Friday, January 30, 2004
As we woke up and prepared to leave Goliad we took a brief walk and found this tree full of Turkey Vultures waiting for the sun to burn off the cloud cover.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004. So what is Port Aransas and why are we here? This town on Mustang Island just north of Padre Island sits at the entrance to the Corpus Christi ship channel. It has had many names over the years, if my memory serves me it became Port Aransas in about 1920. It has also had several incarnations as hurricanes have wiped it off the island at least three times. The last left only two or three buildings standing and destroyed the piers, jetties and harbor areas. This is another beach community that makes its life and livelihood around the beach, the water and the port. Tourism is a year round thing here, with a slow down in the summer heat. The campgrounds are full and there is plenty of activity in town. I suspect that will rise as the weather improves in late February.
We are camped in “On the Beach RV Park” and yes we are next to the beach. Here is the view out the windshield of Goliath.
If I moved a hundred yards east I would be on the beach. We walk out the back foot entrance to the park directly onto the beach. There are rvs parked there and the limit is three days unless you move a bit up the beach out of the city limits. The fees are negligible and the services nonexistent. As we move on we may well choose to spend a night or two camped under those circumstance. When we got here on Monday, we were tired and decided to take a “down” day for the afternoon and go into town for dinner. This was not the best idea since most of the restaurants close on Monday. We did find the Pelican Club open and had acceptable meals, just barely.
That night the wind was really blowing and Goliath rocked and rolled all night under the force of the winds. I thought we were on a large ship and not firmly set on the ground. The morning was bright and beautiful, but chilly, for here. We set off with a couple of things to accomplish. It was haircut time, our planned entertainment for the day was motor home shopping and I needed some repair parts. First the haircut, as we drove through Port A I spotted a little barbershop in a harbor front strip mall. As we walked in I noted that there was one barber with a man in the chair and two waiting. This seemed a good omen so we sat down and waited our turn. Since the Bat Mitzvah in Atlanta is almost two weeks off, we have some time to grow out any real ugly results. When our turns came he used the clipper head we requested and both of us walked out very satisfied. For $10 a head this was a deal for Carol and what I usually pay at home.
Next we went to RV Clinic to look at their new coach inventory. We saw several nice coaches, but nothing we really had to have, so we asked for a good lunch suggestion and moved on. The lunch recommendation was a Mexican place right next door. It was so good we thought about coming back for dinner, but Rockport is a ten mile drive with a ferry ride and it has not happened. Oh, the ferry! The best way to get to Mustang Island is by the free ferry. The ride is about 5 minutes across the ship channel which explains why there is no bridge. They build and repair oil rigs here and they can run as high as twenty stories so it is more efficient to run this fleet of ferries. They had no trouble accommodating Goliath and car. We moved on to another RV dealer Ron Hoover and found what may be the making of goliath II. The Newmar line has a very fine reputation for building excellent coaches and they had a couple that were interesting. The floor plans were not exactly what we are looking for, so we will continue to shop for our entertainment. On the way home we stopped at a fish market and bought a nice piece of Amberjack (fish) for me to grill for myself while Carol prepared a veggie meal for herself.
Today, Wednesday, we were not terribly inspired this morning. It was cool and gray and the wind was blowing steadily off the Gulf at 10 to 15 miles per hour. I decided that it was time to wash Goliath, the first wash with soap since we left Rochester. For a $2 charge I was permitted to soap up and have at it. Carol did some laundry and then started to clean the interior. It may not sound like much but we had an enjoyable morning and Goliath and the Tow’d are both gleaming and appear much more presentable. As I may have mentioned in earlier posts finding a place that permits washing is not always easy and there is no really good car wash for a vehicle that is 12 feet high and 102 inches wide, plus mirrors. The truck was we tried once will get it clean, but it will clean off our decals too. So I have to find the place and the weather and then take the time, about an hour, to do it myself. Funny, I never wash my car by hand at home. In the afternoon we took it easy and read until we decided to take the hour long trolley ride around the area. It was very nice and informative and shortly after our return we got in the car and drove to the Birding Center the trolley driver had pointed out. Nice place, we saw several birds that were new to us and an eight foot alligator that was lying in the water. It was a very successful birding outing. We wrapped up with dinner at La Playa where we had tried to go on Monday. It was very good with a nice selection of vegetarian plates and black beans with no fat. The Cameron Diablo were wonderful.
In the morning we will move on south. The plan is to roll as far as Brownsville and decide whether to stop there or keep moving west, south would put us into Mexico. We won’t know until we have done it.
Well it is Thursday, January 29, 2004 and we are in Brownsville. The drive was uneventful. We stopped at the King Ranch main gate and visitor’s center for a “look see.” Basic tours are $7.00 and they had no spaces available for two hours and that would have left us looking for a place to stop at 4 PM. We stayed for the introductory video and then headed out to lunch onboard while parked and then to drive through Kingsville, TX on south. The only other excitement was a gasoline stop and a WalMart excursion to restock the pantry.
We looked for campgrounds in our Passport America guide book and found several in the area. The only one in Brownsville is Cactus Cart CG and we chose to stop there. A call revealed that there is indeed space and we eventually pulled into a trailer park RV park that appears to be converting from mobile homes too RVs. This is a very unusual direction. Frankly, if I saw this place as I was driving by I would give it a pass. It is on a major thoroughfare and is not particularly pretty. It is also at the end of an active runway at the local airport. In addition, getting into my site required a fairly difficult act of backing around an acute angle. Having gotten the negatives behind me, first Passport America offers a 50% discount from the posted rate for members so the cost per night is half off an already low $16. Next, the people here are really very nice and friendly. As dark settles it is very quiet here. The airport is closed and we are far enough from the center of activity that traffic on the highway is calm. Having settled Goliath in place, the difficult parking arrangement is behind me. A caravan of three RVs pulled in just after we got settled, they made a lot of noise about the difficulty of getting situated, but they too are settled in. Oh yes, all that washing I did yesterday was almost for naught. Everything was covered with sand and mud from the drive. It is now clean again.
Today, Friday, we set out with several objectives, to visit Matamoros, Mexico, a border city that has been there for many years, to go to the Audubon Center nearby and to visit South Padre Island. Two out of three ain’t bad. South Padre Island will have to wait. We drove to the bridge to Mexico and found convenient parking for the walk over the bridge. From people in the RV Park we knew to expect to find a variety of means of getting to the market square ranging from free to what the traffic will bear. We walked up the street and found a jewelry, craft, tourism shop and engaged a staff person in conversation, we learned about what to see and how to get around. There was a small bus operated by a restaurant parked out side the shop, his price for a ten minute ride to the market was a stop to visit the restaurant that hired him. There we used the facilities and vowed not to eat, the price was way high (Price fixed lunch $8.50 –dollars). He then took us to the square, provided us with a map and clear instructions on how to get around. Andy is a great guy; he even gave us his cell phone number to call him for a free ride back to the bridge.
After wandering around doing the tourist thing, being hooked into every other shop we passed
we walked up to the cathedral, one of the high points we are told, and walked in on a wedding in progress. Our pictures are useless since we did not want to interrupt the proceedings. After all of this we decided to walk back to the bridge, a reported two mile trek. This turned out to be serendipitous. About half way back we noticed a striking building that appeared to be an art gallery. 
this is a state run gallery that has hung a new show every two months for two years. The work is all Mexican and the show we saw was wonderful. The building is two years old and it is a fantastic structure. We never saw a floor plan, but it felt like walking through a nautilus shell. The goods in the gallery shop were also very wonderful, the best merchandise we saw all day. We ended up buying a lot of vanilla for a price you would never find in the states.
On the way back to Goliath we stopped at Audubon Center and although we only had 45 minutes we saw and identified half a dozen species and one was a first for us. We wish we had more time there, it was swarming with birds and the mammal prints in the mud were very numerous.
Tomorrow is Shabbat and after services we will break camp and start westward up the Rio Grand Valley. I suspect that internet service will be limited for the coming week.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004. So what is Port Aransas and why are we here? This town on Mustang Island just north of Padre Island sits at the entrance to the Corpus Christi ship channel. It has had many names over the years, if my memory serves me it became Port Aransas in about 1920. It has also had several incarnations as hurricanes have wiped it off the island at least three times. The last left only two or three buildings standing and destroyed the piers, jetties and harbor areas. This is another beach community that makes its life and livelihood around the beach, the water and the port. Tourism is a year round thing here, with a slow down in the summer heat. The campgrounds are full and there is plenty of activity in town. I suspect that will rise as the weather improves in late February.
We are camped in “On the Beach RV Park” and yes we are next to the beach. Here is the view out the windshield of Goliath.
