Installment #11

Remember, you can click on the pictures if you want to see them ‘close-up and personal’

Our last installment was in Florida. We have now travelled through Georgia and Alabama (our second time in Alabama –now in the north end). Our last adventure in Florida was in Plant City where we had an appointment to get the power steering pump replaced under warranty. Unfortunately, we had to wait another day for the repair shop to get to us. We spent the day doing laundry, checking the internet, and then spent the night in the Bill Heard (World’s largest Chevy Dealer) parking lot. After waiting six hours for the repair, we were on the road, headed towards Georgia on Interstate 75. We came upon a traffic jam – three interstate lanes of traffic came to a stop while all drivers were looking at five buffalo and one zebra in a field.






We found our way to the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia (http://www.museumofaviation.org/). They again had several airplanes on the perimeter of the several buildings – one of the buildings shaped like the U.S. Forces star and bars insignia. One item Tony found of special interest was an aircraft engine that was steam driven. Further up the road we stopped for lunch at the Tanger shopping center (http://www.tangeroutlet.com/) Note to Rich and Luci – we finally found a butter crock for home.

Arriving in the Atlanta area (Forest Park, Georgia) to visit friends, Phyllis & John, we were given permission to stay in a church parking lot just one house away from our friends. Unfortunately, the person granting permission failed to tell the rest of the church staff and we ended up with a note on our windshield asking us to give the church a call. All was straightened out by John & Phyllis and we continued our four night stay in the church parking lot. With Phyllis and John as tour guide and chauffeur, we had a very relaxing and interesting visit in this area. The Georgia state capitol was our first major tourist stop (http://www.sos.state.ga.us/state_capitol/) We were able to get into the both the House and Senate chambers and heard a little of the history from a volunteer in the House chambers. On the way we passed the "Olympic Rings" and "Olympic torch" (picture).

Next we travelled on to Stone Mountain to see the Confederate carving in the stone and walk around the attractions at the park including a fanciful water clock. (http://ngeorgia.com/attractions/stonemountaincarving.html)

We were introduced to the Chick Fill-A (http://www.chickfila.com/home.asp) chain of restaurants where spicy chicken sandwiches are on the menu – all the rage in US right now. It seems the creator of Chick Fill-A chain started out by having a sandwich truck at the Chevrolet plant in Georgia, and tried different recipes out with the workers telling him what they thought about the sandwiches. Later we took a walk through the William H. Reynolds Memorial Nature preserve http://web.co.clayton.ga.us/reynolds/about.htm) where they had an interesting display of a bee hive and working bees we could watch.


Our second full day began with a scheduled tour to CNN studios (Cable News Network – originally associated with Turner Broadcasting). The tour wasn’t the greatest, but just being inside the CNN building was quite an experience. There was an eight story escalator (the world’s largest, of course), taking tourists up into a room at the top which looked like a world globe. We did get a short glimpse of the live CNN news room and all the "behind the scenes" reporters in the news studio. The most entertaining part was trying to get out of the parking lot afterwards – after reading signs, watching other cars, and attempting to find the right exit, and after the third attempt, we ended up having a parking attendant help us – folding up and crinkling a ticket you receive at the entrance gate is not a good idea. Tony telling the helpful attendant with his British accent, "we’re not from here" explained it all.

On drives, our tour guide/chaffeurs took us past the Georgia Aquarium (shaped like Noah’s Ark) and on a walk through a confederate cemetery. We saw huge magnolia trees and Wisteria (purple vining bushes in full bloom). We went to Captain D’s fish house so I could get "hush puppies" – Tony wondered if we were going to a shoe store at first (hush puppies are one of my favorite foods from the South – deep fried corn meal with onion flavoring). We experienced the Georgia pollen falling – evidently it was the worst it has ever been – a high count is 300 and during our stay it was 5000. All vehicles everywhere looked as if they had been spray painted with a slight green overcoat (see picture of our car).

One evening’s entertainment consisted of a 9 piece puzzle that none of us could work so we went late at night to Angie’s home to have her 12 year old son work it – unfortunately for him, he couldn’t do it either – we were very happy to leave the puzzle at their home to end our frustration.
During our stay, we often got to see Phyllis & John’s kids – Tim and Angie (who messed with our camera) & her family. Quite an unusual bed we saw in the grandson Austin’s room (picture). His bedroom light was the front grill of the vehicle (lights showing through the headlights.




Another day we went to the Atlanta Cyclorama (http://www.webguide.com/cyclorama.html) – one of three cycloramas in the United States – which houses the world’s largest oil painting and is claimed to be the longest running show in the country. After being seated, the whole seating section is slowly turned 360 degrees while the painting of the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War is described, complete with background music. The painting display has been extended to include in 3-D more railroad track, soldiers, trees, etc. After a visit by Clark Gable, he hinted that Rhett Butler should be included in the display because of the "Gone with the Wind" Georgia setting. He was later included, but the tour guide thought he probably didn’t mean to be portrayed in the way he was - as a dead Union soldier.

