Tiger Pause

After our week in Lake Charles, mom and I packed up the kids and drove up to McComb, Miss., my hometown and where most of my extended family lives, for the remainder of our vacation. On our way, we paused in Baton Rouge, home of Louisiana State University, where mommy once upon a time ago attended college, and also the state's capitol, where mommy later used to work as a reporter. On LSU's campus, we visited Mike the Tiger's new habitat just off from Tiger Stadium. We looked and looked for the tiger and finally found him sleeping under some bushes. He was old, we were told, and slept a lot. Sadly, Mike died a week after our visit. Finally, we made our way to see Linda, a friend and former American Press colleague, who has since moved from Lake Charles. ... All in all, it was a 3-hour pause, but I really wanted to get the most out of our trip.