If I moved a hundred yards east I would be on the beach. We walk out the back foot entrance to the park directly onto the beach. There are rvs parked there and the limit is three days unless you move a bit up the beach out of the city limits. The fees are negligible and the services nonexistent. As we move on we may well choose to spend a night or two camped under those circumstance. When we got here on Monday, we were tired and decided to take a “down” day for the afternoon and go into town for dinner. This was not the best idea since most of the restaurants close on Monday. We did find the Pelican Club open and had acceptable meals, just barely.That night the wind was really blowing and Goliath rocked and rolled all night under the force of the winds. I thought we were on a large ship and not firmly set on the ground. The morning was bright and beautiful, but chilly, for here. We set off with a couple of things to accomplish. It was haircut time, our planned entertainment for the day was motor home shopping and I needed some repair parts. First the haircut, as we drove through Port A I spotted a little barbershop in a harbor front strip mall. As we walked in I noted that there was one barber with a man in the chair and two waiting. This seemed a good omen so we sat down and waited our turn. Since the Bat Mitzvah in Atlanta is almost two weeks off, we have some time to grow out any real ugly results. When our turns came he used the clipper head we requested and both of us walked out very satisfied. For $10 a head this was a deal for Carol and what I usually pay at home.
Next we went to RV Clinic to look at their new coach inventory. We saw several nice coaches, but nothing we really had to have, so we asked for a good lunch suggestion and moved on. The lunch recommendation was a Mexican place right next door. It was so good we thought about coming back for dinner, but Rockport is a ten mile drive with a ferry ride and it has not happened. Oh, the ferry! The best way to get to Mustang Island is by the free ferry. The ride is about 5 minutes across the ship channel which explains why there is no bridge. They build and repair oil rigs here and they can run as high as twenty stories so it is more efficient to run this fleet of ferries. They had no trouble accommodating Goliath and car. We moved on to another RV dealer Ron Hoover and found what may be the making of goliath II. The Newmar line has a very fine reputation for building excellent coaches and they had a couple that were interesting. The floor plans were not exactly what we are looking for, so we will continue to shop for our entertainment. On the way home we stopped at a fish market and bought a nice piece of Amberjack (fish) for me to grill for myself while Carol prepared a veggie meal for herself.
Today, Wednesday, we were not terribly inspired this morning. It was cool and gray and the wind was blowing steadily off the Gulf at 10 to 15 miles per hour. I decided that it was time to wash Goliath, the first wash with soap since we left Rochester. For a $2 charge I was permitted to soap up and have at it. Carol did some laundry and then started to clean the interior. It may not sound like much but we had an enjoyable morning and Goliath and the Tow’d are both gleaming and appear much more presentable. As I may have mentioned in earlier posts finding a place that permits washing is not always easy and there is no really good car wash for a vehicle that is 12 feet high and 102 inches wide, plus mirrors. The truck was we tried once will get it clean, but it will clean off our decals too. So I have to find the place and the weather and then take the time, about an hour, to do it myself. Funny, I never wash my car by hand at home. In the afternoon we took it easy and read until we decided to take the hour long trolley ride around the area. It was very nice and informative and shortly after our return we got in the car and drove to the Birding Center the trolley driver had pointed out. Nice place, we saw several birds that were new to us and an eight foot alligator that was lying in the water. It was a very successful birding outing. We wrapped up with dinner at La Playa where we had tried to go on Monday. It was very good with a nice selection of vegetarian plates and black beans with no fat. The Cameron Diablo were wonderful.
In the morning we will move on south. The plan is to roll as far as Brownsville and decide whether to stop there or keep moving west, south would put us into Mexico. We won’t know until we have done it.
Well it is Thursday, January 29, 2004 and we are in Brownsville. The drive was uneventful. We stopped at the King Ranch main gate and visitor’s center for a “look see.” Basic tours are $7.00 and they had no spaces available for two hours and that would have left us looking for a place to stop at 4 PM. We stayed for the introductory video and then headed out to lunch onboard while parked and then to drive through Kingsville, TX on south. The only other excitement was a gasoline stop and a WalMart excursion to restock the pantry.
We looked for campgrounds in our Passport America guide book and found several in the area. The only one in Brownsville is Cactus Cart CG and we chose to stop there. A call revealed that there is indeed space and we eventually pulled into a trailer park RV park that appears to be converting from mobile homes too RVs. This is a very unusual direction. Frankly, if I saw this place as I was driving by I would give it a pass. It is on a major thoroughfare and is not particularly pretty. It is also at the end of an active runway at the local airport. In addition, getting into my site required a fairly difficult act of backing around an acute angle. Having gotten the negatives behind me, first Passport America offers a 50% discount from the posted rate for members so the cost per night is half off an already low $16. Next, the people here are really very nice and friendly. As dark settles it is very quiet here. The airport is closed and we are far enough from the center of activity that traffic on the highway is calm. Having settled Goliath in place, the difficult parking arrangement is behind me. A caravan of three RVs pulled in just after we got settled, they made a lot of noise about the difficulty of getting situated, but they too are settled in. Oh yes, all that washing I did yesterday was almost for naught. Everything was covered with sand and mud from the drive. It is now clean again.
Today, Friday, we set out with several objectives, to visit Matamoros, Mexico, a border city that has been there for many years, to go to the Audubon Center nearby and to visit South Padre Island. Two out of three ain’t bad. South Padre Island will have to wait. We drove to the bridge to Mexico and found convenient parking for the walk over the bridge. From people in the RV Park we knew to expect to find a variety of means of getting to the market square ranging from free to what the traffic will bear. We walked up the street and found a jewelry, craft, tourism shop and engaged a staff person in conversation, we learned about what to see and how to get around. There was a small bus operated by a restaurant parked out side the shop, his price for a ten minute ride to the market was a stop to visit the restaurant that hired him. There we used the facilities and vowed not to eat, the price was way high (Price fixed lunch $8.50 –dollars). He then took us to the square, provided us with a map and clear instructions on how to get around. Andy is a great guy; he even gave us his cell phone number to call him for a free ride back to the bridge.
After wandering around doing the tourist thing, being hooked into every other shop we passed
we walked up to the cathedral, one of the high points we are told, and walked in on a wedding in progress. Our pictures are useless since we did not want to interrupt the proceedings. After all of this we decided to walk back to the bridge, a reported two mile trek. This turned out to be serendipitous. About half way back we noticed a striking building that appeared to be an art gallery. this is a state run gallery that has hung a new show every two months for two years. The work is all Mexican and the show we saw was wonderful. The building is two years old and it is a fantastic structure. We never saw a floor plan, but it felt like walking through a nautilus shell. The goods in the gallery shop were also very wonderful, the best merchandise we saw all day. We ended up buying a lot of vanilla for a price you would never find in the states.On the way back to Goliath we stopped at Audubon Center and although we only had 45 minutes we saw and identified half a dozen species and one was a first for us. We wish we had more time there, it was swarming with birds and the mammal prints in the mud were very numerous.
Tomorrow is Shabbat and after services we will break camp and start westward up the Rio Grand Valley. I suspect that internet service will be limited for the coming week.
Monday, January 26, 2004
In the morning the office was attended and we were able to settle our bill. After the preliminaries and making Goliath roadworthy we set off with Carol at the wheel toward Austin. We knew we did not want to get to Austin today, Tuesday the 20th or even on Wednesday, but we had no idea where we might stop along the way. As we drove through Milam and Lufkin Texas I considered the various places that offered something of interest. We were on TX 21 and then 103; although these are not Interstates or US Routes they have a 70 mph speed limit except when going through towns. Since traffic flows right along it is hard to slow below 60 for any length of time and this makes picking a place to stop our 17,000 pounds fairly difficult without advance planning.
Coming toward Crockett I noticed that there was a camp ground in the Davy Crockett National Forest we were driving though. I thought we ought to think about stopping there, oops, it was behind us before we even saw it. As I said traffic does move along. We pulled into to Crockett and as the book said we could expect there was a memorial to Davy Crockett and his company at the spot they camped on their way to the Alamo. The picture really does not do it justice, it really is much worse than it looks. We were stopped on the pavement of what appears to be a former gas station right in front of, I mean up to two feet away from, the water fountain.
We decided to review our route while we were stopped and decided to go back to Brenham, just a little out of the way, but we thought there was more to see. Last year all we saw was the Bluebell Dairy, which makes great ice cream found only in the south from Louisiana to Arizona. We found a good bookstore and several interesting shops. We also took some time to do nothing, didn’t even write in the journal.
After two nights at Artesian Park Camp Ground we were ready to move on to Austin to visit with Leigh and Patrick. I think I explained the relationship in 2003xc. We had dinner out with them Thursday and Friday nights and heard some live music each night. Saturday, after services at Beth Israel, we met them and went out for lunch and then did some art galleries and shopping. We have several new additions to our music selection. The service at Beth Israel was quite informal, they have a long tradition of lay led services on Saturday morning if there is no Bar/Bat Mitzvah and it was very pleasant. This is a very warm community and we had a chance to speak with several members. We will be back in Austin and we will certainly find our way to services there again. The McKinney Falls State Park campground was very well maintained and clean. The sites were large enough for our comfort and the people were, as in most places, quite friendly. As we were setting up our campsite, we heard a commotion among some neighbor dogs and upon looking out we saw a bobcat running though the campground, last year we saw a mountain lion here. The deer herd is as thick as ever and rabbits were everywhere under foot.
