Mon. 6/1… (Theodore/Mobile,
AL ) Today we went into Mobile
to check out the Mobile
Carnival Museum . They charged us only $4.00 ea.
admission. This place was fantastic!
Carnival and Mardi Gras originated in France
but Mobile is credited with starting it in the United States . The museum was actually a mansion and
showcases the history. Our tour guide was Elizabeth, who was only 17, but was
very informative. Turns out she is the
granddaughter of a former Queen of Carnival.
Her grandmother actually
sold us the tickets. Classy lady! Elizabeth
shared about the King and Queen who are voted in for one year. The King is known as King Felix III. The queen is just called The Queen. In the
1940’s the black culture entered their kings and queens. They crown a King Alexis and also their queen
(again no name). Each king and queen
designs their coats and gowns and also both design their trains. These things are huge! And expensive!
They also had a room
dedicated to the music. After all, it’s
not a party unless there’s music!
Afterward we headed
home. Our plan was to eat up our
leftovers. On the way home a rock hit my
windshield. We didn’t see it at first
but after a while I had a crack about 14” on the windshield. When we got home I called my insurance
company who put me in touch with a local glass shop. Because they can’t install
in the rain (and it did pour today!), they couldn’t come to me so I drove to
their shop. It actually took longer to drive the 11-12 miles there than it did
to put in a new windshield! They did a
great job. I made it back in time for dinner
which was good and after that we walked the dogs around the pond and then settled
in for the night. Tomorrow we head north
to Montgomery .
Tues. 6/2… (Montgomery , AL )
Today’s drive was 170 miles. We are now at The Woods RV Park &
Campground, in Montgomery , AL .
Now this is a NICE park! They
said they have different size spaces and even though we are PA and were told we
would be in back-in spaces, they put us in nice pull thrus! They have a pond
here as well. I will have to be careful
to keep Bailey out of it!
After getting set up we
were hungry and since it was 1:30 or so, we decided to go into the downtown
part of the city and have linner. They
told us in the office that there were good Italian and Mexican restaurants so
we headed there. The Italian place was
closed so we went to the Jalapeno Mexican Cantina. It was ok and the prices were very
reasonable. After eating we went next door to see if the Hank Williams
Museum was open. It was so we saved a trip there
tomorrow. The $8.00 senior admission was
worth it. We saw tons of memorabilia and
learned a lot about his life and his death.
He was born in 1923 and was only 29 when he died on New Year’s Day 1953.
He sure seemed older to me. We learned
about his death in his blue 1952 Cadillac convertible. He had a heart attack while heading to a
booking in West Virginia
and died in his car. The car is in the
museum but we were not allowed to take pictures. He was married twice (Audrey and Bobbie Jett)
had two kids, Randall Hank (Hank Jr.), and Jett. Afterward we headed home and planned our day
tomorrow.
Wed. 6/3… (Montgomery , AL )
We left the campground about 10:00am
and headed to the downtown area. We
wanted to visit the First White House of the Confederacy. Located just across from the state capitol,
we learned we were there on Jefferson Davis’ birthday. They had a film crew there to tape the
docents who were in full period costume.
It was cool. The house has many
items actually used by Jackson .
Tour of the house was free.
Afterward, we went down
the street to the Civil Rights Memorial and Center. This place was very moving. The admission was
$2. but we got in free due to Rick’s veteran status. Dedicated to those who died during the modern
Civil Rights Movement, the memorial is a 10’ granite table with water covering
the top and flowing off the sides. Etched in the granite is the timeline of
events beginning with segregation and the right to vote in 1954, a listing of
those who died including a young black lad who was executed just for speaking
to a white girl. The timeline ends with the death of famed civil rights leader
Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. Inside the building we saw a video about the
protests, among those examples of sit-ins, marches, the Rosa Parks bus
incident, etc. It was well worth the
time and very moving.
We hit Bass Pro Shops
for sandals for Rick, then came home and had lunch and did laundry and did a
general cleanup of the rig (inside). We decided to try again for the Italian
restaurant (Zaba) which was pretty good. I didn’t care for the spaghetti sauce
that much but the others liked it. We drove
around the riverfront a bit and then came home and prepared for the trip
tomorrow.
Thurs. 6/4… (Stone Mountain , GA ) The drive today was another 175 miles and took
us around the city of Atlanta . We are now at the Stone Mountain Park Family
Campground, in Stone Mountain , GA. We are
probably in the nicest park to date. The
spaces are level and we have a satellite signal! This is a state park. Once we got in and settled, we decided we
would drive into Atlanta
for a few hours, come back, eat, and then go over to the laser show they put on
in the evenings. I got us unto the Atlanta
area and remembered where The Varsity was.
It was getting late so we postponed Lydia ’s dinner until tomorrow
night. This place is famous in Atlanta
and is known as the largest drive-in diner in the nation. I had been there before so I know the
drill. They have hot dogs and hamburgers
and of course, Coca Cola products. They
have a huge counter with probably 30 people waiting and shouting, “What’ll you
have, what’ll you have”. We got hot
dogs, hamburgers, fries, onion rings and homemade peach pie. It was all very good. We headed home and fed and walked the dogs
then decided to drive over to the lawn viewing area to watch the laser show. When we crossed into Georgia today we also entered the
Eastern time zone, so it doesn’t get dark here until 9:00pm. The show begins at 9:30. So we changed into
warmer clothes and loaded our chairs and headed out. We had some time to kill
so the girls went shopping. The show began with Ray Charles’s ‘America the
Beautiful’ which was great and got even better after that! We had seen this
show several years ago but it was nothing like the results of the new digital
technology and computer graphics. It lasted
almost an hour and ended with the Star Spangled Banner which had everyone up
and cheering. If you travel this way,
come see it! Afterward we made our way
home and let Bailey out for a bit then went to bed.
Fri. 6/5… (Stone Mountain , GA ) This morning’s
plan was to buy the Adventure
Pass (two days for $24.95
ea) which gave us the run of the park and all of the amenities (except Ride the
Ducks). We took the Skyride up the 826
ft face of the mountain and then walked out on the granite to take in the
views. It was nice and clear and a fun
time!
Next we headed over to the train ride. We had done both the tram and the train when here last but it was fun to see them again.
Stone
Mountain Park
has been steadily improving the facilities and adding amenities so there were
many things we had not seen. One was Rio in
4D. We enjoyed that as well.
Once we had experienced what we wanted to see in the park we headed back home to walk the dogs. I took Bailey down to the lake and let her enjoy the water! She really enjoyed her swim! Once she was dried and we had lunch, we headed towardAtlanta to tour the Carter Presidential
Center.
Since President Carter successfully executed the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, he decided that after he was out of office he would set up a place where discussions and negotiations could take place and they built theCarter
Center . Although President Carter served only one
term (1977-81) he had several notable accomplishments, including The Panama
Canal and Salt II Treaties, Superfund Legislation, and successfully freeing the
American hostages in Iran .
We enjoyed the Library/Museum although it was not as elaborate as others we
have seen. We are looking forward to
visiting Clinton ’s
and Bush Jr’s. before getting home.
Next we headed over to the train ride. We had done both the tram and the train when here last but it was fun to see them again.
Once we had experienced what we wanted to see in the park we headed back home to walk the dogs. I took Bailey down to the lake and let her enjoy the water! She really enjoyed her swim! Once she was dried and we had lunch, we headed toward
Since President Carter successfully executed the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, he decided that after he was out of office he would set up a place where discussions and negotiations could take place and they built the
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