20020317 Chattanooga TN

Awake about 7:30. Mary Harriett asked if I’d heard the thunder, but I hadn’t, although it looked like it had rained in the night. Good thing we weren’t sleeping in the tent. Went to breakfast in the lobby and the girl at the desk called the Methodist Church up the road to find out what time the service is held. We reorganized the stuff in the van a little, found the batteries for the boom box. When we got to church, we were warmly greeted. The pastor was there at the door and gave us each a pencil. After church we drove into Chattanooga TN. We parked at the Chattanooga Choo Choo spot and took the shuttle bus. The driver left us at the Sticky Fingers restaurant, where we ate our dinner with lots of other people. We walked up to the Aquarium. We were shocked at the admission price of $12.95, but it was really a great place. The idea was to show the habitat of the beginnings of the river. There were trees and plants growing out in the open air and birds flying around. There was a pool for river otters, then trout and we worked our way down through the river story to the Gulf of Mexico. We went back to the car on the shuttle and found our way to Rt. 24 which has a turn off to Rt. 59. We went through the extreme northwest corner of Georgia. When we crossed into Alabama, we stopped at the visitor center, talked with the ladies and got coupon books. We drove almost to Birmingham AL, to Trussville AL to the Holiday Inn Express. I had coupon for it and got points on my Priority Club. We got lots of literature on what to see and do in Birmingham. Went to a Cracker Barrel for supper, I had mostly veggies. We went into Central Standard Time when we got to Alabama.

20020319 Montgomery AL

We got on the road about 9:30 AM. We took Rt. 459 and missed the turn off to Rt. 65. So, in finding our way back, we found Rt. 31 which took us south toward Montgomery AL. We went almost there, got gas and got on Rt. 65, so we could go to the center of the city. We found the Union Station visitors center. We took the trolley ride around some of the city for $.25. Our driver recommended the Farmer’s Market Cafe for lunch. It was good. We started out for Mobile AL about 2:30 PM and arrived about 5:15 PM to find our Holiday Inn.  It is a smoking room, had no chairs, my bed only had one sheet, and our view is the roof of the convention center with air conditioners, but it is only $49. We got the room for 5 nights. We had dinner at McAllister’s Deli. Oddly, both our lunch and our supper was the same price!

20020321 Mobile AL

We were up and out early, about 8:00 AM. We had breakfast at a Cracker Barrel, then went to the local Festival of Flowers. We took a couple of wrong turns to get there, but saw some beautiful neighborhoods. We watched a taping for TV formally opening the Festival featuring the mayor of Mobile and the people who were responsible for the festival. Lovely displays but I think we’ll enjoy seeing the real gardens when we go to Bellingrath Gardens tomorrow. We explored the Old Shell Road until we found the Brick Pit, which is reported to have the best damn B-B-Q in Alabama. I had ribs and Mary Harriett had pulled pork. The meal comes with beans and coleslaw. It was ok, I’m not an expert in BBQ, it was all kind of sweet to me. Then we had a nice tour of the Bragg-Mitchell house, built in 1855.  Drove over on other side of Mobile Bay and stopped at the visitor center. There are lots of things to see over there. Thought we might go to a movie tonight but we didn’t find one we wanted to see. Called Elizabeth. The sun goes down about 6:15 PM and it gets dark. I find that hard to get used to in warm weather. 

20020322 Theodore AL

Up at 8:30! We took a look at what was offered at the breakfast buffet and decided to try our luck elsewhere. We took the long way around, but found a postoffice. Mary Harriett mailed The Outlander to Carol G. and I got a stamp to send a card to Mats and Gunilla. We found Crumbley’s Family Restaurant, where I had scrambled eggs, toast, fries, orange juice and coffee. We got to Bellingrath Gardens around 11:00 AM. We toured the grounds and house, saw the Bohm birds and got out of the gift shop with only post cards. We needed gas and Mary Harriett asked one of the grounds keepers for the nearest gas station. We drove down the road. I saw a sign that said Exxon-Mobil to the left so we went that way only to find out it was the refinery, not a station. We back tracked and found a little back country store with two pumps in the front. A nice man came out and pumped $10 worth of gas for us. We drove on down to Dauphin Island AL. Saw the fort and estuarium. We drove to the west end where a lot of houses are built up on “sticks”. Drove back up to Mobile and ate at Nan-Sea’s restaurant, which was recommended in the book. We decided to stay for a movie, found Springdale Mall and saw “A Beautiful Mind” ($4.50). We even got ice on the way home.

