Traveling Home

We could drive the entire way home from the Alabama Coast in one long day - but why have one long day when you can have two pleasant short ones!  We started north on US 59 and followed it to Interstate 65 where we headed north towards Birmingham. Somewhere along the way I think around Montgomery we saw a huge Hyundi Plant - maybe Jeff and Robin's was made there!  Several huge car manufacturing plants in Alabama.  We skirted around Birmingham and found our Comfort Inn in Trussville on the northside of the city.  Pleasant day with not too much traffic but nothing extraordinary about the day.  We stopped near Greeneville where we spent the night going south for a quick lunch.

Hyundi Plant

We reviewed all the restaurants nearby and chose Konomi -  a highly rated Japanese restaurant planning to have Tempura and a noodle dish.  We did just that - certainly not a 4 or 5 star Japanese restaurant in our book but of course we are picky.  The Tempura was cooked well and was good - but the Tempura Sauce which is supposed to be made with Saki - not so good.  The noodle dish we split was fine and we got plenty to eat but it was definitely did not meet the 4 1/2 star rating it was given on TripAdvisor. 

Veggie and Shrimp Tempura

After a good nights sleep we headed north again on I 59 across the rest of AL and into GA.  Again not an exciting trip but the traffic was not too heavy and the miles clipped by.  We were soon in TN and headed north on I 75.  The news had reported a concrete barrier had fallen from an overpass near the I 24 and I 75 intersection.  It was unclear exactly where the damage occurred but reports showed the northbound lanes traveling OK.  This was true but the southbound side was down to one lane and backed up for probably 5 miles.  We were glad we were headed north!  

I 75 North Traffic Backup

We were back in redbud territory and they were in full bloom.  Definitely not much else in bloom so we get to enjoy spring all over again as we near home.  Arriving home late afternoon we were pleased to see Jane's Carolina Jasmine blooming as well as the jonquils and pansies planted last fall in hopes they would all bloom together...and they waited for us.  Guess the cold spell while we were gone kept them from blooming because they were in full bud when we left.

Red Bud

Our greeting upon arrival at home!

Good to be home! Really struggled to have photos for today!

Blue Angels and a bit of the beach

We have visited the Museum at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola at least twice - maybe three times. It is one of the best military museums and we have visited quite a few!  Today was the first practice day for the Blue Angels and since we were close why not - Ben had seen them when they were in Tri Cities once years ago but I had not seen them - well maybe once years ago at the Gray Fair but only faint memories.  We needed to be there well before the 11:30 show time. 

The drive over from Gulf Shores took about 45 minutes.  Crowds attend - did not do justice for what we encountered.  Lines and lines at gates, parking in way way overflow areas, and people - lots of people.  We will not be going into the museum today!  We walked quite a way and then took a golf cart ferry the last maybe 1/2 mile.  I asked the guy driving the golf cart about how many people he thought would be there - he said this time of year 8,000 - 9,000.  In the summer he said maybe twice that!  Lots of great traffic directors - we assumed naval recruits. ID and bag checks several times.  We found a nice spot on a hillside and were soon surrounded with people.  Cute little 18 month old beside us was really loving all the people and later the planes.

This was before it got really crowded!

We got there about 11:00 and the show started right at 11:30 lasting about 45 minutes.  They were well prepared - lots of port-a-potties, traffic directors, caps, shirts, and drinks.  The planes were a delight to watch, such precision in their work. I managed to get a few photos no easy feat since you had to anticipate the speed and direction to get them right.  Ben I think got some video.  Bright blue skies and temps in the 60's made for a perfect day.

Getting back out took longer than getting in since everyone was leaving at once.  We headed back towards Gulf Shore and stopped along the way in Perdito Beach FL for lunch.  We picked the number two restaurant because it was beach side instead of bay side.  We made a great choice - the Crab Trap.  It had outside seating as well as inside - we sat on a covered patio overlooking the gulf.  We chose Peel and Eat Shrimp, Warm Crab Dip with Pita Bread, and Ben finally had his Oysters on the Half Shell.  He has had oysters 2 or 3 times but kept wanting the raw ones....finally did it!  All the food was GREAT!  We are giving them the award for best food of the trip.  After our lunch we walked down to the beach from the parking lot and sat looking out over the smooth water for about half an hour.  Too cold for really getting in the water but needed to get a bit of beach fix before we left! Clear calm water and oh so white fine sand.

