Almost two weeks ago, Wednesday, and Thursday we drove to New Orleans to do day visits. It was about an hour away from Buckaneer state park. Wednesday we visited the massive World War II museum, and Thursday we took a guided day tour of historic downtown. Our first rtop each morning was at a place to drop Cooper off for day care, which was about 4 miles from the center of town. Since I did not know the area, we parked in a Walgreens parking lot and got a Lyft taxi. This was the first time I used anything like this, but both days we had fine experiances with the drivers. It was about $15.00 each way for the ride.Will begin with the World War II museum.

 

WORLD WAR II MUSEUM.

We got there just after it opened at 9, more people were there than I thought, given the virus situation . The museum has five massive buildings all connected by covered walkways. The museum is about most everything on the war, the Homefront, merchant marine, European and Pacific theatres of war. The place was pretty awesome. We have been to a lot of WWII type museums and we knew a lot about different things. It still was very impressive, and we spent almost the entire day there.

A typical 1940’s kitchen and house were set up.

When you walked into different areas, they had them decked out in different themes, like jungle, beach, winter, etc.

Here were videos of landing barges getting loaded.

Aircraft carrier operations videos.

Artillery duels.,

Many, many exhibits were around like the one above and below. I never could have done what the guy below did.

The last building we saw was where the aircraft were. These are not models but actual aircraft. This building was huge and seeing planes displayed up in the air was pretty neat.

I need one of these jeeps with the bazooka on it to blow some stuff up.

We then went to lunch at the restaurant inside the museum. It was very good food.

She is so pretty when she is hungry.

I did not take a lot of photos here. It was just to much information going on ,and this post would have been way to long. The museum is a great tribute to all who lived in those times, most of whom are now in the hands of god.

 

 

Our 2nd Day in “N’awlins”

Me & Dave and our tour group met with our guide Rene, who was a terrific guide. He lived in New Orleans most of his life and was very well educated on not only all the history about the city but all the cultures and languages of what makes New Orleans.

This is our tour “in a Nutshell”

This New Orleans Day Tour packs all the essential sights and experiences of the city into eight hours. Taste fresh pralines and step inside a Garden District mansion; a time capsule of the Old South, explore the French Quarter and Jackson Square and hear spooky stories in one of the city’s most haunted building. End your day with a beignet and incredible views of the mighty Mississippi river. If you only have a limited time in New Orleans, this is a great way to see it all.      

 

Our first stop was at Aunt Sally’s a historic praline maker.  The French settlers brought the praline recipe to Louisiana.  A praline is made up of  nuts, original recipe is pecans, white and brown sugar, baking soda, light cream, butter and brandy or vanilla.

 

   

 

    

We got to see how they were made and got some free samples of  different kinds and flavors they made.  The pralines were delicious.  They even gave us a sample to take home.   What a great way to start off the day!

 

Next we took a street car to the Garden District.  We walked along the streets of The Garden District which has big oak trees lined with assorted homes and huge pre civil war mansions.

 

 

 

When they planted the trees along in the streets, there wasn’t all the concrete and stone. Since the roots couldn’t go into the ground,  they stayed above ground and spread, as you can see below.

 

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One of our stops on the way was” The house of Broel.  It is a historical mansion housing antiques & a museum of intricate dollhouses made by owner Bonnie Broel.  The owner is a noted tailor.  She designs mostly wedding gowns that are gorgeous but not anywhere near what the average person can pay for a dress.  We couldn’t enter because it was by appointment only.

Dave was trying to get in but they locked the gate when they saw him.

 

It’s all about Iron

Like many old historical cities we’ve been to, it’s about showing off your wealth.  They did it by purchasing huge plots of land that cover 3 city blocks.  Then to separate their property they put up Iron Fences. Here are some in NOLA.

 

Our guide told us these blocks you see in front of the mansions were put there so ladies could get down from their carriages and step on these blocks without showing their ankels.  It was a No No back then.

The Elms Mansion is now an establishment to have a lavish party, mostly wedding.  It would be a great place to have a wedding reception, but as our guide mentioned, ” if you have money to spare have your gown made at The House of Broel and have the reception here.  Why not!   Pictures of outside and inside the Elms.