Sunday morning, the 25th, found us studying maps and discussing where to go next. We want to get to the gulf coast near Corpus Christi and possibly further south. We want to see San Antonio and Fredericksburg in the Hill Country and we need to be in El Paso by February 5. Texas is too large and had too many choices. We settled on a route that would take us to Corpus Christi by way of Goliad. Goliad you ask (you did, didn’t you?) what and where is Goliad? In the northeast I never remember hearing about Goliad, the Alamo sure, but Goliad? Davy Crockett did not fight and die in Goliad, that was the Alamo. In Goliad General Fannin with 400 men engaged the Mexicans and were defeated with a huge loss of life, some 160 men, the remainder were captured and held in the Mission while word was sent to Santa Anna. Santa Anna sent back an order that all men fighting against Mexico were to be treated as “pirates” including any Mexicans and put to death. This was done and Fannin and his men, 236 of them, were slaughtered on this spot. It is a fairly gruesome story and the battle cry of the Texicans (or Texians) for the rest of their struggle for independence was “ Remember the Alamo and Remember Goliad.”
We had a wonderful dinner on board tonight. It got too chilly as the sun set to sit outside. We had bought a new grill and I set it up and prepared chicken breasts for myself and grilled veggies for Carol. It is pleasant sitting here and doing our own thing, I have a SciFi book that is waiting for me. So I will wrap up for tonight, having brought this journal current sitting here in Goliad State Park and Historic Site.
Coming toward Crockett I noticed that there was a camp ground in the Davy Crockett National Forest we were driving though. I thought we ought to think about stopping there, oops, it was behind us before we even saw it. As I said traffic does move along. We pulled into to Crockett and as the book said we could expect there was a memorial to Davy Crockett and his company at the spot they camped on their way to the Alamo. The picture really does not do it justice, it really is much worse than it looks. We were stopped on the pavement of what appears to be a former gas station right in front of, I mean up to two feet away from, the water fountain.
We decided to review our route while we were stopped and decided to go back to Brenham, just a little out of the way, but we thought there was more to see. Last year all we saw was the Bluebell Dairy, which makes great ice cream found only in the south from Louisiana to Arizona. We found a good bookstore and several interesting shops. We also took some time to do nothing, didn’t even write in the journal.
After two nights at Artesian Park Camp Ground we were ready to move on to Austin to visit with Leigh and Patrick. I think I explained the relationship in 2003xc. We had dinner out with them Thursday and Friday nights and heard some live music each night. Saturday, after services at Beth Israel, we met them and went out for lunch and then did some art galleries and shopping. We have several new additions to our music selection. The service at Beth Israel was quite informal, they have a long tradition of lay led services on Saturday morning if there is no Bar/Bat Mitzvah and it was very pleasant. This is a very warm community and we had a chance to speak with several members. We will be back in Austin and we will certainly find our way to services there again. The McKinney Falls State Park campground was very well maintained and clean. The sites were large enough for our comfort and the people were, as in most places, quite friendly. As we were setting up our campsite, we heard a commotion among some neighbor dogs and upon looking out we saw a bobcat running though the campground, last year we saw a mountain lion here. The deer herd is as thick as ever and rabbits were everywhere under foot.
Sunday morning, the 25th, found us studying maps and discussing where to go next. We want to get to the gulf coast near Corpus Christi and possibly further south. We want to see San Antonio and Fredericksburg in the Hill Country and we need to be in El Paso by February 5. Texas is too large and had too many choices. We settled on a route that would take us to Corpus Christi by way of Goliad. Goliad you ask (you did, didn’t you?) what and where is Goliad? In the northeast I never remember hearing about Goliad, the Alamo sure, but Goliad? Davy Crockett did not fight and die in Goliad, that was the Alamo. In Goliad General Fannin with 400 men engaged the Mexicans and were defeated with a huge loss of life, some 160 men, the remainder were captured and held in the Mission while word was sent to Santa Anna. Santa Anna sent back an order that all men fighting against Mexico were to be treated as “pirates” including any Mexicans and put to death. This was done and Fannin and his men, 236 of them, were slaughtered on this spot. It is a fairly gruesome story and the battle cry of the Texicans (or Texians) for the rest of their struggle for independence was “ Remember the Alamo and Remember Goliad.”
We had a wonderful dinner on board tonight. It got too chilly as the sun set to sit outside. We had bought a new grill and I set it up and prepared chicken breasts for myself and grilled veggies for Carol. It is pleasant sitting here and doing our own thing, I have a SciFi book that is waiting for me. So I will wrap up for tonight, having brought this journal current sitting here in Goliad State Park and Historic Site.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Sunday the 18th turned into a day of surprises. We got up early, for us on this trip and checked out at 8:17 AM. As we rolled the fog crept in thicker and thicker. Nonetheless I chose alternate routes to avoid retracing the 50 miles of grim commercial strip up AL 59. This put us on AL 98 which eventually goes through some very nice suburbs (exurbs really) of Mobile and on to I 10 very conveniently and well west of 59. As we drove the day brightened and eventually we got out our sunglasses. We crossed what little there was of Alabama between Mobile and the Mississippi line and continued on across southernmost Mississippi with one stop for propane and one for lunch. The day had turned very nice and I had changed to shorts, for the first time.
I decided to take the scenic alternative route. We had no real goal other than to tour in Natchitoches, LA (toches is NOT pronounced that way – it actually is more like nakitish) about which more after we get there. In examining the scenic route offered by Rand McNally Route Planner I had failed to account for the Mississippi River. So had they, sort of. I was driving and Carol said, “There must be a new road over this river because it says New Roads and the road does not appear to cross the river.” At about that time I saw that the route we were on made a turn that also said “Ferry”. There is no road over the Mississippi River in these parts there are several ferries. As I pulled onto the ramp I saw a sign that said the length limit is 51 feet and the ferry pulled away. Although I have never measured I know that Goliath is 33’8” from the specs and the Infiniti is about 16’ allowing several feet for the hitch meant that I was probably over 51 feet.
I decided that since we had to wait anyhow we might as well separate the car and Goliath for the crossing. This job is now a matter of a couple of minutes for us. When the ferry returned they came up the ramp with a large tape measure, but as soon as they saw that the car was disconnected they turned back. The ferry cost was $1 per vehicle. The trip across was uneventful as was getting the unit back into roadworthy condition. As we started down the road again with Carol at the wheel for her second stint, I began to look for likely campgrounds. At this point we passed through the town of New Roads and said “ah ha.” This dose not look like a great area for dry camping (boon docking), there are too many unknowns. The closest was Paragon RV Resort and we would reach it before dark. The others were 20 and fifty miles further and that meant arriving after dark and setting up in the dark and in the prospect of rain. We agreed to try Paragon, a call to verify availability revealed that they are associated with a casino. This is a mammoth casino complex and the RV Resort is a minor adjunct. It remains to be seen how we will tolerate the casino shuttles which run 24/7. We stuck our noses into the casino, Carol did not want to even go, but she humored me. Mistake! Gamblers smoke! As much as the place is ventilated, the smoke permeates all. Our shirts are out to air, from just a few minutes inside. There is little redeeming social value other than the jobs the Native Americans have in the casino. As all do they cater to the ugliest vices in us, greed, and gluttony and . . .
We slept fine and were up early to drive to Natchitoches and begin exploring. The town dates back to 1714 when the French built a trading post there. It is the oldest development in the Louisiana Purchase. The city fathers have worked hard to prevent anything from being updated ever since. The mothers on the other hand have some new ideas. The advertised 33 blocks of shopping and touring turned out to be more like eight blocks of riverfront shops and an area of three or four blocks deep that preserves much of the look of the town from bygone eras. It is a very pretty town and if you want to see it just rent Steel Magnolias and you can save a heck of a lot of driving. The story of the movie is from Natchitoches and, for a wonder, the movie makers came here to film it.
We drove out to visit a local plantation, Melrose. The history is very interesting. It was founded by a freed slave woman in 1817 on land given to her by her French lover. She ran it with slave labor and was very successful. The building pictured here
is called the African building, but contrary to local lore, it was not built to recreate the African home she came from, she was born in slavery in the US. It is designed to dry Indigo and other crops in a very wet environment. The roof overhangs provide a means to unload material without exposing it to the rains. In this building, on the second floor are a series of murals created by Clementine Hunter, a slave who was born and lived and died on the plantation at over 101 years of age. She was freed at age 42, but stayed on; the plantation by then had become a haven for artists and writers, including Faulkner and Steinbeck. She got her supplies from the painters who left her used brushes and tubes of paint that they were done with. Her style is clearly primitive and very evocative.
As it turns out this area, until the Civil War (the War between the States in local parlance) was quite a mélange and people of color and whites worked and lived in reasonable harmony. We were informed that in Louisiana there were many slave holding free blacks. We continued our tour to Kate Chopin’s home in Cloiterville. I had no clue about her history either. Her best known and last published work is The Awakening. When the critics were harsh, she said she did not need to publish to live and never published another work. Back at the campground we decided to walk over to what appeared to be a truck stop dive “Simpatico’s” to see what a Mexican American menu might be like in central Louisiana. To our surprise it was quite nice Mexican food in pleasant surrounding. They even were able to be creative for Carol’s needs.