Our last entertainment in Atlanta was "Geocaching". This fad seems to be catching on worldwide. We now have a "travel bug" that we are responsible for – somewhere we have to either make a new cache and let the world know, or find another cache and put the "travel bug" in the cache, and then report what we have done. The picture shows Phyllis, John, and tony looking at their find. We had more fun finding three different caches with the handheld GPS…it’s certainly a good way to be entertained and get exercise at the same time. Check it out. http://www.geocaching.com/ or look at the travel bug I have – JPWFYX – from time to time to see if I have disposed of the little jeep – http://www.jeep.geocaching.com/

On the road heading west from Atlanta, we saw this cute sign – advertisement for a car with the car headlights on.







Our next little visit was to a temporary high-security private museum of antiques collected in the lifetime of an elderly couple. This museum was crammed ($9.5 million value) full of very high value artifacts (dresden, faberge, tiffany, capodimonte, remington, royal dux and many more) which were described in detail (dating back to 1600s) by the dear old lady herself – Evelyn Burrow (www.wallacestate.edu/museum)



Today we visited a the Ave Maria Grotto (http://www.avemariagrotto.com/) – by Brother Joseph, a monk at the St. Bernard Abbey for almost 70 years – more than 125 miniature replicas of biblical structures and world-famous buildings (using stone, concrete, and unwanted donated materials such as broken plates, costume jewelry, ceramic tiles, beads, marbles, seashells, etc.), such as leaning tower of Pisa, Pantheon, the Alamo, Colosseum, City of Jerusalem, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Noah’s Ark & the Tower of Babel, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and much more. (pictures).

Thanks again for all the phone calls, emails, and blog messages. We enjoy hearing from everyone.

~~Sharon and Tony

Installment #8

Arriving in Baton Rouge at yet another Wal-Mart, we took off in the car to see the sites:

The Louisiana State Capitol building (claims to be the tallest state capitol building in the U.S.). Tony had never been in a state capitol building and he was amazed and impressed. We went into the Senate and House chambers (all wired for laptops, of course); took elevator to the 27th floor to the observation deck (34 floors total, 450 feet high) – the views were fantastic with the Mississippi River to the west. The brochure description quoted the north view as "Louisiana’s prosperous and economically important chemical corridor" – meaning petro chemical plants and smog! The entrance is approached by a grand staircase with one step for each of the 48 states, listed in the order of their admittance to the Union. Alaska and Hawaii were added to the top step when they were made states. Flags of various nations which have ruled Louisiana hang from the balcony – Castile & Leon, France, Spain, England, a 15-star U.S. flag, Confederate flag, Louisiana state flag, the modern U.S. flag and more.

On the capitol grounds was an Old Arsenal Museum, built about 1838, used by the military during the Civil War, displaying hundreds of kegs of powder, and vents that angled through the five foot thick walls to prevent a direct shot into the arsenal.

Next stop was the Hollywood Casino River boat – gambling not allowed in the state; however, it is allowed on the Mississippi River. There was a very elaborate motel, restaurant entrance with a walkway to the river boat casino (picture).
We drove around the block to get a picture of this mural painted on the side of a building. (picture)
Our next stop was the Port Allen on the west side of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, after 9 Eleven, visitors have been stopped from entering. We did find a small spot outside the government fence to watch six barges being pushed by one tug boat out of the locks.
We went to the Blue Bonnet Swamp for an upclose and personal look at a swamp - to see the lizards, hear all the birds, and see all the water logged cypress trees.
We stopped in Slidell, Louisiana, jut 40 miles northeast of New Orleans. We spent a lot of time driving around in the car looking at the devastation from "Katrina" – "do not crush" sign on a boat, "your adjuster" sign with a phone number, very nice homes all built on stilts (picture) with garage and storage on ground floor, a shopping mall completely closed, army tanks parked, "demolish shed in back only" sign, "evacuation route" sign, and "looters will be shot" sign. In Slidell, the TV weather man suggested a weather watch for possible tornadoes so we stayed put another night. In this particular Wal-Mart parking lot, a lot of people were living in their cars.
We continued on our trek to Mississippi (picture of view over Mississippi) – our first stop at the Visitor’s Center where we found "Southern Hospitality" from the people in the Visitor Center. Notice the picture of their Apollo training module in the park. We went south down to the Gulf of Mexico highway 90 to travel along the gulf to see the Katrina devastation (described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_Mississippi ). Two main bridges are still not repaired (due to be opened this May). Signs we saw - "Need a dummpster?…call …", "coastal clean-up", "Homes in 8 weeks", "storm debris in water", "do not enter, boardwalk torn up". We saw a Wal-Mart parking lot with no Wal-Mart, stilts left where houses once were, a McDonald’s sign, but no McDonald’s; boat on dry land across from Gulf with sign "I survived Hurricane Camille" from years ago.