The room where Dave is sitting is called the “Suitors Room” it’s located right inside the bar room.  Right behind him is a window that looks into the parlor.  It had to remain open when there was a young lady and man in there.  No showing your ankles off in here either.

Our guide told us the above candle holder was once painted brown and upon a really good cleaning someone found out that under the brown paint it was all pure gold. I think there are at least 4 more in the room that are pure gold.

The wallpaper above is hand painted.  Our guide mentioned that when Michelle Obama visited the mansion she like the wallpaper so much a copy of it is now in the white house.

The Garden District is also the Mardi Gras parade route.  There are signs of Mardi Gras all around, as they say it never ends in New Orleans.

Shotgun houses, New Orleans is famous for them

Generally a shotgun house is defined as a raised, single-story rectangular home with a narrow frontage—typically less than 12 feet wide—and no hallway. Tall-ceilinged rooms open onto one another from front to back, allowing for maximum ventilation in a hot, humid climate

Why is it called a shotgun house ?  The explanation is that if you fire a gun through the front door, the bullet will go right out the back.

 

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Another stop located in what now is the heart of the Garden District, between Washington, Sixth, Prytania, and Coliseum streets, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans. It is a non-segregated, non-denominational cemetery. There are immigrants from over 25 different countries and natives of 26 states.

 

 

It’s closed now for repairs, you can see it by appointment or by a tour. I bet a ghost tour comes here.

It’s time for Lunch !

Our stop was The Reconcile Café is a non-profit restaurant.  It was founded by Craig Cuccia and Rev. Harry Thompson.  It provides culinary and life skills training for at risk youth.  Letting them enter the hospitality and entertainment industry of New Orleans. We both had catfish of some sort and it was really good!

 

 

Bevolo started making gas & electric lanterns in the French Quarter in 1945 and they still do today.  We stopped in briefly and took a short tour.  I didn’t need to see the place but I’m sure they wanted to see us buying one of their lanterns.

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Street Entertainment – The lady in the pink shirt sang and played the clarinet wonderfully!  She is at the same corner everyday and draws a huge crowd.

Next stop Mardi Gras Museum

 

 

These are just a few of the lavish costumes they hand-made about 100 years for the Mardi Gras Parades.

Haunted Restaurant – Muriel’s Jackson Square in the French Quarter

 

 

  

Muriel’s is a huge restaurant that was once a mansion/ plantation.  Our guide told us the owner, Pierre Antoine, who was extremely wealthy, to say the least, was a big time gambler.  So much that he lost his mansion in a card game.  He was in such misery he shot himself in the séance room, where Dave is standing.  His ghost was so upset that when it became a restaurant he kept knocking on walls and moving things around.  To make him calm down a bit, they added this table so he can dine with a guest and it seems as though he has quieted down.

The sign on his dinner table reads  “Muriel’s Jackson Square, This table is reserved for resident friendly ghost Pierre Antoine.  Please take a look at our séance lounge located on the second floor.

 

 

Another Snack !

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. It is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar.

We got there at a good time, after we sat down there was a very long line.  It was good and one of the things you have to try when your in NOLA, but being from the Buffalo NY area I would choose a Paula’s donut instead of a Beignet anytime.

End of our tour

We ended the tour in front of St. Louis Cathedral looking out at the Mississippi River.

We had fun and learned a lot in our 2 day venture to N’Awlins. I’m glad I went, another thing off the bucket list, but it was just an O.K. city.  I don’t need to go back unless I just happen to be in the area and it’s night time then I’ll try Bourbon Street at night.

 

 

 

We are now in Vicksburg, drove 56 miles today from Natchez to Vicksburg, we are now staying at Rivertown Rv resort for 3 weeks. This was not one of our planned stops, but with all the closures in Arkansas, we had no choice. We decided to come up here because it is, for one not a state park, which seem to be closing all the time, two it is still warm here and three, Vicksburg is a very historic civil war area, so I am in heaven. What is open right now is another story, but we will see.

