Alabama, Gulf Shores - Monday, May 13, 2019 - Naval Air Museum

We drove about an hour to Pensacola, FL to visit the Naval Air Museum.  This is a return trip for us, we didn’t see all we wanted to the last time.  Be sure to take ID’s for everyone in the car.  No backpacks are allowed.

Great views of the Gulf along the drive.

A lot of painstaking work and attention to detail has gone into the exhibits here.

The model battleships were full of detail but didn’t photograph well because they are encased in glass that reflects back at you.

A nice reference library and art exhibits.

In 2011 the museum staff and volunteers completed a 13 year restoration on the PB2Y Coronado flying boat.  On Christmas Eve 1941 it flew Admiral Chester Nimitz from San Diego to Hawaii to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The 1941 town recreation is one of my favorites.

This facility is the home of the Blue Angels.  The small selection of pictures of the restored planes here that I have posted doesn't do justice to the numerous exhibits available.  I think this is the best aviation museum we have toured.

We had lunch at the Cubi Bar Café.  When the original Cubi Point Officer’s Club in the Republic of the Philippines closed in 1992, thousands of original squadron plaques were shipped to Pensacola.  The Cubi Bar Café opened in 1996 as a replica of the officer’s club.

Alabama, Gulf Shores - Friday, May 10, 2019 - Headed to Gulf Shores & Lulu's

We are headed to Gulf Shores, AL for a couple of days

Magnolia trees are in bloom.  Their leathery looking leaves really shine in the sun.

Lots of water before we get there.

Ft. Morgan Road.  This view was a lot different two days later after it was hit by 70-80 mph winds.  Branches and trees were down everywhere.

We will be staying at Island Retreat RV Park on Fort Morgan Road until Tuesday.  

The place on the left of the water is Lulu’s Restaurant.  It’s owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister, Lucy.

Outside seating overlooks the water.  Wind is strong today so we are sitting inside.  A garage type door comes down and covers this opening if the weather gets bad.

We split fried green tomatoes and a crab melt sandwich.  These tomatoes come in a close second to the one’s we like in Vicksburg, MS.

Lulu’s restaurant is just part of the Lulu’s recreational compound.

This walking/bike path runs all along Fort Morgan Road – very nice.

This pier is just a short walk from the RV Park.

Alabama, Talladega - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - Talladega Creekside

We left Vicksburg Monday morning and spent the evening in a small country campground in Marion, Mississippi just outside of Meridian.  Benchmark Coach & RV Park is a quiet park with full hookups for $19.25 for one night on Passport America if you can pay cash and a reservation is needed.  Nothing fancy but we would probably stop there again for an overnight pass through.

Storm clouds were rolling in as we left Mississippi.  However, they didn’t cause us any problems.

This did.

The irony of this situation is we ordered two new steer tires and they were waiting for us in Birmingham, Alabama.  On the way to get the new tires the passenger side steer tire blew.  It was a couple of uncomfortable minutes as Greg brought the coach to a controlled stop off I-20 eastbound.  No damage was done to the side of the coach other than a few paint chips.  However, flying debris did rip out the electrical wiring for the panel next to my chair which controls the outside awnings, the outside step, a few lights inside and my chair which is stuck in a reclining position at the moment making it a little difficult to get out the door but we can both make it.  Thankfully no air lines were damaged.

Greg called Good Sam Roadside Assistance and they found a tire and someone to come out and mount it from back in Meridian, MS.  Three hours and $1100 later we were on the road headed to Birmingham to get the other tire.

Everything we absolutely need is working.  We are at another Passport America park for the night.  Full hook-ups at Talladega Creekside is just $15 a night cash.  It’s a quiet park, nothing wrong with it, but really small.  Although there are a couple of other big rigs here I’m not sure we would ever make the trip back unless we plan on going to the Talladega Raceway.

We’ll be headed to Greenville, SC tomorrow where we’ll find a place to stay for a couple of days.  Greg will spend some time then working on the outside step and my chair.  Since everything we really need seems to be working just fine we might wait until we get back to Indiana to get the wiring fixed.

Alabama, Mobile - Wednesday, December 3, 2013 - USS Alabama Memorial Park

On Sunday we headed to back Gulfport, MS to spend the night at the RV repair shop so we would be there first thing Monday morning when our refrigerator part was supposed to arrive.

Going through Mobile we had to go through this tunnel.  Can you see why I hate taking the RV through here?  It definitely looks like it won’t fit.

 

Monday morning we were there, but the part wasn’t.  The truck that was supposed to be delivering it to a warehouse in Mobile hadn’t shown up yet.  It was scheduled to be there last Wednesday.  So, we stayed the night hoping Tuesday would be better.

Tuesday morning the truck showed up, but the part wasn’t on it.  That meant we would have to order it again and wait another 6-10 days to see if it showed up.  Nope, that wasn’t going to happen.  Since we were scheduled to be in Jacksonville, FL for a couple of weeks starting December 10 we decided to find an RV repair service in Jacksonville and start the process over from there.

After leaving Gulfport heading east we decided to stop at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.  The USS Alabama was in service during WWII.  It was commissioned August, 1942 and decommissioned January, 1947.  Sister ships of the USS Alabama were Massachusetts, Indiana and South Dakota.

 

A lot of work has been done by volunteers to preserve this battleship and to give an accurate portrayal of the life of the sailors who lived and worked here.

Our tour started here, down some really steep steps.

 

 

This is the view the Captain had from the navigating bridge.  Hopefully, the Captain was taller than me so he didn’t have to hold his camera over the edge of the wall to see what was below.

The Captain’s Quarters and the Captain’s Table were near the navigating bridge so the Captain could keep track of what was going on, day and night.

 

 

 

Lots of areas took care of the daily needs of the sailors.  The mess hall was important.

 

The tailor

 

The brig

Each of the enlisted men was assigned a swinging bunk.

and a small locker.  They had to store their clothes and any small personal items here.

The officers’ quarters were a bit nicer.

These guns are huge. 

I thought this was interesting.  The “talker” (the guy with the megaphone) receives information on sight deflection and angle from someone.  The “talker” then transmits this information to the sight setters for the guns.  It’s a wonder they ever hit anything.

 

 

In addition to the USS Alabama they have a submarine USS Drum on display along with several aircraft we didn’t have time to explore.  We did walk through the Aircraft Pavilion.  This POW/MIA memorial stood just outside the Aircraft Pavilion. 

Inside a POW camp was recreated based on stories from former POWs from the Vietnam conflict.  There was a story on the wall that told that on December 24, 1972 the North Vietnam guards gave socks to the prisoners.  This was a first.  The POWs fashioned a crude Christmas tree from the socks.  Since the guards didn’t seem to mind the Christmas tree, the POWs went one step further and made ornaments out of toilet paper.  They made handmade Christmas cards to give each other and exchanged gifts written on paper.  They made good on these gifts, presenting them to each other on Christmas of 1973.  In 1972 they didn’t’ know that it would be their last Christmas in captivity.

Last night we stayed at a small campground in Milton, FL and headed out early this morning for about six hours of driving to get to Jacksonville.

This afternoon we got checked in at Rivers RV Repair in Jacksonville.  We are spending the night at their facility so the service tech can look at our fridge tomorrow.  Once we find out what they diagnose, we’ll call the campground we are scheduled into on the 10^th to see if we can get in early to sit and wait on parts.