Two new stops, Meridian, MS. and Tuscaloosa, AL.

With the weekend over we left Hattiesburg, MS and drove a short distance NW over to Meridian MS. Our next stop was at a park called Bonita Lakes RV Park and this would be our first visit to Meridian. While the park was okay the town of Meridian has seen better days. There was not a whole lot to see unless you like dilapidated buildings mostly boarded up and abandoned.

While we haven’t escaped the hot weather we are seeing more wildflowers in bloom. This is likely due to the fact we are also seeing more rain. We have been fortunate in that the rain has fallen at times we aren’t out and about.

The best thing about the campground in Meridian is that it is nearly right across the street from Bonita Lakes Nature Park. There is a seven mile trail around a large lake and a shorter trail which encircles a smaller lake. Bonita Lakes is the gemstone of Meridian!

We set out onto the seven mile trail which we found to be in great shape. It was mostly shaded which was wonderful in the HOT temperatures. We experienced climbs and flats in a densely wooded mixture of hardwoods and pines. It was a really nice hike with many peeks at the lake through the forested canopy. We only planned to hike about three miles due to predicted rains so we hiked to a point on the lake and returned the way we came.

The next day we packed up and moved for a first time visit to a COE Park named Deerlick Creek Park. We chose this park for its proximity to Tuscaloosa, Alabama which is a place we never visited before. We wanted to check out this college town and explore both it and the University of Alabama.

Deerlick Creek Park is well off the beaten path but only about 20 minutes to Tuscaloosa. There is some nice hiking in the park and a bike trail. It was happily another heavily wooded park on a lake with some huge sites. While many are near the water, the water can mostly be reached only by descending a steep embankment.

Our visit to the University of Alabama was a highlight of this trip as it was way more impressive than either of us had imagined. The southern styled architecture and the large trees made our exploration really wonderful. Again we needed the shade on this hot day.

No trip to the university would be complete without a visit the the famed football stadium where many a National Championship has been won. There is a large stature of their elephant mascot nearby which was worthy of a stop as well. What a nice and very walkable campus. We were so glad we decided to visit..

Tuscaloosa has a lot of positives for a future place for us to settle down. We talked about some of the negatives and positives. We’ll keep it on the list. To add intrigue to our quest to find a place to land, on our last night in Tuscaloosa a hackberry emperor butterfly kept landing on me. I don’t know if this was an omen or if I simply made a new friend…