At 9 PM we still had not located anyone to register us and the office does not have the self service cards available. As we are the only campers in the place, I guess they are not too worried.
I decided to take the scenic alternative route. We had no real goal other than to tour in Natchitoches, LA (toches is NOT pronounced that way – it actually is more like nakitish) about which more after we get there. In examining the scenic route offered by Rand McNally Route Planner I had failed to account for the Mississippi River. So had they, sort of. I was driving and Carol said, “There must be a new road over this river because it says New Roads and the road does not appear to cross the river.” At about that time I saw that the route we were on made a turn that also said “Ferry”. There is no road over the Mississippi River in these parts there are several ferries. As I pulled onto the ramp I saw a sign that said the length limit is 51 feet and the ferry pulled away. Although I have never measured I know that Goliath is 33’8” from the specs and the Infiniti is about 16’ allowing several feet for the hitch meant that I was probably over 51 feet.
I decided that since we had to wait anyhow we might as well separate the car and Goliath for the crossing. This job is now a matter of a couple of minutes for us. When the ferry returned they came up the ramp with a large tape measure, but as soon as they saw that the car was disconnected they turned back. The ferry cost was $1 per vehicle. The trip across was uneventful as was getting the unit back into roadworthy condition. As we started down the road again with Carol at the wheel for her second stint, I began to look for likely campgrounds. At this point we passed through the town of New Roads and said “ah ha.” This dose not look like a great area for dry camping (boon docking), there are too many unknowns. The closest was Paragon RV Resort and we would reach it before dark. The others were 20 and fifty miles further and that meant arriving after dark and setting up in the dark and in the prospect of rain. We agreed to try Paragon, a call to verify availability revealed that they are associated with a casino. This is a mammoth casino complex and the RV Resort is a minor adjunct. It remains to be seen how we will tolerate the casino shuttles which run 24/7. We stuck our noses into the casino, Carol did not want to even go, but she humored me. Mistake! Gamblers smoke! As much as the place is ventilated, the smoke permeates all. Our shirts are out to air, from just a few minutes inside. There is little redeeming social value other than the jobs the Native Americans have in the casino. As all do they cater to the ugliest vices in us, greed, and gluttony and . . .
We slept fine and were up early to drive to Natchitoches and begin exploring. The town dates back to 1714 when the French built a trading post there. It is the oldest development in the Louisiana Purchase. The city fathers have worked hard to prevent anything from being updated ever since. The mothers on the other hand have some new ideas. The advertised 33 blocks of shopping and touring turned out to be more like eight blocks of riverfront shops and an area of three or four blocks deep that preserves much of the look of the town from bygone eras. It is a very pretty town and if you want to see it just rent Steel Magnolias and you can save a heck of a lot of driving. The story of the movie is from Natchitoches and, for a wonder, the movie makers came here to film it.
We drove out to visit a local plantation, Melrose. The history is very interesting. It was founded by a freed slave woman in 1817 on land given to her by her French lover. She ran it with slave labor and was very successful. The building pictured here
is called the African building, but contrary to local lore, it was not built to recreate the African home she came from, she was born in slavery in the US. It is designed to dry Indigo and other crops in a very wet environment. The roof overhangs provide a means to unload material without exposing it to the rains. In this building, on the second floor are a series of murals created by Clementine Hunter, a slave who was born and lived and died on the plantation at over 101 years of age. She was freed at age 42, but stayed on; the plantation by then had become a haven for artists and writers, including Faulkner and Steinbeck. She got her supplies from the painters who left her used brushes and tubes of paint that they were done with. Her style is clearly primitive and very evocative.As it turns out this area, until the Civil War (the War between the States in local parlance) was quite a mélange and people of color and whites worked and lived in reasonable harmony. We were informed that in Louisiana there were many slave holding free blacks. We continued our tour to Kate Chopin’s home in Cloiterville. I had no clue about her history either. Her best known and last published work is The Awakening. When the critics were harsh, she said she did not need to publish to live and never published another work. Back at the campground we decided to walk over to what appeared to be a truck stop dive “Simpatico’s” to see what a Mexican American menu might be like in central Louisiana. To our surprise it was quite nice Mexican food in pleasant surrounding. They even were able to be creative for Carol’s needs.
At 9 PM we still had not located anyone to register us and the office does not have the self service cards available. As we are the only campers in the place, I guess they are not too worried.
Friday, January 16, 2004
Thursday the 15th there were no war birds to see; no sites that demanded we drop everything rush out to see them. As I look back over the journal a day seems to have gotten lost. Let me see, Monday was the Fort Morgan and Estruarium, Tuesday we went to Bellingrath and the USS Alabama and Wednesday was the 14th not the 13th as I said in the last posting. There, that brings me to yesterday the 15th. It was a major chore day. I tracked down the leak to the outside shower in the holding tank bay. The valve was not fully closed and had a small drip. I tightened the valve and we will see how it holds.
We made a quick shopping trip for parts and then for food and by the time we returned and stowed everything the roof was dry enough for me to work on. As with most repairs, this turned out to be fairly straight forward. Once I overcame my issues with being high off the ground I was able to set the two screws to hold the roof rack and then to neatly cover the old holes and the new fixture with waterproofing compound. With that behind me, I scoured the rest of the roof looking for anything that might be a potential future leak.
Next I turned my hand to the roll holder in the toilet room. A visitor had used it for a handhold almost two years ago and I have had to remount it several times a trip. This time I had the right expansion bolt to set it for good. Now it can be used for a handhold. With all of that behind me, Carol reminded me that the door to the toilet room squeaks. I said it only squeaks in the middle of night so I have to fix it in the
middle of the night. That did not go over real well, so I soaked a cotton swab in WD 40 and solved that problem. All of this was before lunch. For our afternoon entertainment we took a two hour walk on the nature trails in the park.
As a super treat I got to pick a restaurant for dinner. With a lot of research – I read the Gulf Shores Dining Guide – I settled on Gauthier’s which advertised New Orleans Cuisine and a smoke free atmosphere. When I called for reservations, to make sure they were open in this off season, I asked for prices which seemed high for this area, but not stratospheric. I put on my best black T-Shirt. As it turned out we picked what may be the best restaurant in the area. I had a grouper dish with Cajon spices that was enough to make me stop and be grateful for my choice. Carol had negotiated a veggie dish with pasta that was way above the usual bland excuse for vegetarian food. She was very happy. Although I cannot recommend Gulf Shore, AL for non RVers in January I certainly can recommend that if you are in this area looking for a fine restaurant, Gauthier’s in Orange Beach is worth a side trip.
As for Gulf Shore, AL it reminds us of Myrtle Beach or any other coastal summer resort area. On the main streets there is unlimited ticky tacky. The national chains are present every ten miles or less on the highways. Sand Dollar has 8 shops in a 20 mile radius selling shoes, electric scooters and Green Eggs. We are sure the traffic must be fierce from March through October. It is not bad now, but the weather is only so so. It certainly is better than the 2 F we are hearing about in Rochester, but I haven’t put on shorts yet. We are unusual here being from the Northeast. Most of the visitors are from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other parts of the Midwest that are more due north of here. AL 59(Gulf Shores Parkway) runs south from I 10 to intersect 182 (Perdido Beach Parkway) one beach from the Gulf of Mexico. 182 runs from the western end of the spit to the Florida border, maybe 30 miles, where it becomes FL 292 and continues on into Pensacola. That defines the area. It is a destination. There is no reason to drive through here on the way to anyplace.
We plan to be moving out on Sunday. Destination not yet determined but there mat be some interesting things to see in Natchitoches, LA which my mapping software claims is a 7 hour drive, 416 miles. It may take us two days if we find anything interesting along the way like in Baton Rouge. Stay tuned.
We made a quick shopping trip for parts and then for food and by the time we returned and stowed everything the roof was dry enough for me to work on. As with most repairs, this turned out to be fairly straight forward. Once I overcame my issues with being high off the ground I was able to set the two screws to hold the roof rack and then to neatly cover the old holes and the new fixture with waterproofing compound. With that behind me, I scoured the rest of the roof looking for anything that might be a potential future leak.
Next I turned my hand to the roll holder in the toilet room. A visitor had used it for a handhold almost two years ago and I have had to remount it several times a trip. This time I had the right expansion bolt to set it for good. Now it can be used for a handhold. With all of that behind me, Carol reminded me that the door to the toilet room squeaks. I said it only squeaks in the middle of night so I have to fix it in the
middle of the night. That did not go over real well, so I soaked a cotton swab in WD 40 and solved that problem. All of this was before lunch. For our afternoon entertainment we took a two hour walk on the nature trails in the park.