Our next tourist stop was (picture of street scene) Mobile, Alabama…we stayed nearby in Daphne, Alabama. Got a few pictures of the Carnival Cruise ship which had just arrived, unloaded passengers, and loading up again for another cruise beginning that night. We toured Fort Conde (notice the picture of the gaslight lit outside the museum) (http://www.museumofmobile.com/html/other_museums.php) and the Mobile Carnival Museum - memorabilia from 1921 Mobile Mardi Gras – gowns (picture), sceptors, crowns, trains http://www.carnivalmuseum.com/ Learned more about Joe Cain's Merry Widows (http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/Bureau/Mobile/joe_cain_procession.htm). There is more about the Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile at this site (http://www.mobile.org/ab_mardigras.php ).

We stopped for lunch at the "Spot of Tea" http://www.spotoftea.net/. Went inside the Immaculate Conception Church (picture); took a picture of an unusual site - store window with suits and matching hats. We also stopped in at the A&M Peanut Shop, open since 1947 - peanuts roasted hourly in a 90 year-old roaster. A pigeon kept coming inside the door to eat the peanuts that fell on the floor.





Next we went to a park with the USS Alabama (picture) and USS Drum sub, http://www.ussalabama.com/. Saw B-52 bomber, "Calamity Jane", Mustang, A-12 Blackbird spyplane, F/A-18 hornet prototype, B-25 "doolittle" bomber, OS2U kingfisher scout plane, vietnam "Huey" helicopter, F-4U Corsair, A-4 skyhawk, F105 Thunderchief, F4C Phantom, F-86 Sabre, 9 tanks and armored vehicles; also another Vietnam & Korean Veteran memorial park.

We took a walk to General Andrew Jackson's Oak Tree (a sign on the way - "beware of snakes and alligators") - Andrew Jackson climbed this oak and rallied 3000 troops in 1814, CSA camped here 1861–65 and Union troops came ashore here en route to Battle of Spanish Fort.






Next we went to the American Sport Art Museum http://www.asama.org/collection/onlinetour/index.asp , check out page 12 (Arman) one of my favorite and page 15 (Rizzi) - fun 3-D pictures (picture) "Just a few moments left on the clock".






Not quite out of Alabama yet, we went to an RV park called Wales West to give Tony his British fix of sitting out in the hot sun and going to a blue grass music ho-down in the evening. http://www.waleswest.com/. After Sharon took a swim in the pool, we got caught up on laundry. Took a ride on the train in the park during the day and another after the entertainment.

We have now learned that our goal of seeing the Atlantis blast off from Cape Canaveral has been postponed for at least another month – can you believe that the lift-off support rockets strapped to the shuttle suffered hail damage in a storm. I guess our tour of Florida will not be on any schedule now. Our first stop in Florida was to see Kathy (Cally & Casey’s Mom) in Pensacola. We then drove on to Navarre, Florida for two nights, waiting out what appeared to be a possible storm, again. The storm was bad in Mobile only a few miles away where we had been a few nights before: at the time of writing ten people were reported dead most of them school kids when a tornado flattened the school during session. I think Tony’s negative attitude is getting us in possible bad weather, and my positive attitude is keeping us out of the possible bad weather.

We took a drive around the area – across a bridge to a very narrow island (beach red warning flag up was for "high water hazard"). Sand was blowing everywhere. With the window just barely open, we were pelted with sand.


We got off the island and drove to the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base. This was even better than the planes, etc. that we saw at the USS Alabama. We saw the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast or Mother of all bombs - the world's largest conventional weapon); the "fat man" casing - second and last nuclear bomb ever used; a missile with writing all over it – one comment was "this one's for you, Saddam"; and several airplanes inside from different wars – the Mustang, P-47, Shooting Star, and Thunderchief. Outside they displayed a Soviet MIG-21, Blackbird, B-52 and about 20 other war planes. One display allowed visitors to walk through an Airborne Battlefield Command Control Center capsule.

We are going to slowly work our way down the west coast of Florida, possibly take a drive down to Key West. At that point, we will begin heading north and then west for the trip back home.

Thanks again for all the phone calls, emails, and blog messages. We enjoy hearing from everyone. As I am getting ready to send this blog, Tony is taking a nap, and we are sitting on the south coast of the Florida panhandle beside the Gulf of Mexico. I'm am loving the view with the waves and sounds. What a way to have a vacation!!

~~Sharon & Tony