A few days exploring Mobile Alabama…

Our next travel day would be to our last stop in Alabama. A three hour drive later we pulled into a new park for us, River Delta Marina & Campground. This is a County Park just north of Mobile Alabama in the small town of Creola, AL. The sites aren’t the best laid out but we sure did like the daily rate of $19.80 per night for full hook ups. Then we discovered they offer a senior discount of 10% on top of that, what a deal!

Even better is that the park has a really nice nature trail adjacent to the Tensaw River. This is also a boat marina called River Delta Marina where we saw lots of boaters heading our for a day of fishing. The Mobile River is also reachable by boat from here.

The nature trail is all on boardwalk and isn’t very long but it became a good part of our daily walks as we took in the beautiful swampy scenes, listened to the birds and were always on the look out for American Alligators, of which we saw several. The bald cypress lined river also made for great evening strolls as the sun was about to set.

The park was a great location for us to explore Mobile Alabama and we also wanted to drive over to see Daphne Alabama while here. We have driven through Mobile many times but never ventured to the downtown area. After spending some time downtown we found the city to have a nice vibe and you can tell there is a big push for development. Yet, we noticed a lot of dilapidated structures as reminders of past storms.

We learned that the USA Mardi Gras celebrations supposedly began in Mobile and not New Orleans. However, there is much heated debate about its true beginnings.. Nonetheless Mardi Gras is widely celebrated in Mobile and even in October there were remnants of past celebrations as old beads could be seen hanging in tress everywhere in the downtown area.

The architecture in the older historical parts of town also resemble the architecture seen in much of New Orleans. We really enjoyed our stroll around downtown delighting in the murals and occasional art pieces throughout town. We even found a nice spot to have a cold Alabama crafted beer at the Oyster City Brewery after our long day of exploring Mobile!.

Historical Montgomery Alabama…

Like the last time we visited Montgomery Alabama, the capital city of the State of Alabama, we took a stroll around the downtown area to once again absorb the history Montgomery is known for.

What began as a settlement of the Alabama and Coushatta Indians who lived on opposite sides of the Alabama River, Montgomery became the second largest city in Alabama as it is today. It has a storied past and in the 1860’s when the Confederate States of America were formed Montgomery was named the first capital of the nation and Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as its President. 

This historical house he and his family lived in is still standing today. Montgomery went through a lot after the Union finally came through town. Good times were had until the 1950-s and 1960’s when Montgomery became a hotbed of the civil rights movement.

What started as a seemingly innocuous event on December 1, 1955 when a young lady named Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and was immediately arrested, became the catalyst for another well known civil rights event, the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Also in the town of Montgomery a young charismatic man known as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., then pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, helped organize the boycott. Shortly after, in the summer of 1956, the US District Court ruled that Montgomery's bus racial segregation was unconstitutional… and so began a legion of cultural changes to the way of life in Montgomery as well as the entire USA..

Several years later in 1965 Martin Luther King returned to Montgomery  where he and other civil rights leaders helped organize the March to Montgomery Capitol Building to petition then Governor George Wallace to allow free voter registration. This event led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (back when Congress worked!) which enforced the rights of African Americans and other minorities to vote.

On our walk to Montgomery's Capitol Building we saw historical markers of not only the events of the Confederate inauguration of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate White House he and his family lived in, the church in which they prayed but in addition a flash forward in history to the location where Rosa Parks waited for the bus, the parking lot for the gathering of the bus boycott and past the church where Martin Luther King once preached. We also learned Montgomery became the state’s capitol in 1847. We had an incredible walk through the history of Montgomery.

We ended our day at Mellow Mushroom, a regional pizza chain, where there always is a nice happy hour. After all that walking we needed a little pick me up!

Hiking in Chewacla State Park and a Visit to Auburn Alabama

As we ambled down the road another 132 miles we arrived at our next destination at Chewacla State Park near Auburn, AL. We only reserved a few days because University of Auburn had a weekend home football game and we had to leave by Thursday or pay a hugely inflated price!