As a super treat I got to pick a restaurant for dinner. With a lot of research – I read the Gulf Shores Dining Guide – I settled on Gauthier’s which advertised New Orleans Cuisine and a smoke free atmosphere. When I called for reservations, to make sure they were open in this off season, I asked for prices which seemed high for this area, but not stratospheric. I put on my best black T-Shirt. As it turned out we picked what may be the best restaurant in the area. I had a grouper dish with Cajon spices that was enough to make me stop and be grateful for my choice. Carol had negotiated a veggie dish with pasta that was way above the usual bland excuse for vegetarian food. She was very happy. Although I cannot recommend Gulf Shore, AL for non RVers in January I certainly can recommend that if you are in this area looking for a fine restaurant, Gauthier’s in Orange Beach is worth a side trip.
As for Gulf Shore, AL it reminds us of Myrtle Beach or any other coastal summer resort area. On the main streets there is unlimited ticky tacky. The national chains are present every ten miles or less on the highways. Sand Dollar has 8 shops in a 20 mile radius selling shoes, electric scooters and Green Eggs. We are sure the traffic must be fierce from March through October. It is not bad now, but the weather is only so so. It certainly is better than the 2 F we are hearing about in Rochester, but I haven’t put on shorts yet. We are unusual here being from the Northeast. Most of the visitors are from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other parts of the Midwest that are more due north of here. AL 59(Gulf Shores Parkway) runs south from I 10 to intersect 182 (Perdido Beach Parkway) one beach from the Gulf of Mexico. 182 runs from the western end of the spit to the Florida border, maybe 30 miles, where it becomes FL 292 and continues on into Pensacola. That defines the area. It is a destination. There is no reason to drive through here on the way to anyplace.
We plan to be moving out on Sunday. Destination not yet determined but there mat be some interesting things to see in Natchitoches, LA which my mapping software claims is a 7 hour drive, 416 miles. It may take us two days if we find anything interesting along the way like in Baton Rouge. Stay tuned.
Thursday the 15th there were no war birds to see; no sites that demanded we drop everything rush out to see them. As I look back over the journal a day seems to have gotten lost. Let me see, Monday was the Fort Morgan and Estruarium, Tuesday we went to Bellingrath and the USS Alabama and Wednesday was the 14th not the 13th as I said in the last posting. There, that brings me to yesterday the 15th. It was a major chore day. I tracked down the leak to the outside shower in the holding tank bay. The valve was not fully closed and had a small drip. I tightened the valve and we will see how it holds.
We made a quick shopping trip for parts and then for food and by the time we returned and stowed everything the roof was dry enough for me to work on. As with most repairs, this turned out to be fairly straight forward. Once I overcame my issues with being high off the ground I was able to set the two screws to hold the roof rack and then to neatly cover the old holes and the new fixture with waterproofing compound. With that behind me, I scoured the rest of the roof looking for anything that might be a potential future leak.
Next I turned my hand to the roll holder in the toilet room. A visitor had used it for a handhold almost two years ago and I have had to remount it several times a trip. This time I had the right expansion bolt to set it for good. Now it can be used for a handhold. With all of that behind me, Carol reminded me that the door to the toilet room squeaks. I said it only squeaks in the middle of night so I have to fix it in the
middle of the night. That did not go over real well, so I soaked a cotton swab in WD 40 and solved that problem. All of this was before lunch. For our afternoon entertainment we took a two hour walk on the nature trails in the park.
As a super treat I got to pick a restaurant for dinner. With a lot of research – I read the Gulf Shores Dining Guide – I settled on Gauthier’s which advertised New Orleans Cuisine and a smoke free atmosphere. When I called for reservations, to make sure they were open in this off season, I asked for prices which seemed high for this area, but not stratospheric. I put on my best black T-Shirt. As it turned out we picked what may be the best restaurant in the area. I had a grouper dish with Cajon spices that was enough to make me stop and be grateful for my choice. Carol had negotiated a veggie dish with pasta that was way above the usual bland excuse for vegetarian food. She was very happy. Although I cannot recommend Gulf Shore, AL for non RVers in January I certainly can recommend that if you are in this area looking for a fine restaurant, Gauthier’s in Orange Beach is worth a side trip.
As for Gulf Shore, AL it reminds us of Myrtle Beach or any other coastal summer resort area. On the main streets there is unlimited ticky tacky. The national chains are present every ten miles or less on the highways. Sand Dollar has 8 shops in a 20 mile radius selling shoes, electric scooters and Green Eggs. We are sure the traffic must be fierce from March through October. It is not bad now, but the weather is only so so. It certainly is better than the 2 F we are hearing about in Rochester, but I haven’t put on shorts yet. We are unusual here being from the Northeast. Most of the visitors are from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other parts of the Midwest that are more due north of here. AL 59 (Gulf Shores Parkway) runs south from I 10 to intersect 182 (Perdido Beach Parkway) one beach from the Gulf of Mexico. 182 runs from the western end of the spit to the Florida border, maybe 30 miles, where it becomes FL 292 and continues on into Pensacola. That defines the area. It is a destination. There is no reason to drive through here on the way to anyplace.
We plan to be moving out on Sunday. Destination not yet determined but there mat be some interesting things to see in Natchitoches, LA which my mapping software claims is a 7 hour drive, 416 miles. It may take us two days if we find anything interesting along the way like in Baton Rouge. Stay tuned.
We made a quick shopping trip for parts and then for food and by the time we returned and stowed everything the roof was dry enough for me to work on. As with most repairs, this turned out to be fairly straight forward. Once I overcame my issues with being high off the ground I was able to set the two screws to hold the roof rack and then to neatly cover the old holes and the new fixture with waterproofing compound. With that behind me, I scoured the rest of the roof looking for anything that might be a potential future leak.
Next I turned my hand to the roll holder in the toilet room. A visitor had used it for a handhold almost two years ago and I have had to remount it several times a trip. This time I had the right expansion bolt to set it for good. Now it can be used for a handhold. With all of that behind me, Carol reminded me that the door to the toilet room squeaks. I said it only squeaks in the middle of night so I have to fix it in the
middle of the night. That did not go over real well, so I soaked a cotton swab in WD 40 and solved that problem. All of this was before lunch. For our afternoon entertainment we took a two hour walk on the nature trails in the park.
As a super treat I got to pick a restaurant for dinner. With a lot of research – I read the Gulf Shores Dining Guide – I settled on Gauthier’s which advertised New Orleans Cuisine and a smoke free atmosphere. When I called for reservations, to make sure they were open in this off season, I asked for prices which seemed high for this area, but not stratospheric. I put on my best black T-Shirt. As it turned out we picked what may be the best restaurant in the area. I had a grouper dish with Cajon spices that was enough to make me stop and be grateful for my choice. Carol had negotiated a veggie dish with pasta that was way above the usual bland excuse for vegetarian food. She was very happy. Although I cannot recommend Gulf Shore, AL for non RVers in January I certainly can recommend that if you are in this area looking for a fine restaurant, Gauthier’s in Orange Beach is worth a side trip.
As for Gulf Shore, AL it reminds us of Myrtle Beach or any other coastal summer resort area. On the main streets there is unlimited ticky tacky. The national chains are present every ten miles or less on the highways. Sand Dollar has 8 shops in a 20 mile radius selling shoes, electric scooters and Green Eggs. We are sure the traffic must be fierce from March through October. It is not bad now, but the weather is only so so. It certainly is better than the 2 F we are hearing about in Rochester, but I haven’t put on shorts yet. We are unusual here being from the Northeast. Most of the visitors are from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other parts of the Midwest that are more due north of here. AL 59 (Gulf Shores Parkway) runs south from I 10 to intersect 182 (Perdido Beach Parkway) one beach from the Gulf of Mexico. 182 runs from the western end of the spit to the Florida border, maybe 30 miles, where it becomes FL 292 and continues on into Pensacola. That defines the area. It is a destination. There is no reason to drive through here on the way to anyplace.
We plan to be moving out on Sunday. Destination not yet determined but there mat be some interesting things to see in Natchitoches, LA which my mapping software claims is a 7 hour drive, 416 miles. It may take us two days if we find anything interesting along the way like in Baton Rouge. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Gulf Shores, AL is almost an oxymoron. Alabama reached the gulf in a strip that is about 50 miles wide including some coastal beaches and barrier islands that protect the Mobile Bay. It is crammed in between Florida and Mississippi and almost looks like a Alabama just had to have its own coastal access. Of course with Mobile being the fourth largest US Seaport this is no small thing.
When we were caught in the snow in Tennessee, again, we met Al and Doris in a fifth wheel (fiver to the cognoscenti) next to us and they raved about this campground in Gulf Shores AL they were going back to. As we left Birmingham we decided that with a recommendation like that we had to give it a chance. We had no trouble getting there and there was space in the two week limit area (fine for our purposes). As we finished setting up, I got to talking with Mike from Oneonta, NY about the area and RVing in general. As we continued talking I noticed that my neighbor, directly across the street was Al and Doris. Out of 400 campsites we were situated as neighbors again. We greeted each other and may see them later this week.
