Shreveport Trips, Ain't Nothing Like 'Em...

A while back, I said I was going to start sharing fun stories / memories, then promptly forgot to do it. I'll try to do better, and will start with a couple of the reasons I love Shreveport, Louisiana.

The reason this comes to mind is that today would have been my best friend's 33rd birthday. If you didn't get to meet Brad or spend a lot of time with him, you really missed out. He was the most kind, generous, thoughful person I've ever known, and I still miss him every day. I think that the last, best gift we can give another person is to remember them and how they affected your life, so here goes. Happy Birthday, Creepshow...

Brad and I only went to Shreveport 3 times, but those 3 trips really "made" Shreveport for me, and I think about them all the time. They were some of the first times I really just took off with a friend for wacky road-trip adventures, since I didn't do any of that in high school or college. We went with different folks each time, but every trip was awesome.

Brad & CP

The first trip was just Brad and me, sometime in 2001 I think. We drove up after a Devil Dog's roller hockey game, leaving in the late afternoon. We didn't have a reservation, because the Isle of Capri was full. They'd said they would get some cancellations, though, and I had a coupon for a free suite from a previous trip. All the way up there, I kept calling to see if they'd had a cancellation. About an hour outside Shreveport, they finally said yes and signed me up for the one room they had open. Happiness abounded, since it meant we wouldn't be sleeping in Brad's Durango!

When we arrived to check in, it was after 10PM. We went to the desk and got our key and headed for the elevator to leave our duffels and then head off to the casino. I unlocked the door, only to find we'd been given a super-fancy room for free. Brad kept walking around saying "Daddy got us the Rain man suite!" and we checked the place out. There was a giant hot-tub with mirrors all around it and "accent lighting", located right next to the king size bed! The room was great, but we figured we wouldn't be taking full advantage of it. After that, it was time to head down to the casino!

We walked in, and the casino was pretty packed. We waited around, though, and squeezed into a Caribbean Stud poker table, my favorite game. We decided that it wasn't nearly as much fun to play sober, so we started ordering drinks pronto. Brad boarded the "Jack & Coke Express" and I just drank Jack. It wasn't long before we were known as the "lively" table.

There was a very nice older Asian woman across the table from us, she spoke NO English. We gathered her name was somethign like "Me Jong", and we were big pals for the rest of the night. In retrospect, I think she was just laughing at the 2 drunk idiots, but seemed to be enjoying it. Any time she beat us, we would point at a nearby bank of slot machines that had a sign on top saying "Jamaica Me Rich" and scream "Jamaica Me Crazy!" way too loudly. Ricardo, our pit boss, would wander by periodically and "shoosh" us, but it never lasted long. The best thing was that EVERY time we went to Isle of Capri, Ricardo was there, but Brad called him Fernando every time. He never corrected him, though, so I guess that was OK.

Eventually, we ran Me Jong off (or maybe she just thought that 3-4AM was a good time to go to bed). At that point, Brad and I started writing notes on the cocktail napkins and putting them on top of our heads. Ricardo went to answer the phone and came back to tell us that yes, they could read the notes but woul not print out a picture of us for a coffee mug. I TOLD you we were drunk... Eventually, Ricardo asked if we'd go to bed in exchange for free breakfast at the buffet the next morning. We said sure, and he printed out a comp certificate. Then, the wackiness began, we had to get back to our room...

If you've never been to the Isle of Capri, it's really not too far from the casino to your room in the hotel. When you are 2 drunk guys who can't stand up without holding onto each other, it seems like MILES. We staggered our way out of the casino, taking turns propping each other up. As we were walking towards the elevator, a lady had got in and the doors were closing. I watched her face as she wrestled with what to do, but at the last second she stuck her hand out and waited for us to get inside. She asked what floor, and I told her. She said "Oh, that's my floor" and Brad just said "Lucky you!". I think we freaked her out, because she BOOKED it out of that elevator. haha.

Once in our room, I had to call Maria in California. Why? No idea. It was REALLY late our time, but still late her time too. I think it was about 4 in the morning, so she wasn't too excited to be woken up. I rambled at her for a while, then passed out while still talking to her. I was in a horribly uncomfortable chair, and Brad was on the couch. We both passed out and never used the swanky bed / hot tub / etc. that they'd set us up with!

The next morning, we woke up and were still drunk. We needed to drive home, but were going to have to kill time. So we hit the buffet, which is THOROUGHLY disgusting when you're 1/2 drunk and 1/2 hung over. We had to get something in our stomachs, though, and headed back home a couple hours later. The drive home was SCORCHING hot, as it was the dead of summer and over 100 degrees outside. The sun was beating on the Hangover Twins, and we were SO glad to get home. I think about this trip at least once a week, always as "Best. Shreveport Trip. Ever."!

Brad, BT, and CP

The next trip that comes to mind was one that Brad and I took with our friend Bryan Taylor (BT). Again, we left after a Devil Dogs game and got on the road LATE. It was pitch black, and we were forced to detour 2 hours out of our way because a natural gas well had blown up near the highway. On the detour, we stopped for Whataburger since I'd never had it before. We're sitting there eating when Bryan spouted off some story about how he and his brother used to accuse their dad of "petting the pickle" and BT had to demonstrate with the pickle from his burger. Anyone that knew BT was subjected to the "BT pets the pickle" mantra from that day on, so now they know why...

Once we finally hit the casino, we were at the Isle again, Brad and I hit Caribbean Stud while BT wandered around. He wasn't much of a gambler, so he just came back to visit from time to time. We were up to our usual shenanigans, and Ricardo the pit boss was there again. He had to keep griping at us, because we organized "side bets" at our table where everyone chipped in a buck per hand. The worst cards won that pot, which is a casino no-no. There was a woman at the table from a little town called Climax, TX which we found HILARIOUS at that time of night / blood alcohol level. Then, we met a woman that REALLY wanted to go to our room with us. She even went so far as to show us pictures of her SEVEN kids, not all from the same father, and tell us how good she was at "it". Obviously, neither of us are that dumb, but we had a brilliant idea!

BT had already gone to bed by then, since slot machines ate up the money he was willing to lose. We decided that the best thing to do was OBVIOUSLY to send the scary woman up to climb into bed with BT! We made it as far as getting the room key out before we chickened out. We told BT about it the next morning, and he was pissed. I never really understood why, as we didn't go through with it. Boy, I sure wish we had...

Brad, Ryan, and CP

The last time we made it out to Shreveport was a weekend trip with our friend Ryan (otherwise known as Sober Sowa) and a bunch of guys from his office. We were at the Hollywood Casino for that trip, which is a definite step up from the Isle of Capri. This trip was fun, the 3 of us always had a great time together. Ryan's pals from work were fun, and I think Ryan actually made pretty good money on that trip. There wasn't much "remarkable" about that weekend, but it was the last time we were able to get out to Shreveport before Brad got sick.

I think one of the reasons these Shreveport trips stay fresh in my mind is that Brad and I talked about them all the time. Especially when he was sick and travel was difficult / impossible, we would laugh about the crazy weekends in Louisiana where we acted like fools. I wouldn't trade these memories for anything in the world, they are EXACTLY the way I want to remember my best friend...

-CP