I left Manatee Springs this morning for a drive up and around the panhandle of Florida. It was a pleasant drive over non-interstate highway, but mostly 4 lane road. The scenery was quite varied between residential, commercial and forested. I had planned to go to Carrabelle Beach near Apalachicola. I found myself arriving there around 2:00. Since I had a reservation there, I decided to go ahead and spend the night there. The campground is right on the Gulf of Mexico, so I walked up and down the beach enjoying the view. Went back to the campground and used the modem connection at the office and then did some laundry. I turned in fairly early tonight.
My original plan was to drive to Destin Florida today, but after seeing how early I got to Carabelle Beach, I thought I might just push on to Pensacola. I thought I would just go by the Good Sam mail office in Pensacola and pick up my mail. I called them and they said they were open until 5:00. I stopped for some groceries and got in some pretty heavy traffic and I thought I was not going to make it in time. I had a little trouble finding the place, but I made it right at 5:00. I gained an hour along the way because I am now in the central time zone. After picking up my mail, I decided to push on to the I-10 campground near Mobile, Alabama. It was only about an hours drive from Pensacola. I checked in at the campground which is near Bellingrath Gardens. I saw that there was a Greyhound track nearby, so I went to the dog races. I bet on three races and hit one of them for $3.20. Total evening cost 9.80.
Another beautiful day in paradise. Paradise it seems includes Alabama. I drove the 10 miles or so to Bellingrath Gardens. This is the home Walter and Bessie Bellingrath, who had the Coca-Cola franchise for Mobile, Alabama and 100 miles radius of Mobile. He made millions from this and built this mansion and beautiful gardens. His wife was an avid collector and the home is filled with antiques and lots of other works of fine art. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and the tour of the home was fascinating. There were lots of Coca-Cola memorabilia and awards that Mr. Bellingrath received including a large silver cup presented to him by Coca-Cola for selling one million gallons of Coke syrup. WOW! He even has me beat. I figure that I have drunk only about 15,000 gallons of Coke in my lifetime. My ticket to the home and gardens also included a 45 minute cruise along the Fowl River estuary. This was very scenic and among Mr. Bellingrath’s neighbors was one of the founders of the McDonald’s chain. The cruise included a very good narrative of the ecological and historical details of the area.
After I finished touring this place, I decided to take a drive down to Dauphin Island. I had originally planned to come into this area by ferry from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island, but because of the stop in Pensacola, I changed my mind on that one. The drive over the three and a half mile bridge to the island was enjoyable, but I was a little disappointed with the island itself. It was strictly residential and had no facilities for day visitors. I left after driving completely around the island and returned to my campground, with a short stop for dinner at a local shopping center.
Another gorgeous day in paradise. I back tracked about 10 miles back into Mobile to see the USS Alabama memorial. In addition to the 680 foot Battleship Alabama, they also had the USS Drum, which is a submarine that was decommissioned in the late 50s and sent to the Washington Navy Yard, where, when I was in the Marine Corps Reserve, we used to practice our band music in one of the larger rooms. As I toured the sub, I could not recognize any part of her. The largest room that I saw did not look big enough to hold the band that I remembered. Of course all of this was about 40 years ago. The Drum was dry-docked and it was interesting to see how the metal was rusting away on her. Nothing lasts forever! There were quite a number of other military displays including an impressive VietNam and Korean War memorial. They had a large hangar with many vintage planes and other vehicles and an outdoor display with tanks and other vehicles. I really enjoyed this visit. I toured every part of the battleship. By the time I finished the tours, I was starved, so I went back to the Princess and fixed myself a sandwich and had a coke. I figured that I could drive down to the Mississippi Riviera, that portion of the Mississippi Gulf coast where the casinos are, namely the towns of Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis. I passed several of the casinos until I got to Treasure Bay in Biloxi. I saw several RVs parked on a spit of land jutting out along the casino. I pulled in and talked to several of the people there and found that it was free camping. No hookups, but who needs hookups anyway. I didn’t even need my generator. The breeze coming in from the gulf was my air conditioning. I went over to the casino, had an excellent dinner at their buffet and then played slots for about an hour. I lost $20 and called it a night. I did stop on the way out at a little lounge where there was a great Motown group singing and playing. I had a drink there until they stopped for a break, then I went back to the RV. I enjoyed a good night’s sleep with the windows open and the sound of the surf putting me to sleep.