On the next morning, Monday the 12, we set off to see what we could find. We drove down along sand spit to Fort Morgan which faces Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. These two forts control access to Mobile Bay and were the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Damn the Torpedoes and that sort of thing. We toured Fort Morgan while waiting for the ferry to Dauphin. It leaves every 90 minutes and takes 30 for the crossing. We chose to walk on, leaving the car and saving $20 for the vehicle roundtrip. This may not have been as smart as it seemed the ferry is a flat topped barge with no protected area for walk-ons. It was fine going over in the bright sun and 55 plus mid morning. We figured the return might get a bit chilly if we waited for the last crossing at 5 Pm. We took the earlier crossing and we were limited in what we could visit since the only things within an easy walk of the ferry were the Estruarium, the fort and an Audubon park. One fort is enough for any day so that left the Estruarium and the Audubon trails. These nicely filled the time, but did nothing for our stomachs. Rumors to the contrary not withstanding, there was no snack bar to be found, closed for the season. We dined on potato chips an peanut butter crackers from the vending machine.
The ferry ride back was about as chilly as we had predicted and we were glad to get in the car and turn on the heater. We stopped at a supermarket on the ride back to buy some items on the shopping list and we managed to pick up some items that were not on the list.
After dinner we took a walk and then sat with our computers dealing with email and other stuff. Digital images are accumulating and will be made available soon. I have not figured out how to put them in this log directly yet. Read on.
Tuesday we had decided to get back on the ferry with the car and drive from Dauphin Island to Mobile on the Western side of the bay returning down the Eastern side. This meant getting to Fort Morgan by 8:30 Am and we figured it for a a 35 minute drive. This is too early for vacation time, but we wanted to so we did it. We never even opened the car door on the ferry. It was cool and foggy and there was nothing to see. Once we got off the ferry we never stopped on Dauphin Island – well there was a red light we stopped for – but moved on to visit Bellingrath House and Gardens. Walter Bellingrath invested $1,500 in the Mobile Coca Cola Bottling franchise in 1915. He bought this fishing camp which his wife decided should be a little nicer. When they moved in permanently in the ‘30’s it was somewhat nicer, 10,000 square feet with 15 rooms and 65 acres of glorious gardens.
We spent over two hours touring the gardens and had a private tour of the house. We never did see any other tourists on the grounds. Well it is winter, but the roses had some blooms and the Daffodils were poking their greens above ground. The staff were busy removing thousands of strings of lights from everything. This is worth the side trip if your are in the area. With the gardens that nice in January I can only begin to imagine them in the other three seasons.
We had lunch in the cafeteria and then proceeded to Mobile where we stopped at the visitor’s center and then took a brief driving tour of the old city areas. They were very nice, but did not offer much of interest to us. We moved on to the USS Alabama and Vietnam Memorial park. Oh yes we did have to tour some war ships. My primary interest was the submarine Drum which is on exhibit out of the water. This was one of the most successful WW II attack submarines. To get to the submarine we had to pass through a hanger full of planes. One stopped us cold, there was an SR 71 Black Bird on display. If you know the plane it has to be seen up close to even begin to make you understand its size. It is immense and as sleek as anything I have seen. It flew as fast as three times the speed of sound for 3,000 miles and could travel at 90,000 feet. I am getting a bit carried away; it is beautiful in a sculptural sense.
We left as the sun was setting have toured the submarine and much of the Alabama and turned south for a scenic drive (after dark?) down the Eastern coast of the bay. The d rive was fun and the GPS came in handy as the route threaded its way among the local streets. We came out to the main North South route and turned toward the campground. We started to drive past Lamberts Café “the home of the throwed-roll.” We had to find out what that was all about, so, it being dinner time, we stopped. Once we verified that that could indeed accommodate a vegetarian we asked about the throwed-rolls. They don’t put rolls on a plate, they don’t bring a basket of rolls, they walk around with a tray of hot delicious rolls and if you put your hand up they throw them to you, in many cases across the entire dining room. It does get a bit exciting. While not at the high end of the cuisine ladder, the food was plentiful, excellent and inexpensive. There are three of them, two in MO and the one in AL. If you are really interested, I suppose you could check out http://www.throwed-rolls.com
During our campground walk around after we got back, we were invited to come to the activities room where a gathering of campers were listening to a jam session of other campers playing mostly bluegrass and country. We sat there for over an hour until the session ended. There was a fiddle, an auto harp, several guitars and a banjo and vocalists. It was a lot of fun.
Today, the 13th started out very slowly. It was chore day. I cleaned up and reorganized the under compartments and started tracing a minor leak that has manifested in the holding tank area. While Carol did laundry, I finished washing down the motorhome, no soap allowed here, and then got on the roof to asses the repair needed from a too close encounter between the superfluous luggage rack and a tree limb in our driveway at home. I have the roof sealer and the high speed tape (gray tape) has kept it together until now. I need two screws that I don’t have. We stopped at WalMart to get them and some other “stuff.” Carol and I also started rubbing out some orange paint that appeared mysteriously on the right rear of the coach one day. The orange is almost gone and the roof will be better than new in the morning. I still have not figured out the leak, but I have an appointment for an oil change and I’ll see what they say at the RV facility.
After lunch we drove to Pensacola and saw a whole lot more war birds and the National Museum of Naval Aviation at the Pensacola Nava Air Station. Carol really is a good sport.
When we were caught in the snow in Tennessee, again, we met Al and Doris in a fifth wheel (fiver to the cognoscenti) next to us and they raved about this campground in Gulf Shores AL they were going back to. As we left Birmingham we decided that with a recommendation like that we had to give it a chance. We had no trouble getting there and there was space in the two week limit area (fine for our purposes). As we finished setting up, I got to talking with Mike from Oneonta, NY about the area and RVing in general. As we continued talking I noticed that my neighbor, directly across the street was Al and Doris. Out of 400 campsites we were situated as neighbors again. We greeted each other and may see them later this week.
On the next morning, Monday the 12, we set off to see what we could find. We drove down along sand spit to Fort Morgan which faces Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. These two forts control access to Mobile Bay and were the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Damn the Torpedoes and that sort of thing. We toured Fort Morgan while waiting for the ferry to Dauphin. It leaves every 90 minutes and takes 30 for the crossing. We chose to walk on, leaving the car and saving $20 for the vehicle roundtrip. This may not have been as smart as it seemed the ferry is a flat topped barge with no protected area for walk-ons. It was fine going over in the bright sun and 55 plus mid morning. We figured the return might get a bit chilly if we waited for the last crossing at 5 Pm. We took the earlier crossing and we were limited in what we could visit since the only things within an easy walk of the ferry were the Estruarium, the fort and an Audubon park. One fort is enough for any day so that left the Estruarium and the Audubon trails. These nicely filled the time, but did nothing for our stomachs. Rumors to the contrary not withstanding, there was no snack bar to be found, closed for the season. We dined on potato chips an peanut butter crackers from the vending machine.
The ferry ride back was about as chilly as we had predicted and we were glad to get in the car and turn on the heater. We stopped at a supermarket on the ride back to buy some items on the shopping list and we managed to pick up some items that were not on the list.
After dinner we took a walk and then sat with our computers dealing with email and other stuff. Digital images are accumulating and will be made available soon. I have not figured out how to put them in this log directly yet. Read on.
Tuesday we had decided to get back on the ferry with the car and drive from Dauphin Island to Mobile on the Western side of the bay returning down the Eastern side. This meant getting to Fort Morgan by 8:30 Am and we figured it for a a 35 minute drive. This is too early for vacation time, but we wanted to so we did it. We never even opened the car door on the ferry. It was cool and foggy and there was nothing to see. Once we got off the ferry we never stopped on Dauphin Island – well there was a red light we stopped for – but moved on to visit Bellingrath House and Gardens. Walter Bellingrath invested $1,500 in the Mobile Coca Cola Bottling franchise in 1915. He bought this fishing camp which his wife decided should be a little nicer. When they moved in permanently in the ‘30’s it was somewhat nicer, 10,000 square feet with 15 rooms and 65 acres of glorious gardens.
We spent over two hours touring the gardens and had a private tour of the house. We never did see any other tourists on the grounds. Well it is winter, but the roses had some blooms and the Daffodils were poking their greens above ground. The staff were busy removing thousands of strings of lights from everything. This is worth the side trip if your are in the area. With the gardens that nice in January I can only begin to imagine them in the other three seasons. We had lunch in the cafeteria and then proceeded to Mobile where we stopped at the visitor’s center and then took a brief driving tour of the old city areas. They were very nice, but did not offer much of interest to us. We moved on to the USS Alabama and Vietnam Memorial park. Oh yes we did have to tour some war ships. My primary interest was the submarine Drum which is on exhibit out of the water. This was one of the most successful WW II attack submarines. To get to the submarine we had to pass through a hanger full of planes. One stopped us cold, there was an SR 71 Black Bird on display. If you know the plane it has to be seen up close to even begin to make you understand its size. It is immense and as sleek as anything I have seen. It flew as fast as three times the speed of sound for 3,000 miles and could travel at 90,000 feet. I am getting a bit carried away; it is beautiful in a sculptural sense.