The campground seems to be very nice with over 100 pull thru’s, a pool, laundry and all that. There are more people here than I would of thought, the office said usually not full at all, but to me it is pretty full. Pics below are of our spot here.

Today, we should have moved on to LaFleuar’s State park near Jackson Mississippi (which is the capital) for 9 days, but last Monday got a call from them telling me the state park was closed due to Flooding of all things. With that we have extended our stay here at Natchez State park until the 25th, and reserved Rivertown Rose campground(a private park) near Vicksburg, for 5 days till the 29th. This would have put us back on track to get into Arkansas, to visit Crater of Diamonds state park, and Hot Springs national park. That has now also changed. Crater of Diamonds, where you can hunt for real diamonds in there 40 acre plowed field, has now closed the visitor center and the diamond field to hunting. The park is open but nothing to do. At Hot Springs they have closed all the visitor centers, bathhouses, and changing house to go to the springs. So, wooooes me, what to do.

SO, We rented this island for a month, they ferry your Rv over and there you are out of it all.

JUST KIDDING,

We are just going to stay longer at Rivertown Rose,(hopefully) near Vicksburg. Couple of reasons, one, its warm here, further up north we go it gets cold. It is in the 70’s here and is going to be for a while. Second, I guess we just need to sit tight for a while and see what plays out with the virus deal. We still have plans to get to Memphis, Corinth, Huntsville, Chattanooga, and the Smokies before heading back north. Things could change any minute but for now just taking it one day at a time. Plus we have plenty of toilet paper.

This post has been two weeks in the making, just to much to say, I finally have it done. While in Gulf Shores we went here.

Sunday we took a ride to Mobile Alabama, about an hour or so from where we are. We went to Battleship park, which is right on Mobile Bay. Anchored there and on display is the U. S. S. Alabama “The Mighty A”. A World War II battleship. also there is the submarine Drum, and some vintage aircraft from the war. I have been in a submarine before, when I went to Hawaii in the 80’s, but that was small compared to the Drum, which is a first class attack sub. We have never been in battleship or anything close to it.

We decide to tour the Drum first. Walking up the walkway we both noticed two things, it was way bigger than I ever thought it would be and second, we noticed a man in a wheelchair being pushed up to the stairway by two ladies. At first we didn’t think much about that, it was all about the sub.

THE U.S.S. DRUM

 

The U.S.S. Drum , an attack sub, it’s only job was to search out and destroy enemy war ships and shipping. These subs were the main workhorses in the Pacific. The Drum started service in 1941, and over the war earned 12 battle stars. She is just over 311 feet long, 27 feet wide and weighs about 1,526 tons. The crew consisted of 7 officers and 65 enlisted men. In World War II you volunteered for sub service, no thanks I would say. Sub service then was 90 day missions, with return to base and refit and go out again. During the war 216 subs were in service. 52 never came back. That’s about 20 percent losses, no thanks. Most of these subs carried 24 torpedoes. There are six forward torpedo tubes, and four rear tubes, all loaded in there tubes when they sail. The remaining  12 torpedoes stored half in front and half in back. We entered the front part of the sub first, which is the forward torpedo room. You then meander through one long narrow hallway to the back of the ship to the rear torpedo room. You can also climb up to the conning tower, which we did, to see the periscope room. You notice right away all the switches, valves, knobs, gages all over the place, all serving a purpose. There are only a few rooms with doors, for the officers and captain, the crew sleeps all over the rest of the sub, in open bunks.

This sub was in 14 war patrols, each were 90 days or longer. One patrol it was depth charged by a Jap cruiser for 20 hours. No thank you.

It took about an hour to tour the sub, we then made our way to the Alabama.

Forward torpedo room

One of the many watertight hatches we went through

Main control room, the ladder to the right center of the picture takes you to the second level where the periscope room is.

Periscope room, very small, but this is where the action was when the captain was ready to fire at enemy ships. The periscope is the bronze cylinder in the middle. The arms have been removed.

This is one of the bunk bays. Crew members shared a bunk when on a patrol.Crew worked 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Not even ten feet wide in here.

This is an engine piston over two feet long.

This is how the ship moved, levels we moved to make the sub go forward, back sideways and all that. Damn the torpedoes I say.