Woke up this morning to the sound of crashing surf. There were probably 10 other RVs parked by the waters edge as I was. After a short walk on the beach, I pulled up stakes and began heading West on US90. I stopped at Beauvoir, the home and Presidential Library of Jefferson Davis. I was surprised at what an elaborate memorial this was. I was also surprised at the number of people there. There were several bus loads of school kids and many cars and RVs in the lot. It seems that Jeff Davis’s home was used as an old soldier’s home after the civil war and continued to serve that purpose until the 1940s when the last of the confederate veterans died. There is a confederate cemetery there and a “tomb of the unknown soldier”. It was quite interesting. After I left there, I headed west into Louisiana. I stopped at the Louisiana visitor’s center, of course. From there I called ahead to reserve a campsite. I found that there was a Jazz-fest going on and everything was pretty booked up, but I finally got a place called Parc d’Orleans which was pretty close to town. After setting up, I took a local city bus for 1.50 that took me right down to Jackson Square in the center of the French Quarter. The cathedral was closed so I’ll have to do that tomorrow. So I walked all over the French Quarter, up to Bourbon Street, down to Canal Street, back to Royal Street and then back toward Jackson Square. I saw a restaurant that I heard discussed at Bellingham gardens in Mobile. They talked about Brennan’s of New Orleans. I checked the menu and it looked so good that I went in and had a very good Shrimp Sardou, with Oyster soup, salad and Chocolate Pecan Pie, all for $38. After that I walked back to Jackson square and caught a seat on a tour of the quarter. It was pretty nice except for a couple of local kids who were on the tour but talked among themselves the whole time. After that 30 minute tour, I walked along the “Riverwalk” down to Harrah’s casino. I went in and walked all over the place but I didn’t gamble any. By this time I was getting pretty tired, so I decided to take a cab back to the campground. Some guy at the campground told me that a cab from the French Quarter to the campground was only $8.00. Mine was $20.
Somewhat of a repeat of yesterday. I took the city bus from the campground into the French Quarter this afternoon. Slept in a little late as usual. First thing I did was to go to St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square. It was closed yesterday and, although I’ve seen it many times before, I wanted desperately to go back. There is a plaque in the back of the church that says:
In Memory of
Don Francisco Bouligny
born alicante, spain, september 4, 1736
commanding officer of louisiana regiment
acting governor of louisiana
died new orleans, la., november 25, 1800
buried in this cathedral on the same day
The cathedral has been recently renovated and it is absolutely beautiful inside. They are still working on the outside. After that I went to Café du Monde, the famous coffee house. I ordered a coke and some beignets. What the heck, it was on the menu. From there I walked up to Canal Street and caught the old St. Charles street streetcar and rode from one end of the line to the other. I pretty good tour of New Orleans for 1.25. The round trip took one and a half hours. After that I strolled down wild Bourbon Street. Stopped a couple of times along the way, finally stopping at the oldest tavern in New Orleans, Lafitte’s Blacksmith shop. The place is dark and lit by candlelight only. They had a really good blues singer there, so I stayed for quite a while and enjoyed the scenery and sounds. I left around 10:00 and walked down the street and into a Greek restaurant called Mr. Gyros and got a shish-kabob dinner. After that I was ready to turn in. I took a taxi back to the campground. Ended up talking with one of my neighbors until 1:00 AM.
Despite the late hour last night, I was up fairly early. That usually happens on the days that I am traveling. Left the campground around 9:00 and drove through the city of New Orleans and into the suburb of Metairie. I wanted to go to the cemetery where my parents are buried. It is called the “Garden of Memories”. My mother passed away in 1972 at the age of 69 and my father passed away 10 years later in 1982 at the age of 79. I remembered where there grave was. My recollection was that the cemetery was going to be difficult to bring the RV into, so I planned to park outside. I was surprised to find that they had made a lot of improvements and I was able to drive right through the gate. Since I was last there in 1995, they built a beautiful chapel and mausoleum very near their grave. I also found my father’s parents who are buried very nearby.
When I left the cemetery, I drove across the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge. I love this bridge. It crosses 24 miles of water. It is the longest bridge that I know of. It is longer than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel at Norfolk. When you are at the center of this bridge, 12 miles from either shore, you can see nothing but water. No land is visible in any direction. I was surprised to find that the toll had been lifted. The bridge was free!
After crossing the bridge, I took I-12 West through Baton Rouge and on to Lafayette, then down to New Iberia. Don Francisco Bouligny, mentioned above, founded this town. I’ve been here before, but I was anxious to return. Avery Island, the home of Tobasco sauce is also nearby. Tomorrow I plan to go to Avery Island and see more of New Iberia.
This is the end of week five. After I leave New Iberia, I will be going into Texas. Sure is hot here, but I love it, even though the dash air conditioner doesn’t work, I have been driving with the generator running and the house a/c on.