Alabama 2000
As a child, I had some weird fascination with Alabama; perhaps stemming from the old classic song “I’m headin’ to Alabama with a banjo on my knee”. I remember on one family trip begging that we keep driving so we could stay in Alabama. We did and ended up at a dump but it was a motel in Alabama. A more enduring impression came from a visit to the retired WWII battleship USS Alabama in Mobile.
Mango was one of our favorite restaurant experiences in Orange Beach. The night that we were there, they had a piano player and it was a very casual but classic experience.
Stopping to visit Carol’s sister gave us a chance to experience small town southern life with a twist. Nearly everyone in their town is a transplant, mostly military. Many are St. Louis natives that moved when their military jobs moved.
Alabama holds many, many pieces of history in terms of the Civil Rights movement. There were marches, sit-ins, protests, murders, and more in this state. Mobile is the hometown to five baseball Hall of Fame members, Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige, and Ozzie Smith. . Only New York and Chicago have more Hall of Fame players.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/
http://www.alapine.org/
http://townofdauphinisland.org/
Touring that battleship and the retired submarine, the USS Drum left such an impression that it was merely a twist of fate that I didn’t join the Navy.
So it was no wonder that one of our first trips as a couple took Carol and I to Alabama. We did have another motive; her sister lives in a small town near Huntsville Alabama. We drove down I-55 through Mississippi and then hit Gulfport.
So it was no wonder that one of our first trips as a couple took Carol and I to Alabama. We did have another motive; her sister lives in a small town near Huntsville Alabama. We drove down I-55 through Mississippi and then hit Gulfport.
From there, we drove to Mobile and I saw the battleship and submarine from an adult point of view. A lot of things had changed my opinion of the gallantry of war. But it still held a lot of power for me and it meant a lot to take her to a place with such memories. We also made a stop at Bellingrath Gardens so it wasn't all about war and machinery.
We spent another 5 days staying in Orange Beach at a wonderful hotel, the Island House Hotel. We were in room 912, which had an exquisite view of the ocean. Orange Beach is the adult/upscale version of Gulf Shores. We played golf, ate seafood, and relaxed at the beach. We took a few excursions into Florida, especially to Navarre Beach. We were lounging on the beach when we noticed this very large fish swimming under two rafts that held some sleeping sunbathers. The more we looked at the big fish, the more it resembled the big fish in Jaws. The next morning, warning flags were flying at Orange Beach and we heard on the news that there had been a shark attack in neighboring Gulf Shores. We stayed out of the water after that.
We spent another 5 days staying in Orange Beach at a wonderful hotel, the Island House Hotel. We were in room 912, which had an exquisite view of the ocean. Orange Beach is the adult/upscale version of Gulf Shores. We played golf, ate seafood, and relaxed at the beach. We took a few excursions into Florida, especially to Navarre Beach. We were lounging on the beach when we noticed this very large fish swimming under two rafts that held some sleeping sunbathers. The more we looked at the big fish, the more it resembled the big fish in Jaws. The next morning, warning flags were flying at Orange Beach and we heard on the news that there had been a shark attack in neighboring Gulf Shores. We stayed out of the water after that.
Mango was one of our favorite restaurant experiences in Orange Beach. The night that we were there, they had a piano player and it was a very casual but classic experience.
Stopping to visit Carol’s sister gave us a chance to experience small town southern life with a twist. Nearly everyone in their town is a transplant, mostly military. Many are St. Louis natives that moved when their military jobs moved.
Alabama holds many, many pieces of history in terms of the Civil Rights movement. There were marches, sit-ins, protests, murders, and more in this state. Mobile is the hometown to five baseball Hall of Fame members, Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige, and Ozzie Smith. . Only New York and Chicago have more Hall of Fame players.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/
http://www.alapine.org/
http://townofdauphinisland.org/
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