Rear torpedo room. It was very cramped in here.

Solid brass propeller nut to secure the shaft to the boat. Weighs 95 pounds and is about 16 inchs round. It is stamped U.S.S. DURM by mistake.

20 MM Anti aircraft gun

During the war the Drum also had a mascot.

Earlier I mentioned that an older gentleman was coming aboard. While we were still in the forward torpedo room, he came down the ladder, helped by the two ladies I mentioned before. A minute later I noticed his hat and asked him if he was on a sub like this. His Answer was YES, the Redfin. The Redfin was also an attack sub,  same as the Drum. He served two years on it during the war, as the radio operator. This was the first time he had been back on a sub since the war. We talked a little about his service on the Redfin. He is 95 now. It was quite the honor to meet him, and really made our day.

 

THE U.S.S. ALABAMA “THE MIGHTY A”

Walking to the Alabama ramp, my mouth kept gaping open. The ship kept getting bigger and bigger. Holy moley a monster of a ship. 680 feet long, 108 feet wide,194 feet tall draft in the water 33 feet. Crew of 127 officers, and 2,205 enlisted men, but during missions about 2,500 men total. weighing 35,000 tons, but when loaded for sea battle 45,000 tons. Armed with nine 16 inch guns in three turrets, accurate to 21 miles. Twenty 5 inch guns, in 10 twin mount small turrets. 48- 40mm anti aircraft guns and 52- 20 mm guns.

The U. S.S. Alabama, after launching in 1943, went to the pacific. There it participated, in virtually every island hopping landings in the war. She provided anti aircraft protection, from the Kamakazi, suicide planes the Japanese were sending, and  provided heavy bombardment fire onto the Japanese islands, prior to the invasions. She was also called the LUCK A ,because she was never hit by a suicide plane. She did however loose eight men in a five inch turret in battle, when another five inch gun accidently went off and struck it while turning to fire.

When we first got onboard it was just amazing how big, and all the firepower. We were able to take three different walking tours, which went through out the ship, up and down a total of eight decks. We spent about four hours or so touring.

 

Notice the anchor chain, below is how big a link is. In the left and right of center are the 40mm anti aircraft guns, in center are the big 16 incher turrets.

One anchor chain link, I could not even move it.

Before I gut to all the guns, our tour took us below decks and all over the place. It is like a floating city with everything you could ever think of being here. Machine, carpenter shops, Cobbler shop, mail room, sick bay with operating rooms, laundry, tailor shop, barber shop, photo room, movie room, butcher shop, brig and many more, including mess halls. Plus all the battle operation rooms, the bridge, combat center, plot rooms and all that.

THE SHIP

BAKERY, One of the  most important place on the ship. 850 full loafs of bread were made every day.  They said the smell of bread baking was all through the ship.

BARBER shop, three full time barbers were here. They had the luxuary of living in here, instead of with the other masses of men all over the ship.

MESS hall, one of a few, anything you can think of for meals.

No food yet.

A What, yep a soda jerk and ice cream station onboard.

She’s still waiting.

CAPTAIN’s lounge, this is where the captain entertained, when important people came aboard. I guess we were not that important.

Under attack, the captain and important men went to Battle bridge, they controlled the entire ship in this tiny room.

16″ thick hatchway, with dead bolts.

Here I am in one of the small spaces in one of the engine rooms (they have four engine rooms) behind the camera is a big room with all the boilers and engine works to power the ship

AYE ,AYE, captain, which way do I go

One of the many, many ladders we went up and down. The steel handrails, were not there during the war, just a taught rope.

THE GUNS

Melissa manning one of the 20mm guns. Three men manned this gun, one firing, one taking the empty bullet housing off, (the center round housing) and one man inserting a new magazine

Another shot of the 20mm guns

This is the 40mm rotating antiaircraft guns. Two guns on my side and two on the other. Each firing independently. Right behind my head is where the loaders would drop the 2 foot long rounds in so they can be fired.

