Night 1:  Little Rock Arkansas

We arrived in Little Rock about 9 pm and tried to find the Best Western motel we saw on our Strips and Treats. Couldn’t find it, so we snagged a Motel 6 at exit 134 on IH30. It was a very nice stay for a cheap and simple room. Hot water, shower, TV - Everything worked! The karaoke place in the Underground Pub in downtown Little Rock was cool. The KJ was a nice guy who ran karaoke for the local college crowd. Bet did her usual great job with Purple Rain and My Heart Will Go On. We met a couple (David and Dorothy?) who sang duets. The husband used to be in a band. They had nice voices, and he plays guitar. We tried to find a way to abduct them and UPS them to Garland so we could finally get a reliable guitarist, but they had other plans.
~~Wade~~

Before returning to the motel, we decided we needed breakfast at the Waffle House next to where we were staying. After we got past the “no sharing meals” edict handed down by the founders of Waffle House, it was a GREAT evening for waffles.
~~Wade~~

Wanna tell me WHY a non-buffet restaurant has a no-sharing policy?  Are they afraid that someone might not order enough food to immediately produce chest pains?  The waitress explained the policy as best she could and then told us that our job was to order the food and hers was to serve it.  What we did with the order after it arrived was our business.  I like that waitress!
~~Bet~~

:O)  I never thought I could have so much fun with a breakfast menu. They bought into our story about being newlyweds, and breakfast turned into a wonderful festival that involved all the diners in the Waffle House.
~~Wade~~

“Bought into our story?”  Hello?  Wade… honey… darling… we DID just get married!  But you’re right – The Wafflehuttian Festival was pretty cool.  First, we let them know we were on our honeymoon.  The waitress, Quiza, immediately brought out a tiny plastic container of margarine with a lit candle in it, and told us if the flame went out, we were in trouble.  I guarded that flame until it burned a hole in the waxed paper on top of the margarine, and I was then wondering if the butter-type spread was flammable.  When we finished our ONE shared breakfast, we went to the register to pay and Quiza called out, “Attention customers!  We have newlyweds in the house and will now sing to them the anniversary… ummm… newlywed song!”  Everyone joined in singing to us a warped version of Happy Birthday, substituting lyrics as they saw fit (and no two persons sang it the same way).  Last, but not least, Wade suggested they comp the breakfast to us and, sho-nuff, the night manager signed off on it.  We left a good tip and politely declined the offer of cake-to-go.
~~Bet~~

First morning in AR:  I called Naomi because (1.) I wanted to hear my girl, (2.) I promised I would, and (3.) I forgot Freda and Connie’s phone number, and I needed Naomi to find them for me.  She got all excited and took her time explaining in excruciating detail, about the water heater flooding the carpet and her attempt to shut off the water at the source (which wouldn’t be shut off), and Leo’s plans to install the latest and greatest new-fangled water heater (the expensive one, of course) – and all of this happened within a few hours of our leaving on the honeymoon.  I felt a bit guilty, regardless the fact that it would have happened with or without me being present to witness the catastrophe and, in fact, I’d have been a great deal less helpful than Naomi in handling the matter.  (I will not dwell on what happened in my absence… I will not dwell on what happened in my absence…I will not dwell on what happened in my absence…)
    

Randolph, the Brown-nosing Moose (leaving Dallas)