Terry's Blog: 2015 Trip - Mobile, AL to Stone Mountain, AL

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 went into their exhibit room and took some shots of the next king and queen!

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.

I also took pictures of the state capitol.

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 toward Atlanta 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 the Carter 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.