The original plan for the day was to wake up fairly early and quickly check out Mobile before heading to New Orleans. As would be the usual morning for us, we ate the hotel breakfast and didn't get out and about until 10 or 11. Our hotel was on the west side of Mobile just off of I-65. We drove east towards Mobile Bay and saw nice houses and streets lined with old oaks covered in spanish moss. We passed a Krispy Kreme and the light was on so we stopped even though we had just finished breakfast - we're on vacation. We don't have a Krispy Kreme near us, so they're a special treat. Derek scarfed a few down, but Adam claimed he didn't "wike" them - even though he ate some of the left overs the next morning. Both boys really liked looking through the glass separator into the back of the store to see the donuts being made.
The USS Alabama was active in the Western Pacific during WWII, using its long range guns that can shoot up to 21 miles to pummel Japanese positions. We went on a self tour of the ship that took about 3 hours. The ship was huge. We were all amazed at how much they packed into the ship. It was like a little city with everything you would need when you don't see land for 6 months at a time. There was also a SR-71 Blackbird spy plane that was very impressive. We all thought the museum was great, but after a few hours the boys were done.
After the museum, we went to the Mobile visitor center to check things out and then rode the trolley bus around town to see some sites before heading to Felix's Fish Camp for lunch. One of the ladies at the visitor center recommended it. It's a cool place with a nice view overlooking the water. We both ordered fish prepared in the house "special" ways - menuiere and almondine. Basically, it means to soak thoroughly in butter, so much so that Helen actually took the fish off her plate and poured the butter that the fish was sitting in into another plate. We ordered grilled fish for Adam and wished we had done the same for ourselves. However, the crab soup was excellent as well as the service.
After the battleship museum and a leisurely lunch it was obvious we weren't going to be able to see much of New Orleans and since we were already planning a day trip to New Orleans on Monday with Katie, we decided to drive around the Eastern side of Mobile Bay. The drive wasn't particularly noteworthy. We had hoped to drive along the bay, but the road was removed somewhat from the bay. Mobile seemed to be a nice quaint town with some life, but a nice relaxed pace.
We drove around the bay and down to Gulf Shores and headed west where the land dead ends into Fort Morgan. From there we took a car ferry across to Dauphin Island, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. We were pleasantly surprised by Gulf Shores. It looks like they make an effort with the zoning to give a nice look and feel to the area. The car ferry was a fun adventure. We parked the car in line for the ferry and got out and looked around while we waited on the ferry. We made the ferry crossing as the sun was going down over the bay. It was really beautiful and the boys thought the whole adventure was super cool. We were surprised by how many oil wells there are in the bay.
So this was our first real day and we were already off plan, but the day turned out to be a precursor of what was to come. It turned out for the rest of the trip that we would get into each town late - around 9 or 10 and then tour the town the next day before hopping in the car for the next town. It just seemed that wherever we were we could always think of plenty of things to check out, which put us into the next town late.
The bad thing about traveling so late was that there were plenty of things on the way to the next destination that we wanted to see, but the attractions all closed at 5 or so. Whenever we would show up when the place was closed. we would try to check out what we could and get a feel for the place, but regretfully had to move on. We tried not to beat ourselves up too much since were seeing so many things and we couldn't see it all. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was the first of these disappointments for us.
Katie and Todd were expecting us in Pierre Part and we were running very late. The first thing we realized about Louisiana is that they have terrible roads. I guess it's hard to build good roads on swamp land. I-10 has so many swells it felt like a boat ride. I joked with a friend at work who is from Louisiana about how you drive across Mississippi and think that the roads are bad and then you reach Louisiana and wish for the roads in Mississippi.
The long night drive was the perfect time to listen to the "This American Life" podcasts I had downloaded to my iPod. I purchased about 10 episodes and downloaded 1 free episode. I just about blew a gasket when all I could find was the free episode. I thought somehow I had failed to download the purchased ones to my iPod. Thankfully for everyone, I found the purchased episodes. I wasn't sure how the kids would like them, but they loved listening to them and would constantly ask to listen to them the rest of the trip. But, I would only play them when we were in for a fairly long ride and everyone was quiet.
The first episode we listened to was "Notes On Camp". It was about kids going to summer camp and what a meaningful experience going to camp is for many. Helen and I never went to summer camp and thought it sounded very cliquish and ceremonial like most types of organizational groups- sororities and fraternities, cub scouts, or church. Everyone seemed to take the whole experience way too seriously for us. We're just not "belonging" kind of people. However, there was a hilarious story that one lady told about how when she was young her mother thought it would be a great experience for her kids to go "to camp". The mother was new to America and unfamiliar with many of the customs, but was determined that her kids would go "to camp". So she packed up a tent and all the supplies and dropped her 3 kids off at a campsite and told them she would be back for them in a week. The daughter telling the story was the oldest at about 13. It quickly became obvious to the kids that they should not have been left alone. It wasn't long before the other parents became suspicious. So all week the kids had to act like they had parents by calling back into the tent, "Mom, we'll be back in a little while" or yelling at a passing car, "Would you pick up some ice cream too, Dad?" When the mother returned in a week and the kids complained, the mother thought the kids were ungrateful. Here, she had gone to the trouble of setting them up for this great American camping experience and all the kids did was complain.
We ended up getting in to Pierre Part about midnight. Katie and Todd were still up and gave us a warm welcome. We visited a little before falling into bed.
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