5 INCH GUN TURRETS

There are twenty 5″ gun turrets on the Alabama. Each one built the same way, and in it’s own armored surroundings. 5 to 6 men were in the top gun mount operating the gun. About 50 to 60 more would be below decks, feeding ammunition up to the gun. The shells had three parts, the main canister, powder bag inserted into the shell canister and the exploding shell, they were put together by hand to make one shell. After firing the casing was sent out of the back of the gun mount and could be reused later.

Hoists and elevators moved the shells up to each level, then to the gun mount. In event of possible fire, each compartment could be flooded.

The front entry hatchway for the gunner to sit in and operate the gun sights when in action. He did not fire the gun. Another one is on the other side.

Back entry hatch way, during the war the steps were not there just a ladder to get in.  The men in here loaded the guns with ammuntion. The open door in the bottom middle is where all the empty shell casing came out after being ejected from the gun.

The aiming station, to the left is the breech for loading the shells

Sitting in the aiming seat, very cramped.

Down three decks or so is the ammunition room, filled with thousands of shells, and powder canisters, which had to be hoisted up to the gun turret..

 

THE BIG BOYS

16 INCH GUN TURRETS

Three main 16″ gun turrets are on the Alabama, each in its own circular armored Barbette as its called enclosure. Runs from the bottom of the ship to the top turret. The outer rooms at the bottom are for the powder bags, each weighing 90 pounds. Canisters of 3 powder bags each are stored here in air tight canisters. During battle the powder was passed into the lower part of the barbette then hoisted up 3 bags at a time to the gun crews. It took six bags to shoot a shell. Inside the barbette a deck up is where the shells were stored, they were dragged into position, and then elevated up to the main gun deck. In action a crew could fire one shell every 30 seconds. Each gun could fire independently of the others. The main turret turned on a big reduction gear, and was placed on the gun mount not anchored. If the ship sank the turrets would fall off. It took 77 men to operate and fire the gun, in actual combat there would be over 100 as they would be needed below to keep sending up shells quicker.

Cutaway below shows the many decks below, needed to feed ammo to the big guns.

 

Cutaway view of the main turrets extending far below decks.

Shells

Powder bags

 

Massive 16″ guns

 

We entered the gun turret in the back of the gun, there was a little hatch to go up, there we entered the main room, which is called the operators booth. Here is where all the controls for movement, sighting, aiming and direction of the gun are.

Inside the operators booth, the hatch we got in is below the little seat on the bottom left. A man sat here and sighted the gun looking into the scope in the middle top of the picture.

 

 

We are now on the other side of the operators booth. Here to the left are 6 – 2 inch thick hatch doors, 2 for each gun where men went in to the gun room itself. In battle the hatches were shut and dogged, which means locked

I have now walked through the operators booth into the gun room(side view), where 6 men would then decend down a ladder 10 feet or so to the breech of the gun. Powder and shells arrived here and were rammed into the gun barrel. Then the breech would be closed and the gun was ready to fire. The barrel is pointing left here.

Another view from another gun, with gun barrel pointing straight ahead. This armored area was only about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long.

 

Projectile handling room, filled with shells

Lower powder room with hoists

 

View from the pier.

This thing was massive and I was very impressed, a floating city. Could of spent another couple of hours here, but ran out of time. Very glad we were able to see a piece of history. Next we want to see an aircraft carrier.

We are now at Natchez State park ,about 10 miles from Natchez itself, which is right on the Mississippi river and a very historic town. We will be here till the 21st hopefully. Drove 196 miles today from Waveland by the coast. We are no longer by the ocean or the gulf, but north, inland. Pics below of our site and the lake below us,

Our site

Lake Natchez which to the left widens out.

NOW A WORD ABOUT THIS CORNES VIRUS.

When we went to New Orleans Wednesday and Thursday, to visit the world war II museum and take a guided tour for the day, we had no issues, on Friday however, the museum is now closed and no more tours for the next few weeks, at least. I have not been thinking of this virus at all, until now. All the reservations we have coming up are at State parks. Most parks have cancelled events, and I think this week some may start to close parks. If that happens we could go to private parks, but with everything closing down, we may not be able to do what we planed. So I am already thinking in the back of my head ,we may be heading back to our home base, at my brothers sooner than we like. I think this week will tell.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 We are enjoying our stay at Buccaneer State Park in

                                                            Mississippi

  

              One of the trails we took in the park.