20020323 Dauphin Island AL

We got up about 8:30 and decided to try Dick Russell’s for breakfast. I had orange juice, coffee and biscuits with sausage gravy. Mary Harriett had biscuits with sausage patties, honey and coffee. It was ok. We got the tank filled and drove over the bay to Dauphin Island AL and Fairhope AL. We saw some of the Azalea Trail Maids out and about. It looked like the 10K Azalea Race was over and everyone was going home. We saw some lovely homes and grounds on the east side of the bay. The day was cool, but no humidity, so it was comfortable. We drove down one road that went to a marina with lots of sailboats where they were giving lessons. Saw some interesting sights, one sign said “Ecor Rouge”.  It was a cliff of red clay that was the highest on the eastern seacoast between here and Maine. We drove down to Point Clear AL and back up to Fairhope. Oh, when we got to Dauphin in morning, we stopped at the library to check e-mail. Win said Carolyn’s mother was in health facility near the new library and they were trying to get her father in there also. We ate shrimp salad for lunch on the pier in Fairhope. We looked around town, in and out of shops, and got some coffee and ice cream.

20020325 Natchez Trace TN

We got up and partook of the breakfast at the motel. We decided not to tour the house at Natchez because they were only open to tour packages. It is Pilgrimage Celebration Time there and you have to sign up for a tour which is four hours. Instead, we headed out of town and got on the Natchez Trace. We made several stops along the way, to either read the signs or, at one stop, to see one of the remaining “stands” where people could stay while walking the trace north. We asked the guide about places to eat and she suggested the Piggly Wiggly in Port Gibson TN. The store has plates of food and sandwiches, etc. I got fried chicken wings, turnips greens, pinto beans and corn bread, and also bought grapes. Mary Harriett got tuna salad, saltines and pecan pie. She also found “Bruce’s hot sauce” and bought oranges and chips. We drove to the next picnic area and ate our food. The drive was lovely. We saw lots of dogwood, red bud in flower and leaves coming out on the trees. We saw a wake robin which looks a lot different from the ones up north. May apples were in abundance and a tall yellow flower that I think was a cress or a rocket. We got off at Jacksonville TN and took I20 to Vicksburg TN. We stopped at the the information booth and picked up a map of an historic driving tour of Vicksburg, so we did that. It seems most of the historic houses on the tour were bed and breakfasts. We were surprised at how hilly Vicksburg is. We decided we didn’t want to tour any of the houses, so we headed back to I20 and across the river into Louisiana. We're staying at the Days Inn in Tallulah LA. We ate at the truck stop - good.

20020325 Emerald Mound, Natchez Trace Parkway -2

20020325 Picnic spot on Natchez Trace -2

20020327 Hot Springs AR

We checked out about 9:00 AM and went to library. We checked e-mail and chatted with people. Got messages from Win, Steven, Beth, Cathy and John. I sent a message telling them where we are going. We then headed out to the Aquaculture Research Center. A guide showed us the labs and some experimental ponds. Mary Harriett had some interesting questions. We left about 11:30 and drove to Hot Springs AR. We stopped at small town on the way for lunch at Daisy Queen where we shared a taco salad and some fried chicken. Before we got to Hot Springs, we decided to check out Lake Catherine to see if we could stay in a cabin there. There was a cabin available for $70 a night, but we decided not to take it. We went back to Hot Springs and picked out the Happy Hollow Motel. It is about as old as I am but clean and has four chairs, a refrigerator and a TV. We walked to the “historic” downtown area and strolled by shops. Beautiful almost full moon tonight.