This has been a frustrating exercise. To understand what "I" DON'T KNOW... would help.
All in fun, you guys have been patient as saints. I appreciate your help.
It turns out, I did not understand the difference between htaccess.txt and .htaccess
Once I figured that out, figured out how to unhide the .htaccess. I was able to make the follow change as per the Akeeba support materials.
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php5 .php
You most probably have to remove those lines beginning with AddHandler, especially if your problem is that you get a bunch of code, or the web browser offers to download index.php, instead of your site's front page. You most certainly have to remove such lines if you are restoring on a local server.