We left as the sun was setting have toured the submarine and much of the Alabama and turned south for a scenic drive (after dark?) down the Eastern coast of the bay. The d rive was fun and the GPS came in handy as the route threaded its way among the local streets. We came out to the main North South route and turned toward the campground. We started to drive past Lamberts Café “the home of the throwed-roll.” We had to find out what that was all about, so, it being dinner time, we stopped. Once we verified that that could indeed accommodate a vegetarian we asked about the throwed-rolls. They don’t put rolls on a plate, they don’t bring a basket of rolls, they walk around with a tray of hot delicious rolls and if you put your hand up they throw them to you, in many cases across the entire dining room. It does get a bit exciting. While not at the high end of the cuisine ladder, the food was plentiful, excellent and inexpensive. There are three of them, two in MO and the one in AL. If you are really interested, I suppose you could check out http://www.throwed-rolls.com
During our campground walk around after we got back, we were invited to come to the activities room where a gathering of campers were listening to a jam session of other campers playing mostly bluegrass and country. We sat there for over an hour until the session ended. There was a fiddle, an auto harp, several guitars and a banjo and vocalists. It was a lot of fun.
Today, the 13th started out very slowly. It was chore day. I cleaned up and reorganized the under compartments and started tracing a minor leak that has manifested in the holding tank area. While Carol did laundry, I finished washing down the motorhome, no soap allowed here, and then got on the roof to asses the repair needed from a too close encounter between the superfluous luggage rack and a tree limb in our driveway at home. I have the roof sealer and the high speed tape (gray tape) has kept it together until now. I need two screws that I don’t have. We stopped at WalMart to get them and some other “stuff.” Carol and I also started rubbing out some orange paint that appeared mysteriously on the right rear of the coach one day. The orange is almost gone and the roof will be better than new in the morning. I still have not figured out the leak, but I have an appointment for an oil change and I’ll see what they say at the RV facility.
After lunch we drove to Pensacola and saw a whole lot more war birds and the National Museum of Naval Aviation at the Pensacola Nava Air Station. Carol really is a good sport.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Here we are in Birmingham Alabama sort of wondering how we got here and at first why? To begin with, we left Malena and Dan’s on Thursday as planned and retraced to I 81 and ran down to Baileyton, TN, about 36 miles south of the VA-TN border.
We stayed at Baileyton Camp Inn in Baileyton, TN. The site is nothing special, flat field with nice gravel roads and well kept grass at each site. We had only electric, dump and cable at the site, water was off for the winter. There is water available to refill. There are nice heated shower and washrooms which are immaculate. No stray soap scum visible and the floors are spotless. This is very impressive. Not sure that there is a lot to do here, but plenty of other New Yorkers have found this tonight on their way to the southwest, it is a major stop on the migration route to AZ.
We woke up in the morning to a beautiful unwelcome surprise, 2 inches of fresh snow. Given our prior experience with snow in the south I was resigned to spending the day in company with our fellow stranded travelers. The campground owner, who has sold this campground with a March closing date, came and chatted with us and eventually took two of us out for a close up view of the roads. We decided it seemed reasonable to proceed slowly to the interstate which was moving freely. This was encouraged by the forecast of temperatures down to 12 for the coming night and the thought of all that slush freezing solid. At a little after 10 AM we moved out. It was a piece of cake. We made the interstate in less than 10 minutes (1.7 miles) and moved out at speed for the south.
As we moved down I 81 to I 40 in Knoxville to I 75 eventually to I 59 we decided that it was ridiculous to bypass Birmingham. Much of the civil rights history of our era took place in and around Birmingham and they have the Civil Rights Institute where this is all documented. We found a very nice campground in Pelham, Birmingham South Good Sam (a former KOA) and set for Friday and Saturday nights. We tried to find a synagogue for services, but the information number on the web site for Temple Emanu El was a Tavern and the other number went to an answer machine that offered no useful scheduling information and their website was useless. We had a delightful Shabbat dinner on Goliath and we spent Saturday morning in the Civil Rights Institute. Given the number of Reform Rabbis who participated in the various marches and protests we felt we were in the right place. For anyone reading this, Go Out of your Way. Make this stop. It is eye opening. We were in high school and college as this unfolded, I remember reading the papers and watching the news horrified. I remember friends going to Birmingham to participate or to report.
I do not remember thinking I needed to participate. The institute includes a time line of the civil rights movement from Eisenhower days until the grand march on Washington ending with Martin Luther King’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial. There is part of an actual Freedom Riders bus and much other memorabilia. The view from several of the windows takes in the 16th Street Baptist Church, directly across the street.
After this two and a half hours we wandered out into the downtown and the park across from the Institute. We looked at the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little girls were killed in one of many bombings. We found lunch at a Philly’s Steak shop, they did have a veggie Hoagy for Carol. Then we went to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. It is funky, it is small and it reflects Birmingham’s not inconsiderable contribution to Jazz. It is not a must see, but certainly worth a stop if you are here and have 45 minutes. We wandered through several other parts of Downtown Birmingham and found the arts district, such as it is, and enjoyed a visit to “Naked Art”.
We returned to Goliath late in the afternoon and while Carol began dinner preparations I took advantage of the fine shower facilities that the campground had to offer. The dinner was wonderful. Carol surpassed herself with an Asian noodle soup with plenty of veggies and spice. We will have dessert later, maybe cinnamon ice cream.
Tomorrow we plan to head down to the Mobile area. We have been given to understand that there is a lot do and see along the Gulf Coast. We can’t get any further south without violating our rule against Florida.
We stayed at Baileyton Camp Inn in Baileyton, TN. The site is nothing special, flat field with nice gravel roads and well kept grass at each site. We had only electric, dump and cable at the site, water was off for the winter. There is water available to refill. There are nice heated shower and washrooms which are immaculate. No stray soap scum visible and the floors are spotless. This is very impressive. Not sure that there is a lot to do here, but plenty of other New Yorkers have found this tonight on their way to the southwest, it is a major stop on the migration route to AZ.
We woke up in the morning to a beautiful unwelcome surprise, 2 inches of fresh snow. Given our prior experience with snow in the south I was resigned to spending the day in company with our fellow stranded travelers. The campground owner, who has sold this campground with a March closing date, came and chatted with us and eventually took two of us out for a close up view of the roads. We decided it seemed reasonable to proceed slowly to the interstate which was moving freely. This was encouraged by the forecast of temperatures down to 12 for the coming night and the thought of all that slush freezing solid. At a little after 10 AM we moved out. It was a piece of cake. We made the interstate in less than 10 minutes (1.7 miles) and moved out at speed for the south.
As we moved down I 81 to I 40 in Knoxville to I 75 eventually to I 59 we decided that it was ridiculous to bypass Birmingham. Much of the civil rights history of our era took place in and around Birmingham and they have the Civil Rights Institute where this is all documented. We found a very nice campground in Pelham, Birmingham South Good Sam (a former KOA) and set for Friday and Saturday nights. We tried to find a synagogue for services, but the information number on the web site for Temple Emanu El was a Tavern and the other number went to an answer machine that offered no useful scheduling information and their website was useless. We had a delightful Shabbat dinner on Goliath and we spent Saturday morning in the Civil Rights Institute. Given the number of Reform Rabbis who participated in the various marches and protests we felt we were in the right place. For anyone reading this, Go Out of your Way. Make this stop. It is eye opening. We were in high school and college as this unfolded, I remember reading the papers and watching the news horrified. I remember friends going to Birmingham to participate or to report.
I do not remember thinking I needed to participate. The institute includes a time line of the civil rights movement from Eisenhower days until the grand march on Washington ending with Martin Luther King’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial. There is part of an actual Freedom Riders bus and much other memorabilia. The view from several of the windows takes in the 16th Street Baptist Church, directly across the street.
After this two and a half hours we wandered out into the downtown and the park across from the Institute. We looked at the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little girls were killed in one of many bombings. We found lunch at a Philly’s Steak shop, they did have a veggie Hoagy for Carol. Then we went to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. It is funky, it is small and it reflects Birmingham’s not inconsiderable contribution to Jazz. It is not a must see, but certainly worth a stop if you are here and have 45 minutes. We wandered through several other parts of Downtown Birmingham and found the arts district, such as it is, and enjoyed a visit to “Naked Art”.
We returned to Goliath late in the afternoon and while Carol began dinner preparations I took advantage of the fine shower facilities that the campground had to offer. The dinner was wonderful. Carol surpassed herself with an Asian noodle soup with plenty of veggies and spice. We will have dessert later, maybe cinnamon ice cream.
Tomorrow we plan to head down to the Mobile area. We have been given to understand that there is a lot do and see along the Gulf Coast. We can’t get any further south without violating our rule against Florida.
Here we are in Birmingham Alabama sort of wondering how we got here and at first why? To begin with, we left Malena and Dan’s on Thursday as planned and retraced to I 81 and ran down to Baileyton, TN, about 36 miles south of the VA-TN border.
We stayed at Baileyton Camp Inn in Baileyton, TN. The site is nothing special, flat field with nice gravel roads and well kept grass at each site. We had only electric, dump and cable at the site, water was off for the winter. There is water available to refill. There are nice heated shower and washrooms which are immaculate. No stray soap scum visible and the floors are spotless. This is very impressive. Not sure that there is a lot to do here, but plenty of other New Yorkers have found this tonight on their way to the southwest, it is a major stop on the migration route to AZ.