Ben at the Crab Trap

Ben's 3 Oysters

Crab Dip

Peel and Eat Shrimp

Pure White Sand and the Gulf of Mexico

Back to our hotel for a short rest and make a few plans for the trip home as we leave tomorrow.  We had a quick supper at the Diner where we had been earlier in the week.  Jane had a hamburger and Ben a waffle and ham....he had really liked the ham earlier in the week and Jane really was not hungry so that was the decider!   The place was really crowded - we did not have to wait but there was a long line when we left about 6:30.  Lines at all the restaurants - glad we are not here in the main season!

Jane wanted to stop in the Rouses Grocery down from our hotel - it is a Gulf Coast family grocery chain.  It was interesting to see all the local crawfish special items.  Crawfish Pies, Huge containers of Crab boil.

This does not do justice - these were larger than the regular salt container

A Mix

Or buy the real thing

Fun day!

Carnival and Battleships

The day was a definite improvement over yesterday!  We had breakfast and left for Mobile by 9:30.  We wanted to visit the Mobile Carnival Museum for Jane and the USS Alabama Battleship for Ben.  The sun was shining and the temperature in the 60's.  A long sleeve shirt felt good but the sun was bright and we were certainly feeling 100% more like we were on a beach vacation than yesterday!  The trip takes about an hour and as we approached Mobile realized we were going through a tunnel. Interesting way to enter downtown Mobile.  Ben remembers being here before but I only recall traveling through on I 10.  The tunnel is under a part of the bay and long enough for you to lose satellite and phone coverage.

Waze took us directly to the Carnival Museum and they had great parking.  The downtown area has the wonderful wrought iron trim on houses looking like downtown New Orleans.  Traffic was not bad at all.  The museum was nice - small but it tells the story of Mardi Gras in Mobile - the original celebrations started here early in the 1800's.  We watched the short film and then toured two floors of displays of all sorts - some floats and lots of costumes.  They of course throw beads from floats and some years ago began throwing small Moon Pies and they were a huge hit.  Now they toss 3.5 million small Moon Pies during the Mardi Gras Season each year.  When the hostess realized we were from TN she was so pleased to connect us with the Moon Pies!  (They are made in Chattanooga).  The King and Queen Royal Trains were something else - they weigh between 30 - 40 pounds for the Queen and as much as 75 for the King.  Sometimes particularly for the Queen they put roller skates on the trains so they are not relying on the Queen to move it.  I will attach a couple of the photos - we probably saw 20 or more of the costumes.  The cost to be a royal is extensive - only 30-40 families in Mobile can afford to be queen or king.  There are several of the secret societies that host the various parades and other events each year.  The event in Mobile is more family focused than the NOLA Mardi Gras.  One interesting thing we saw was a trumpet that is a near match to Ben's old one that Daniel (grandson) is now playing.  When they had it restored for him to use - we discovered it was made in 1939 and is a really good instrument compared to some they are making today.  This trumpet was used by one of the famous players here from years past.

Ben and Jane Playing

A Queen's Dress

And the Queen's Train

A King - a bit of train to side

Even the Children get in on the fun

Trumpet like Daniel's

After enjoying the museum we looked around a bit downtown and decided to drive out towards the bay and the USS Alabama to search for a place for lunch...so back through the tunnel and we found Felix Fish Camp and enjoyed lunch looking out over the bay. Ben had "Hook Line and Sinker Oysters - Rockefeller - and two other types and a bowl of Turtle Soup that he said was excellent. Jane had saute' Red Fish and Fried Green Tomatoes.  Both were super good.  You can see from the parking lot it was busy.  With no time to search for ratings we chose it by how full the parking lot was - and it was a winner!

Hook Line and Sinker Oysters

Saute' Red Fish

After lunch we headed the short way to the USS Alabama.  There were also many planes and a submarine to look at.  We toured the Battleship watching a short film that explained how the guns were loaded and fired.  This Battleship earned I believe 10 stars for taking part in major battles during WW II and did not sustain any damage from enemy fire.  Reading the battles it took part in was like reading a list of most of the Pacific Battles you have heard of over the years.  It also served off Scotland and Norway.  Ben climbed up and down the ladders more than Jane did but it was a fun tour. 

We drove back to Gulf Shores and collapsed for a short rest before heading out for some dinner.  The first restaurant we chose had a very long line of people waiting so we moved on and had an excellent dinner of grilled Red Fish at Acme Oyster House. Yes Jane had Red Fish twice and it was great both times.

Tomorrow we plan to head east to Pensacola and see the Blue Angels.