                   

There is also a water park,  a huge wave pool and a waiting pool in the park

 

 

 

The entrance gate and ranger’s house

You can also stay right across from The gulf of Mexico on these camp sites.

We walked and rode our bikes to the beach across the way from the campground. These are the combined pictures.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Today we walked on the beach to the Silver Springs Casino just down the road from the campground.

 

Houses on the beach

One of them even has a private pier out to the water . . . .

Today Friday the 13th will be our last stay on the Ocean until we return once again in October, Good by for now ocean.

 

Dave and I have been through small towns and big cities on the ocean and gulf , mostly in Florida, with our Fifth Wheel. And of course you notice some homes right by the water are on stilts here and there, some old some new.  In Waveland, however all homes are required by law to be on stilts.  This new law was put into effect after Katrina hit in 2005.

Hurricane Katrina has been called the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Waveland, Mississippi was Ground Zero. Katrina’s winds and tsunami-like surge devoured dozens of lives and tens of thousands of homes across the coast, leaving behind devastation and heartbreak on a scale that stunned the world.  Waveland is generally accepted as the point where Katrina packed it’s strongest punch.

We didn’t realize that this was the hardest hit area by Hurricane Katrina until we went into the museum…. I would definitely want my new home built on stilts according to the new code.  Would I still want to live in Waveland?  I don’t know? The people that did are strong and courageous to say the least!

  The museum building took 11 years to be made habitable again. High winds tore off the supposedly hurricane-proof roof, and the storm surge pushed the floorboards up from below into steeply angled ramps. Most of the doors, and all of the windows, vanished. The eight-foot-high waterline, painted with blue paint along the central hallway, is far above people’s heads.

 

  All of these pictures of Waveland are in the museum.

The museum is not a memorial to a disaster, but a tribute to the strength and beauty of the human spirit. The museum had a movie showing how people survived the storm and there were 3 ladies in the museum who were there when the storm hit and they shared their stories.  One of the ladies said how people came across the nation to help, she mentioned that the Amish helped a great deal by re-building houses for free and how people helped in different ways like this:

This picture shows all the businesses there were once on Coleman Avenue before Katrina.

Looking straight from the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, is what  Coleman Avenue looks like today.  The Ground Zero Museum down the road a bit, is the only building left out of all that were on the sign above.

Buccaneer State Campground was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  It remained closed until 2013, eight years after Katrina hit.  That is why the entrance gate and  ranger’s house are now on stilts.  We haven’t seen that in any other state park.

   

 

 

 

 

We are now in the fine state of Mississippi. Drove 155 miles today. The state park is almost right on the gulf. There are 177 Rv spots here, all the roads are paved and the Rv sites are concrete. There is a waterpark right next to us. We are halfway between New Orleans and Biloxi. The road to get to the park was about 100 feet from the water, pretty neat driving on it. We will be here 10 days. Hoping the weather improves so we can go to the beach a little more, and ride our bikes. Pic below is of our site.

 

Our stay here at the park is almost over. It has been a fun time here. It could have been a little warmer, and a lot less windy but otherwise it has been fine. We are planning on coming back in April 2021 for a week before we head out west.

GULF STATE PARK

This is a huge state park, not only with the Rv spots but it is big. There are almost 3 miles of state beaches right across the road. Accessed by two overhead bridges over the beach road., you can walk or ride bikes over. There are over twenty miles of paved, eight feet wide trails in the park, 5 or so miles are elevated walkways, through swamps, marshs, creeks, and all that.

This is the park, all the black lines are trails.

The Amphitheater

 

One of the two overpasses to get to the beach and pier.

 

The Pier, goes out 800 yards or so.

The beach from the pier

Again from the pier.

Picnic area by the lake.

Maybe our next tow vehicle???

One of the elevated walkways through the park

One of the lakes

THE BEACH

To the Beach

Almost there

 

 

 

 

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD AND MORE FOOD

As this is a Meca for snowbirds, the area is full of places to eat. Everything you would want is down here. From your chain resturants to your choice of cajon food, fish, crawfish (horrible), oysters, and all that stuff. We ate out more here than we did staying at Key Largo for three months.

