Bellingrath Gardens

We took advantage of our “day off” from volunteering and visited Bellingrath Gardens. Walter Bellingrath owned Mobile’s first Coca-Cola bottling plant. He and his wife, Bessie , turned a former fishing camp on the Fowl River into an expanse of gardens, which were opened to the public in 1932. In 1935 they build a home on the property and moved there from Mobile. Alabama is the Camellia State, and Bellingrath Gardens certainly represents that well. Although we were about two weeks early for the peak of the azaleas, many were blooming, along with tulips, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage, and of course camellias. We toured the home as well. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places and contains all the antiques, furniture, silver, china, crystal, and porcelin collection owned by the Bellingraths when they lived there. They had no children, so when "Mr. Bell" died, he set up his 65-acre estate in perpetua so it could be enjoyed by future generations. More of our pictures of beautiful Bellingrath Gardens can be seen by copying and pasting the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/drewandlindamoore/BellingrathGardensAL2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnx_Z_M9f3n6gE#

Katrina Kleenup Volunteering

We arrived in Moss Point, MS, for our week of volunteer work with the Methodist NOMADS (RVers who travel to various projects across the country). We'll work Monday through Thursday, with Friday off to explore the area. Our host church is Caswell Springs Methodist, where we have electric and water hookups and full use of the church's restrooms, showers, and kitchen. If you look closely in the picture you can see the RV's. There are seven couples this week working on two houses, trying to get them ready for reoccupancy by the owners. After over three years, they still can't yet move back in. Our project leader tells us that there is a waiting list of 5000 homes that still need work to be fully inhabitable. The need here is great.

Gulf Shores Gourmands

Well, it's time to leave Gulf Shores, Alabama, now that we have eaten our way through the area! We've had our fill of wonderful seafood at places like Cosmo's and DeSoto's. We've dropped in at local favorites such as Lulu's (owned by Jimmie Buffet's sister). We've breakfasted at Big O's and ice-creamed at Scoops. We've even caught a "throwed roll" at Lambert's Cafe, a renowned down-home-cooking spot (the picture is of our roll guy). So we leave taking more than we arrived with, pound-wise, but we are satiated.

Perdido Pass

Talk about hard work. . . James Callaway was an Orange Beach, AL resident living on the Ole River near the Florida line. He wanted access to the Gulf of Mexico, so with the help of family and friends, using nothing but buckets and shovels, he dug a channel at Perdido Pass. Since there were no rock reinforcements on the banks, the canal would continuously fill back with sand and have to be dug again! The first bridge joining the Alabama and Florida coastal peninsulars was not built until 1946. The picture in this post of the beautiful, curving bridge over Perdido Pass is the current bridge that was built in 1989 and offers spectacular views of the crystal blue Gulf waters and snow white beaches on both sides.

USS Alabama

Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile is home port and final resting place for the USS Alabama, a World War II battleship commissioned in 1942. Her normal crew was about 2500 men, including 127 officers. We toured all of the decks, which took about two hours. The effort was worth it even though Drew came away with a dent in his head where he didn't duck enough going up one ladder! I was particularly moved as we walked through the galley and mess halls, as my Dad was Chief Petty Officer in charge of the galley on a similar ship. He had many tales such as bartering for supplies, making ice cream for the men on other ships that didn't have the capability, and even putting together flour barrels for a makeshift drum to complete their little ad hoc band ensemble. I could actually envision my Dad working and playing in such a space as the galley we toured. This day was a reminder of how we should be grateful for all of our Veterans and current military personnel who took or are taking chunks of their lives for us.

Fairhope and Forrest Gump

Mobile Bay's Eastern Shore offers several communities with small-town Southern beauty and charm. Fairhope is one of those. There we found tree-lined brick streets framed with flowers, cafes, B&B's, and well-kept turn of the century cottages. From Fairhope we ventured further south to Point Clear, the home of Marriott's posh Grand Hotel, Golf Club, and Spa. We continued on through Magnolia Springs which was home and inspiration to Winston Groom, who wrote Forrest Gump, and Fannie Flagg, who wrote Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. In keeping with our quest to sample Alabama, we lunched on authenic pulled pork BBQ at an unlikely out-of-the-way spot we happened upon, and as luck would have it, thoroughly enjoyed!

Upscale RVing

This is how the other half lives! We're the Chevrolet of RVers staying at a Cadillac RVers' resort here in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We journeyed from Tampa and are here near Mobile for a week or so. This is a new, motorcoach-only RV resort that's been opened just a few months. The lots (or sites) are owned and then put in a rental pool when the owners are not using them. Phase I's 88 lots are almost sold out and work has started on Phase II. The facilities are first class--pool, spa, gym, big screen TV/movie room, free laundry facilities, hiking paths, fire pits, and some sites have outdoor kitchens and gazebos. Normally we wouldn't splurge and stay in a resort this posh, but they advertised a 2-for-1 special (each night you pay for, you get one free) that we couldn't resist. Ever my father's bargain-hunting daughter. . .

On the Road Again

Just like the Willie Nelson song, we're on the road again. Although we enjoyed being back in Jacksonville again, it was TOO cold! So we moved further south to Tampa for a week to thaw out before beginning our trek out West. It's been nice getting together with our friends and former coworkers in this area, some of whom it's been years since we've seen. And we've had a chance to look up some of our old favorite haunts.
We revisited the St. Petersburg Pier this week on a beautiful, sunny Florida afternoon. It brought many memories from way back. My Uncle Sidney sailed his boat from Bradenton to the Pier and our families got together there when I was in high school. The first pier was called the Million Dollar Pier and opened in 1926. It was totally rebuilt and reopened in 1973. You can actually drive out onto the pier and shop or dine in it's five stories on the waterfront. This inverted pyramid is truly a St. Petersburg landmark.