#1,328 Welcome to Laurel.

In one day we squeezed in every essential Laurel fun thing we possibly could with Katy and Joe. Since this is their first visit to Mississippi, I’m glad the neighborhood showed out with friendliness. The only thing they missed was a Day in the Park corndog, but maybe we can get them to come back next spring! The rundown of the day:

1. Breakfast with Mrs. Peggy at Wisteria Bed & Breakfast.

2. A walk around the historic district with Chevy and Baker.

3. Lunch at Lee’s where we bumped into Judy Ellis (Charlie Day’s mother-in-law, Mary Elizabeth Ellis’ mama), the Thoms and Mr. George, our famous writer in residence. Nailed it, Lee’s.

4. A quick stop at Southern Antiques where they met Andrea, our friend and the owner of the shop.

5. A visit to my studio where I showed Katy where her invitations came from.

6. A drive around the town to see Homewood, the parks, etc.

7. A visit to the museum where we showed them the Dale Chihuly, Warhol, Picasso, Rembrandt, Hokusai and Homer pieces along with the exhibit about rock n’ roll photography that’s leaving in a few weeks:

8. Then we met Julie and went for a swim at Mickey and Misty’s where we found the Gravemans and Myles already hanging out.

9. Then we all got dressed, went out for dinner at the country club with Julie, Jim and Mallorie, and rushed to the theatre to see Aida, which is based on the opera made famous by Laurel-born opera superstar Leontyne Price.

10. Followed by the best ever Bake Shop apple pie and hot coffee at our house.
I don’t think we could’ve shown them one more Laurelish thing in a day. Good job, team.