We woke up in the morning to a beautiful unwelcome surprise, 2 inches of fresh snow. Given our prior experience with snow in the south I was resigned to spending the day in company with our fellow stranded travelers. The campground owner, who has sold this campground with a March closing date, came and chatted with us and eventually took two of us out for a close up view of the roads. We decided it seemed reasonable to proceed slowly to the interstate which was moving freely. This was encouraged by the forecast of temperatures down to 12 for the coming night and the thought of all that slush freezing solid. At a little after 10 AM we moved out. It was a piece of cake. We made the interstate in less than 10 minutes (1.7 miles) and moved out at speed for the south.
As we moved down I 81 to I 40 in Knoxville to I 75 eventually to I 59 we decided that it was ridiculous to bypass Birmingham. Much of the civil rights history of our era took place in and around Birmingham and they have the Civil Rights Institute where this is all documented. We found a very nice campground in Pelham, Birmingham South Good Sam (a former KOA) and set for Friday and Saturday nights. We tried to find a synagogue for services, but the information number on the web site for Temple Emanu El was a Tavern and the other number went to an answer machine that offered no useful scheduling information and their website was useless. We had a delightful Shabbat dinner on Goliath and we spent Saturday morning in the Civil Rights Institute. Given the number of Reform Rabbis who participated in the various marches and protests we felt we were in the right place. For anyone reading this, Go Out of your Way. Make this stop. It is eye opening. We were in high school and college as this unfolded, I remember reading the papers and watching the news horrified. I remember friends going to Birmingham to participate or to report.
I do not remember thinking I needed to participate. The institute includes a time line of the civil rights movement from Eisenhower days until the grand march on Washington ending with Martin Luther King’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial. There is part of an actual Freedom Riders bus and much other memorabilia. The view from several of the windows takes in the 16th Street Baptist Church, directly across the street.
After this two and a half hours we wandered out into the downtown and the park across from the Institute. We looked at the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little girls were killed in one of many bombings. We found lunch at a Philly’s Steak shop, they did have a veggie Hoagy for Carol. Then we went to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. It is funky, it is small and it reflects Birmingham’s not inconsiderable contribution to Jazz. It is not a must see, but certainly worth a stop if you are here and have 45 minutes. We wandered through several other parts of Downtown Birmingham and found the arts district, such as it is, and enjoyed a visit to “Naked Art”.
We returned to Goliath late in the afternoon and while Carol began dinner preparations I took advantage of the fine shower facilities that the campground had to offer. The dinner was wonderful. Carol surpassed herself with an Asian noodle soup with plenty of veggies and spice. We will have dessert later, maybe cinnamon ice cream.
Tomorrow we plan to head down to the Mobile area. We have been given to understand that there is a lot do and see along the Gulf Coast. We can’t get any further south without violating our rule against Florida.
We stayed at Baileyton Camp Inn in Baileyton, TN. The site is nothing special, flat field with nice gravel roads and well kept grass at each site. We had only electric, dump and cable at the site, water was off for the winter. There is water available to refill. There are nice heated shower and washrooms which are immaculate. No stray soap scum visible and the floors are spotless. This is very impressive. Not sure that there is a lot to do here, but plenty of other New Yorkers have found this tonight on their way to the southwest, it is a major stop on the migration route to AZ.
We woke up in the morning to a beautiful unwelcome surprise, 2 inches of fresh snow. Given our prior experience with snow in the south I was resigned to spending the day in company with our fellow stranded travelers. The campground owner, who has sold this campground with a March closing date, came and chatted with us and eventually took two of us out for a close up view of the roads. We decided it seemed reasonable to proceed slowly to the interstate which was moving freely. This was encouraged by the forecast of temperatures down to 12 for the coming night and the thought of all that slush freezing solid. At a little after 10 AM we moved out. It was a piece of cake. We made the interstate in less than 10 minutes (1.7 miles) and moved out at speed for the south.
As we moved down I 81 to I 40 in Knoxville to I 75 eventually to I 59 we decided that it was ridiculous to bypass Birmingham. Much of the civil rights history of our era took place in and around Birmingham and they have the Civil Rights Institute where this is all documented. We found a very nice campground in Pelham, Birmingham South Good Sam (a former KOA) and set for Friday and Saturday nights. We tried to find a synagogue for services, but the information number on the web site for Temple Emanu El was a Tavern and the other number went to an answer machine that offered no useful scheduling information and their website was useless. We had a delightful Shabbat dinner on Goliath and we spent Saturday morning in the Civil Rights Institute. Given the number of Reform Rabbis who participated in the various marches and protests we felt we were in the right place. For anyone reading this, Go Out of your Way. Make this stop. It is eye opening. We were in high school and college as this unfolded, I remember reading the papers and watching the news horrified. I remember friends going to Birmingham to participate or to report.
I do not remember thinking I needed to participate. The institute includes a time line of the civil rights movement from Eisenhower days until the grand march on Washington ending with Martin Luther King’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial. There is part of an actual Freedom Riders bus and much other memorabilia. The view from several of the windows takes in the 16th Street Baptist Church, directly across the street.
After this two and a half hours we wandered out into the downtown and the park across from the Institute. We looked at the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little girls were killed in one of many bombings. We found lunch at a Philly’s Steak shop, they did have a veggie Hoagy for Carol. Then we went to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. It is funky, it is small and it reflects Birmingham’s not inconsiderable contribution to Jazz. It is not a must see, but certainly worth a stop if you are here and have 45 minutes. We wandered through several other parts of Downtown Birmingham and found the arts district, such as it is, and enjoyed a visit to “Naked Art”.
We returned to Goliath late in the afternoon and while Carol began dinner preparations I took advantage of the fine shower facilities that the campground had to offer. The dinner was wonderful. Carol surpassed herself with an Asian noodle soup with plenty of veggies and spice. We will have dessert later, maybe cinnamon ice cream.
Tomorrow we plan to head down to the Mobile area. We have been given to understand that there is a lot do and see along the Gulf Coast. We can’t get any further south without violating our rule against Florida.
This is just an added note to the last post. I am still learning how this Blog thing works.
paul
paul
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
We made it to the warm sunny south, Virginia that is. The temperature, as I write is headed for 15 F here. We have been at Dan and Malena's house since Sunday afternoon. We left Rochester in rather a hurry on Saturday the 3rd with a forecast of cold and snow that night. The forecast was wrong, but our departures have been surrounded in bad weather twice before and we did not want to chance it. We made it to Carlyle, PA in plenty of time.
After a quiet night we backtracked a few miles to our first Flying J of the trip for Gasoline and Propane. Other drivers made the transactions far longer than necessary, but we were on the road in 45 minutes. Other than rain and sun, in that order, the trip was uneventful and soon we were negotiating Heard's Mountain Road to Hungrytown Road, the latter is 2 miles of dirt and finally the last 200 yards on Hungrytown Hollow Road. Their house is deep in the back country south of Charlottesville and nobody minds or even notices Goliath parked in the yard. AS I disconnected the Tow'd I made sure Carol had set the brake. She still needs more workouts, the grade was steep enough that the brake slipped and once again I found myself holding the car on the grade by its towbar while Carol ran to put it in gear. We will get this right one of these days. :)
Today we helped Josh celebrate his twelfth birthday by picking him up at school and bringing him home for a dinner he had requested of steak and spanokopita followed by homemade birthday cake. We discussed leaving tomorrow because of the cold, but decided to stick around until Thursday as planned. We are still discussing the route, but South seems to take precedence as the central temperatures are too cold for our comfort. At a guess Birmingham, Mobile, Baton rouge look like possibilities. We will let you all know when we know.
Carol and Paul from Hungrytown Hollow Rd in Covesville, VA
After a quiet night we backtracked a few miles to our first Flying J of the trip for Gasoline and Propane. Other drivers made the transactions far longer than necessary, but we were on the road in 45 minutes. Other than rain and sun, in that order, the trip was uneventful and soon we were negotiating Heard's Mountain Road to Hungrytown Road, the latter is 2 miles of dirt and finally the last 200 yards on Hungrytown Hollow Road. Their house is deep in the back country south of Charlottesville and nobody minds or even notices Goliath parked in the yard. AS I disconnected the Tow'd I made sure Carol had set the brake. She still needs more workouts, the grade was steep enough that the brake slipped and once again I found myself holding the car on the grade by its towbar while Carol ran to put it in gear. We will get this right one of these days. :)
Today we helped Josh celebrate his twelfth birthday by picking him up at school and bringing him home for a dinner he had requested of steak and spanokopita followed by homemade birthday cake. We discussed leaving tomorrow because of the cold, but decided to stick around until Thursday as planned. We are still discussing the route, but South seems to take precedence as the central temperatures are too cold for our comfort. At a guess Birmingham, Mobile, Baton rouge look like possibilities. We will let you all know when we know.
Carol and Paul from Hungrytown Hollow Rd in Covesville, VA