Chewacla State Park is an older park in need of a little love but still nicer than most private parks. We even found an old trail that meandered through the woods which became our morning walk during our stay.

During the 1930s, the CCC built many of the features found at this park. Most notable are the beautiful stone guest cabins, the bridges, and the stunning dam designed such that it creates a nice waterfall feature departing a small lake.

Wanting to see the dam I read about we planned to hike the trail around the lake which would take us by the waterfall. Knowing that we had to cross the tail waters we were glad to know it was late in the season and thus, less water would be leaving the lake making it (hopefully) easier to cross.

The trail started out along the shoreline of the small lake but began to go deeper into the wood where. Loblolly Pine, Sweetgum and various Oaks and hickories abound. A mile or so along the trail we found the waterfalls. With less water leaving the lake they weren’t as impressive as they would be during the rainy season when more water is let out. However, the CCC creation of the dam was exquisitely designed to look as natural as possible.

We found a way a bit down stream to cross the water without getting wet and were able to continue around the lake on the trail. We crossed through a few acres of American Beech thickets and eventually came upon one of the CCC built bridges. They did amazing work back then. The 2.8 mile hike around the lake was a worthwhile endeavor and one we surely would recommend it.

Being close to Auburn we had to once again visit the University. This too made for a great urban hike to explore the campus and the thriving businesses nearby.

We also got in a nice round of disc golf near Opelika Alabama. We can usually find some nice courses in the east so we are playing as much as we can before we arrive out west where they are a bit scarcer.

Talladega Alabama and Fort Yargo State Park in Georgia…

With a weekend approaching we had to leave Deerlick Park and move on down the road. Since we are booking sites only a few weeks in advance prime locations like Deerlick Park are nearly impossible to score on a weekend. As a result our next planned stop was north of the Talladega Speedway. We found a nice Passport America park off the beaten path and spent the weekend at Talladega Pit Stop RV Park & Campground in Lincoln, AL.

There is not a lot to do or see in or around this park so we we used our time doing a little more future planning. We also drove over to the nearby town of Oxford to pick up some groceries. We shop for groceries frequently to take advantage of loss leaders and to ensure we always have fresh fruits and veggies.

  

The University of Georgia was not as impressive a campus as was the University of Alabama. However, unlike U of A, Georgia’s campus is more land locked by the city of Athens. Unfortunately for us it was raining a lot in the area so we only had time for a short stroll through campus and downtown Athens.

Afterward we had to stop by Terrapin Brewing for happy hour. What luck! They were running a 20-year anniversary special so we were able to try six beers for 10 bucks! This allowed us to try some exotic beers we would otherwise bypass and was a great way to end the day in Athens.

Back at Fort Yargo SP Sharon set up her outside gym in our spacious site for a long workout. While she was working out I unloaded my mountain bike and thought it would be fun to ride the 6 mile trail around the park. I hadn’t ridden any serious single track trails for a while so I figured 6 miles would be a good and fun ride.

Once the weekend ended we moved over to Fort Yargo State Park in the state of Georgia. This park is also off the beaten path but close enough to Athens GA for a day trip to explore the college town and University.

Well, unfortunately I wandered off trail multiple times and encountered such trail segments as Monster Mile and Heart Attack Hill. I bit off a bit more than I had expected but when I was finally done I felt great and really enjoyed the strenuous ride. I probably rode closer to 9 miles and was hopeful I would be sore the next day, luckily I wasn’t.

As we slowly make our way over to North Carolina to visit our daughter we have been carefully eyeing places posing the question, could we live here? So far we haven’t answered yes unanimously...

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…

Went all the way to Alabama to escape Eta!

We thought running from Eta was going to be pretty easy but apparently not. We planned to hang out in Inglis, Florida watching the depression but every time I looked at NOAA’s website the path seemed to be heading toward us.

