Day 36: Four states in one day.

Today was a travel day. And not just any travel day. Today we  are going to be in four different states. Louisiana –> Mississippi –> Alabama –> Florida.

We had a bit a late start though. We HAD to find a Taco Bell so we could try their new Pacific Shrimp tacos. Great success! And Dan had to put our spare tire on. I guess somewhere along the way, we got a bald spot on one of our tires thanks to our sucky brake controller. That spare is ugggggggggly. We really need to upgrade that piece soon. And get that bald tire fixed too.

Before we knew it, we left Louisiana a.k.a “The worst roads in the US… yes even worse than in Los Angeles” and crossed over to Mississippi, the self-proclaimed birthplace of America’s music. Really? So I wiki’d it and found that it just might be the birthplace after all. I found out that Mississippi is where the Blues, Rock ’n Roll and Country music were born. From blues legends Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and B.B. King to the King of Rock ’n Roll, Elvis Presley, to the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers. But I think it should be called “Birthplace of America’s Music and Oprah!” Sounds much better to me. And I also found out that Mississippi is ranked worst in the country for picking up their roadside litter. I didn’t notice any litter off of the highway but I did notice people pulled over randomly off of the freeway. At first I thought there were lots of  broken down cars in this state but then I saw a dude dressed from head to toe in camouflage. Hmmmm. I think we will just drive right on thru, Mississippi. Nice seeing ya!

The kids did great in the car. Ava is content watching her little DVD player. And Mila is actually handling the car rides in the daytime a lot better. Maybe it has something to do with her advances (deliberate grabbing and sitting) combined with the slew of toys she can now interact with while in her car seat.  So after a bunch of miles under our belt, it was time to visit state #3 of the day. Alabama, the beautiful.

We decided to make Mobile, Alabama as our stop of the day. The Battleship Memorial Park to be exact. It’s actually our third day this week doing World War II stuff but I couldn’t find anything else on the way… so war stuff it is.

The warship here is the USS Alabama. Duh! But did you know how awesome this thing is? The USS Alabama saw 37 months of active duty during World War II, earning nine Battle Stars. The “Mighty A” as she came to be known, safely carried her crew throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean campaigns, and NEVER suffered any casualties or significant damage due to enemy fire.

As soon as we got on the ship, Dan pretended to shoot down enemy planes… with his purse man-bag in tow.

Then we were able to go onto the ship and were greeted by Captain Ava. Welcome aboard!!

You get to explore all the rooms of the USS Alabama on your own. Most of the rooms have props that allow you to get a better sense of how things looked during the war.

There were tons of memorabilia there too. Like this tattered 48 state American Flag.

They had a huge hanger filled with old planes and helicopters too. The damage suffered at the hands of Hurricane Katrina were pretty devastating but they did a great job with repairing these antiques.

There were lots of ooh’s and ahh’s from Dan. He could probably tell you something awesome about this plane but since today is my post day, all you are going to get is this… Look at this plane. The wings fold up!

But I did read the plaque about this guy. It’s an A-12. And it is literally faster than a speeding bullet. This sucker can fly 3800 feet per second.

The Battleship Memorial Park also houses a submarine. The USS Drum is the oldest American submarine on display in the world.

You get to walk through all the rooms of this thing too. But it’s even better for the kids because nothing is roped off. I’m not sure if that means you can climb up on things but we did. Here are the bunk beds, or as Ava calls them, up-and-down beds.

And here are Mila and I squeezing through the tiny doors of the sub.

And inspecting the engine rooms.

Check this out! A replica of one of the first submarines ever made.

And tanks galore.

Bye USS Alabama.

Thanks for kicking ass during the war!

Then it was off to find a place to eat some dinner. Driving through one of the tree-lined main streets in Mobile, we got to see beautiful home after beautiful home. Reminding me of some of the houses we saw in New Orleans’ Garden District but with a small town feel. It also feels like we are going to see Forrest Gump’s house any second too. I need to figure out where that movie was filmed.

We actually found parking a block and a half from the popular Dauphin Street and began our search for dinner.

We ended up at Heroes Sports Bar & Grille. The food is soooo good here. Dan ordered a burger and I ordered a pulled pork sandwich. Sooo good. Give it a try if you are in town. There was also a little old lady that sat next to us. She asked us which church we belong to. I told her that we were not from Mobile but were only passing through. She must of thought we were homeless or something because after dinner, she stopped by our table, wished us luck and tried to slip me $2. Oh boy. Maybe we should have showered today! Hehe.

Ava has been complaining of having “tired legs” when we walk around town. But if you ask her if she can run, she always says yes. Not sure what that is about. But this is how she gets a lift these days. On Dada’s shoulders. On the way back to the Airstream, Ava started to stare at a closed down restaurant. She told us all about how there is a party going on in there… with lots of people and kids…

…but when we looked in the restaurant, there wasn’t a person in sight. OUR LITTLE GHOST HUNTER IS BACK!! Yeah!!!!

The kids were then put into their pajamas as we hit the road again. Next stop Florida! This is the state line picture. Trust me. I worked hard to get this black picture. Hehe. It’s my best one yet 😉

the end,

marlene