WAFFLE HOUSE

Yep , my favorite breakfast place. We have visited four times while here. Just love it.

My favorite, two eggs, hash browns, toast, $4.20 plus coffee. Melissa gets scrambled eggs, grits, biscuit, same price plus coffee.

 

LAMBERT’S CAFE

HOME OF THE THROWED ROLL. Yep they throw your dinner rolls to you. A guy comes out of the kitchen and yells HOT ROLLS, and people put there hand up and he throws them to you. I had three come at me from about 30 feet away. Saw one guy get hit in the back of the head with one. They are the size of a softball, and hot. The food is good, you get two sides with your order, and they have people coming around with 8 different pass arounds, like fried potatoes and onions, fried Okra, tomatoes and macaroni, black eyed peas, apple butter. Way to much to eat, especially if you eat a few rolls. It was good entertainment

 

My first roll throwed at me, it broke apart and this part hit me in the face.

Here comes my second roll

Caught it.

Eating it, they were very good.

Melissa eating her roll throwed at her.

Isn’t she so pretty.

SUNLINER DINER.

A retro 50’s style joint. We went twice and it was like stepping back in time, really neat. Period music, and all the employees are dressed in 50’s style soda jerk outfits. We had a great time both times we went.

 

This is the menu, opens up like a paper.

Into the 50’s baby

Snowbird special. Hamburger with all the fixins and a load of fries. Includes the ice tea for $5:99

Melissa got the same thing and a chocolate malt. Yummy

Isn’t she a hip cat. See below

SHRIMP BASKET

A few people told us to go here, for shrimp and grits, which Melissa likes. The place is not to big, but known for good food. Melissa ended up getting the stuffed Flounder, with shrimp inside and a sauce with rice. I got all you could eat whitefish. We enjoyed them both

Next stop Buckaneer State park in Mississippi.

 

 

The wharf is like a huge village located at Foley Beach Expressway and Canal Road in Orange Beach on Portage creek that flows into the gulf . Sorta like an entertainment center spread out. There are shops (boutiques), restaurants, a huge AMC theatre, marina, condos, hotels, a water park, concert hall, a huge Ferris wheel, and a few other rides. It’s a huge place and from what I’ve heard the best time to experience it is at night because they have a light show, even the Ferris wheel has lights on it.

     

Dave & I went to The Wharf at Orange Beach on Saturday. We went because there was Seafood Festival, Classic Car Show and an Arts/Craft Show, all going on at the same time.  It was a great day to be outside and enjoy the day. The only down fall was the Ferris Wheel wasn’t running.

 

 

 

There was musicians playing along the way

 

                        ARTS & Crafts Show

 

 

 

I thought the bunny wreath was cute, but where the heck was I going to keep it!  We decided we like the really cool airplane better.  When you hang it up the wind spins the front propellers around and makes a neat noise.

 

Not a real big show but it had . . .  .  .

an old truck

 

Dave’s father took his family to PA in a car like this.  His dad got pulled over by the police because he had the 4 kids in the very back, which had no seats or anything.   The cop called it a playpen but nothing happened after that.  The things you could get away with back then!

 

General Lee was there, missing was the Duke boys, Bo & Luke

 

Last but not least a Pinto?

 

the Planters Nutmobile  was even here to pick up Dave!  Actually they were here but not to pick up Dave.

It’s a really big peanut on four wheels – and believe it or not, it even runs on fuel that can be made from peanut oil, bio-diesel.

The Nutmobile was made using several reclaimed materials and sustainable features, starting with re-used glass for the windows and windshield and steel recycled from old Fords. A wind turbine, as well as roof top solar panels, charge the internal batteries that power tour stop events.

The interior lighting is powered by low-energy LED’s.  The flooring is reclaimed wood from an old 1840’s barn in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

 

After the wharf we went to the Shrimp Basket for a great dinner!

We were right next to a big shark so we walked over to say HI!

The end of a fun day!  And Dave didn’t even get a scratch!