On a rare sunny day so we drove over to Yankeetown on the gulf and walked some trails in the Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve. We found a nice boardwalk hike which was short, a mile or so, but at least we were excited to sneak in a hike in between showers.

After spending two days Inglis Florida we moved on another 140 miles to Lamont Florida to Stones Throw Away for one night. We stayed just one night because Eta would continue altering our plans as we it seemed we were always in its track.

The next morning we broke camp again and drove another 146 miles to Bass Haven Campground in Funiak Springs, FL way up in the panhandle of Florida hoping we might have found our way out of the the path of Eta. We scored a pull through site at this Passport America park right on the shore of a large pond with a nice water view.

We had rain but enjoyed the non rainy times sitting outside and watching the egrets feeding on small fish. I thought we might stay another day but after checking  NOAA’s website we were still in a slight risk of Eta coming our way.

Moving on we pushed westward  to Wilderness RV, another Passport America park we have stayed at before, in Robertsdale, AL about 106 miles further west. Finally it looked like we are out of the path as Eta which has altered its course to head back into central Florida and not up into the panhandle as had been suggested the day before.

At least here there were occasional non rainy spells so we snuck out for a drove over to one of our favorite Alabama coastal towns, Fairhope and then over to Gulf Shores to check out the beach. We noticed a lot of trees still down from Hurricane Sally which was a reminder about how active this hurricane season has been. It sure was nice to have our bare feet in the squeaky white sand ……

NOTE:  We are currently in Gautier, Mississippi for three nights before heading onward towards Texas…

Quickly Traveling West, Avoiding Storms…

We packed up and left Eastbank Corps of Engineers Park just after 10:00 am and two minutes later we were back in Florida continuing our trek east across the panhandle. Three hours later we were in Alabama and pulled into a park we have stayed before called Wilderness RV Park. It is a no frills spot just fine for a one night stop over.

It was overcast but warm so we drove over to check out the town of Fairhope. We had heard good things about the town so we decided to check it out. It was a quaint little coastal town and we found a city park with a nice pier that we walked to the end of. While exploring the town and while driving through a neighborhood we stumbled upon a Hollywood film crew. A google search revealed it will be a movie called The Best Friend and will star Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson! It will be fun to look for the movie release knowing we were in town while they were filming it. Anyway, we ended our town tour at Fairhope Brewing Company and enjoyed a couple of nice brews.

We drove back to the park and when morning came a cold front was about to come through so we pushed on westward. After several hours we pulled into a park called Mcleod Park Campground in Kiln, MS leaving us on 44 miles from our next stop. We stopped here so we could check out this interesting little county park and since rain was in the forecast, we wanted to be close to our next stop in case the skies were unfriendly to us…

We checked with the attendant who told to pick any empty site then come back and pay. We found a fabulous one right on the water! We backed into the site and paid after setting up. It was overcast and threatening to rain. With the weather being very dicey we decided to spend the day checking out the new casino nearby.

As with most casinos the Scarlet Pearl Casino offered us $10. free play as new members. Not only that but we were also told we could have a free lunch buffet if we wanted but we had to hurry before it closed. Hurry, we did! The normally $19.95 per person buffet was really good and included items such as stuffed flounder, boiled shrimp, boiled clams, fried shrimp, roasted turkey and much much more…

Needless to say we overate and then we remembered dessert!!! We rarely eat dessert but had to check out what they had. Wow, big mistake as we got a huge plate of tantalizing desserts and ate even more before we left. We rarely eat at buffets for the simple reason that we typical eat way too much but we would highly recommend this buffet if you like this sort of thing.

We gambled with our free play on their video poker machines and left with a little over $20. It was a great day at the casino for us… Our next stop will be at Fontaineblue State Park in Louisiana.

NOTE: We are now at Betty’s RV park for a month before continuing on toward Texas…