from our recent road trip. Well, keep coming back -- they will be here in a couple of days. I'm still trying to get caught up on a few things. But I will tell you that we had a GREAT time in Arkansas and saw lots of interesting things!


P.S. Notice the shortage of photos of myself. Well those are some of the ones that will never be published anywhere. That is one of the perks of owning the blog....I get to pick and choose what goes here....lol!

Just another day of the ordinary and the same

Just another one of those typical weekend days.

Paul is out working and I'm here trying ........hiss hiss hiss hiss gjbjdkgjekgjh





We're sorry to interrupt this blog to bring you an important announcement.



"This public service announcement is being seen because Paul and Debbie have stepped away from the computer. That's right.....they took off and are out somewhere on the planet enjoying themselves. There is no need for cause or concern at this time, as you will be notified of where they are by photos that will be posted on Facebook identifying their exact location. Thank you."

We waffle better than a waffle iron

Thats right....we just waffle back and forth all the time

No decision is ever made right away. It's discussed, rediscussed and discussed some more for good measure.

Should we go or stay? No we have too much to do. No but we really want to take a small break and have some fun. But if we go we'll get farther behind.

Last night we made the decision....yes we are going.



This morning the waffling began.

Ok, now we are not flying out of here. But we ARE going to do something this week that involves some fun. It might be a day trip or it might be a couple of days driving trip.

Who knows? We sure don't. We need to go waffle on it some more!

And the destination will be?

Here's some hints as to where we decided to go this weekend:







So the destination? Little Rock, Arkansas.

Last minute flight.....cheap. Now tomorrow I have a million things to do to get ready to leave!

Wordless Wednesday: Relaxing at Casa de Gainor Oasis

Warning: these photos are not for distribution......we don't want our top secret relaxation destination revealed to the rest of the world or we'll have crowds.

So many choices....what should we choose?

Gulfport/Billoxi, MS

Little Rock, AK

Shreveport, LA

Columbia, SC

Kansas City, MO

Mobile, AL

New Orleans, LA

What should we choose? Where should we go?