Brrr it's cold

We came south to enjoy some warm weather and sunshine....well today it rained off and on all day and was in the high 40's and 50's.  I knew it might rain and we bought rain jackets. The cold weather was a surprise.  At the last minute I stuck in one of my fleece shirts that I have lived in this winter.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel - their specialty is cinnamon rolls and they are indeed very good.  Scrambled eggs and a cinnamon roll.  Enjoyed watching kids make pancakes in the pancake machine!  The Mardi Gras Museum Jane wanted to visit in Mobile was closed on Sunday so we decided to spend the cold rainy day at the shopping outlet mall in Foley.  Jane had a list and remarkably found nearly everything on it!  Ben said I will just sit in the van and read.  No photos on a rainy day!

We headed back to the hotel (Jane put on her fleece) and after a short stop headed for Mikee's Seafood for a late bite to eat.  Jane had Fried Green Tomatoes and Ben had Potato Skins.  The food was OK but the service was very slow.  Maybe because of all the excitement just as we were arriving.  As we were walking up to the door of the restaurant a couple came running out yelling obscenities at each other.  If we had not moved to the side they would have run us down.  The staff was in a frenze.  Getting a license tag number and calling the police.  Seems the folks had left without paying their bill - it was a group of 8 and the couple we saw were the last ones to leave.  We were seated promptly but waited at least 10 minutes for a menu and then 15-20 for our order.  The place was busy but not that busy!

Grey Sky, Van and a Palm Tree - way in distance the gulf!

It was so dreary and cold we did not even want to drive around to sites - so we just went back  to the hotel and watched a movie. About 6:00 we got up enough energy to go out for some dinner.  It would have been a good time to order in!  Sunday night and many of the restaurants were closed so we headed to a cheery 50's Diner - The Skyline.  It had a big menu of about everything you could want.  No seafood tonight - Ben had french toast and ham and Jane had meatloaf and green beans.  Both were good and seemed to hit the spot on a cold night.  We were complaining about the temperature in the 50's until we saw it was going to be 30 at home! They had an inch of snow on Mt. Leconte in the Smokies!  Guess it is Redbud winter since the redbud was ready to pop before we left.

Really great looking cakes!

Diner doors and me in reflection

Back to the hotel and another movie or some shows...we miss our Brit Box and Netflix!

Successful day of shopping and rest!  I did manage a couple photos but still nothing much to photograph!

Saturday - Traveling South to Alabama

We were up, ate breakfast and headed south on I 85.  The trip was uneventful.  We listened to a Brad Thor adventure and the miles clipped by.  All the trees are green now and it is nice and warm - in 70's with lots of sunshine.  Nice!

We got a slight hint that there might be a few other people going south to the beach when we reached the exit to turn onto the Beach Expressway - a 4 lane road headed south to Orange Beach from I 85.

About 70 miles further south we headed into Foley - the outlet capitol of this area - looking for a place to eat a shrimp po'boy.  Well we found it - the #1 restaurant in Foley was River Grill #2.  It was definitely a local, real place.  We ordered a Shrimp Po'Boy and a Crawfish Pistol.  With every order you also got some Swamp Soup.  The Po'Boy was great.  The Crawfish Pistol a local thing - it was some dough stuffed with crawfish and shrimp and a great sauce and then fried. It was small and we each got about 4 bites...it was good but that was enough.  The swamp soup was a clear soup with white beans, greens, and some seafood.  Interesting but the small cup was enough.  Ben liked it but it was not my favorite.

Swamp Soup

Shrimp Po'Boy

Crawfish Pistol

Then on to the beach. Across an expensive $2.75 toll bridge. 

Ben thought he made reservations at the Holiday Inn Express in Orange Beach and we quickly found it - not the right Holiday Inn Express...we were at the one in Gulf Shores about 8 miles away...no problem we found it.  Only problem was I had done all the seafood restaurant research in Orange Beach - not Gulf Shores...oh well there are plenty of seafood restaurants!  We have never stayed in a Holiday Inn Express because we use the Choice Hotel Points Hotels when we can.  However this vacation is compliments of most of our points earned over the past year on our main MasterCard.  In fact it was selected because we had 4 nites without paying anything!  Pretty good for charging stuff over past months.  Nice hotel about 1 mile from the beach.  Nice pool, nice room and they upgraded to a suite for some reason....Ben says he just walked in at the right time and it was ready!

