Peggy and I ran over to Lake Charles for a quick getaway. With the lead-up to Easter we haven’t been able to go anywhere for several weeks, so I decided to take Friday off this week and we drove to L’Auberge for the weekend.

I like arriving on Thursday because the weekend crowd is not yet here. The casino is busy but not packed, and the restaurants are crowded but there is not usually a wait. More importantly, the pool is not full of drunk people. Yet.

April would normally be a little early for significant pool time, but the pool is heated. The temperature outside is not too hot this time of year, so April and May are two of our favorite times to visit.

If you are a people watcher it doesn’t get much better than this. Today was a perfect example. Peggy and I are out in the pool, having a conversation and minding our own business. There is a group of four women near us having a good time and several drinks. After a while, one of them comes over to us and says, pointing at me, “You might be from here. But you (pointing at Peggy) ain’t from here.” I laughed and told her we lived in Baton Rouge. She then asked Peggy where she is from. When Peggy told her Dallas, several “I knew its” were voiced.

Peggy was offended that we have lived in Louisiana for the past three years and she is not considered “from here”. I told her to consider the source — did she really want to seem to be from the same place as the lady asking the question? It was actually a compliment. Peggy hasn’t quite accepted my logic just yet.

We’ll get breakfast in the morning and then head back to Baton Rouge. This place is great when you just need to get away and relax a little.

And have I mentioned that it’s free?