We sat by the pool in the sunshine for a bit and then after a little research we ended up at DeSoto's Seafood Kitchen for supper. This was an older restaurant probably here for years.  We both liked the atmosphere and they were super busy. Of course it was 5:30 on a Saturday night.  We did not wait long tho and the service was great.  Neither of us were very hungry but knew we needed to eat something.  I think that Crawfish Pistol stayed with us all afternoon!  It seems my only photos of the day were of food and traffic!  Supper was a salad and coconut shrimp for Jane and salad and seafood bisque for Ben. Both great.

Coconut Shrimp

Seafood Bisque

Time for a good night's sleep.

Leaving for April in Alabama

We left Kingsport at 11:30 on Thursday following the routine that Ben has followed every other week since November.  He has been doing a process inspection at a company near Atlanta.  He is documenting the progress on a project that is being shipped to Korea.  He has perhaps 2 more visits so we chose to tag a little trip down to the Gulf Coast on to this trip.

The routine.... Pick up a sandwich "to-go" at Jersey Mike's.  Eat half the sandwich about noon.  Drive to specific truck stop - get out and walk around a bit.  Travel on down towards Chattanooga eating the other half of the sandwich, stop at the GA welcome station and walk around some more,  Arrive at Canton GA about 4:30 or 5:00.

The fun thing to watch this trip was spring arriving as we drove south.  The redbud was barely showing any red at home. As we reached Knoxville it was looking like a redbud tree not quite in full bloom.  As we neared Chattanooga they were in full bloom.  As we neared Atlanta we began to see what might be dogwood beginning to show some white.  No photos but it was fun to watch.

The Comfort Inn Ben has been staying at each time is located in Canton about 20 miles north of Atlanta.  Right next door is a Cracker Barrel so according to his routine we had dinner there!  Their food is always consistent and usually good.  Ben had chicken and dumplings and I decided to begin the seafood extravaganza and had the catfish.  Both were good.

Ben was up and at his 8:30 appointment about 5 miles down the interstate.  He came back to the hotel and picked me up and we headed south about 10:15.  We were not looking forward to the drive through metro Atlanta.  We thought we would just go interstate to interstate to interstate but there was "police activity" at one of our exits so we had to exit through Marietta and Smyrna.  We saw some nice home with pretty yards, lots of shops, and even more traffic.  Finally after a long trip off the interstate we made it to I 85 South and were out of Metro Atlanta - only 1 hour and 15 minutes after leaving the Comfort Inn. 

Metro Atlanta Traffic

Somewhere south of Atlanta we stopped at a Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed lunch.  Ben tried the new Key lime shake which he said was pretty good.  There were now azaleas, camelias,  and other flowering plants in full bloom.  Also most of the trees are showing lots of green.  It is indeed full spring here!
We kept on trucking south and west and into Alabama.  The welcome station was pleasant and had a new i-pad sign in to track travelers instead of the normal paper and pen. There was a beautiful rhodendron blooming - I would not have known it was a rhodendon but Ben did.

Rhodendron

 Interesting thing about Alabama was all the gas logos had been removed from the exit signs at highways.  We had other ways to find a gas station but it was odd. We also changed time zones somewhere along the way.

Ben told me all his Red Cross disaster tales again.  He had a 2 or 3 week assignment in Alabama on our ERV with George Stevenson after a tornado some years ago.  Any Red Crossers reading this will remember assignments with George Stevenson and how he always served bananas!  I always enjoy hearing these stories because George was one of the dedicated volunteers everyone enjoyed working with near and far.

To select a travel destination for the day Ben had mapped out how far he wanted to travel and selected a location with a Comfort Inn.  Greenville Alabama it was!  Found the hotel, Ben took a nap and wrote his reports.  I sat outside in the bright sunshine at 78 degrees by the lovely pool and did absolutely nothing.   TripAdvisor found us a seafood restaurant - best in Greenville - a branch of a Mobile standby - Wintzell's Oyster House - and it was only .2 mile away!  Can't ask for more than that. 

We ordered a grilled seafood platter for one and two salads.  When it came we thought the server must have gotten the order wrong - we had 12 shrimp, 4 oysters, 4 scallops, a crab cake, and large piece of fish. The fish was pangasius.  Never heard of it - a type of catfish shark - found out it is from southeast asia.  Normally don't buy fish from there but I will have to admit it was very good!  I kept thinking they had given us the grilled seafood platter for two but when the bill came it was indeed the seafood platter for one....we did eat it all but certainly could not have eaten twice that amount!

Before...

After...

Ben really liked the oysters that were grilled with butter, bread crumbs, cheese and some herbs. All was excellent.

Nice relaxing day and Ben even worked about 3 hours!  Tomorrow on to the coast.