Road Trip--Day Two

Day two was a trip from Montgomery to Mobile down I-65.  Mobile is an old coastal town that is much like Savanah and Charleston with lots of large old homes with fancy columns and ironwork.  There were many small parks in the old part of the city with large shady live oak trees.

Our first stop was the Battleship Park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

USS Alabama.  There were many other static displays at the park. The following are just a few. 

C47 World War II cargo plane, also known as the "gooney bird"

B 52 bomber 

SR 71 spy plane. The fastest airplane ever built. 

Submarine. No information on this one. 

We toured the Mobile Bay History Museum which was also well worth seeing. Mobile is also big into Mardi Gras. This one of the displays at the museum. 

Later in the day we visited Dauphin Island which is a barrier island just south of Mobile. This is a picture of Fort Gaines located on the east end of the island.  It was established in 1821, it is best known for its role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War.  It is much like Fort Macon in NC but not as large.

Dauphin Island is mostly residentual, not a lot of resturants.  We finally found one that overlooked the Gulf of Mexico.  This the view from our table.  

Road Trip--Day One

We have been talking about taking a road trip for some time and when US Air lost our reservations to fly to New Orleans recently we decide to drive instead.  The next few postings will cover our trip.  If you are not interested in this kind of stuff, just skip it.  I'm not going into a lot of details.  Just a few pictures of what we saw along the way.

When our daughter and her husband invited us to join them in New Orleans for a few days, we jumped at the chance.  They were to drive from Nashville, TN. and we were to fly out of RDU.

We departed from our home on June 3 (my birthday) at 7:30 am.  We had a pleasant drive all the way to Montgomery AL.  It took us eight and one half hours to make the trip.  I should mention that our son in law grew up in Montgomery and attended school at Auburn.  Our trip happened to take us through both places.  

Visitor's Center

Renascence hotel in downtown Montgomery where we stayed.  

Entrance to Riverfront Park across the street from hotel. 

That would be me at the park on the Alabama River. 

Union Train Station taken from our room. The river is directly behind the station. 

Court Square. Montgomery is the state Capitol and is a very pretty town, much like Raleigh. 

Grandchildren are Special

We have three grandchildren now and they are all very special to us. This weekend was spent with the Winston Salem family. Next week we will be with the Nashville family. 

The Winston visit was to attend the final games for the boys teams.  The youngest played on a soccer team and the oldest played flag football. 

Brendan is standing in the second row between the two coaches. They were the season champs in their soccer league. 

Eamon is standing on the far right of the back row. They were the flag football champs of thier division. 

A great weekend that finished with Eamon's piano recital. He did very well. He has been taking piano lessons for 4 years and is playing some complicated pieces now. 

Did I mention that my birthday is Tuesday, June 3. My daughter whipped up a little cake. 

This is a selfie of me blowing out the candle. 69 ain't all that bad. 

Shackleford Island on Memorial Day Monday

A popular place for boaters in the Morehead City area. Located opposite the inlet from Fort Macon, it is accessible only by water. 

Nice protected place to beach the boat with lots of sand. We took a picnic lunch today, but there were many people grilling on the beach. 

It can sometimes get crowded, but today was not too bad. There are also restroom facilities provided. 

My daughter found what I am pretty sure is a lettered olive. It was still alive so it was put back in the water. It was a nice ending to a great Memorial Day weekend that included just about everything but a trip to El's Drive In for oyster burgers. 

Memorial Day Weekend

SATURDAY

Celebrating Memorial Day at the beach is special. This year we had our Winston Salem family here.  Oldest daughter, her husband and 9 and 11 year old grandsons and Sally the rescue dog.  It is always a treat to have family with us.  Saturday we took the boat to Beaufort for breakfast. The boys went to the pool after lunch and Becky and I entertain the boys that evening while the parents had a date night. 

Fireworks were scheduled for 9:00 Saturday night.  The Miller's invited us over to their house where they have a ringside seat. Unfortunately, we were keeping the kids and dog, but could see the firework from our balcony. 

SUNDAY 

Sunday was a busy day. First we went dolphin watching. 

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a dolphin. Almost impossible!  Lots of pictures of the water. 

There were many, many dolphins. Finally got this shot as bad as it is. 

On the way back we stopped at Party Island. The kids, the neighbors, and the dog had a great time. 

Then it's off to the golf course. 

Back to the boat for a late afternoon cruise and refreshments with the neighbors. 

By this time, we were getting a little tired, but we still had not had dinner. 

Shrimp and grits is a tradition on our family gatherings, so we all pitched in and made a big pot. By this time we were so tired that we all turned in for an early night.  I can't keep up the pace like I used to. 

Cherry Point Airshow

Sunday was the last day of the Cherry Point Airshow. This was the second time I have attended the show which is held every other year unless there is a budget cutback. 

The weather was cool, in the low 70's, and overcast. A good day for an Airshow. 

All of the marine hardware was there from helicopters, Harriers, Oprey, and the new F35 which will replace the Harrier. In addition to the aircraft they also had static displays of much of the ground equipment. Too much to photograph or describe. 

I think they demonstrated everything they had. Here an Osprey is put through its paces. 

This is what the office of an Osprey looks like. 

A few privately owned aircraft were there such as this Waco. 

The Aeroshell aerobatic team put on a nice show. 

This vintage B-25 was on display. This was the type aircraft was used by Doolittle in his raid on Japan. 

A favorite at most aireshows is the race between an airplane and a jet car. The jet car always wins. 

Berti's Bud Light truck was there. 

I even made a visit to the Morehead City in water boat show earlier in the morning. It was a busy day. Now I'm going home to mow the grass so that I can get back early for the Memorial Day weekend. 

Heating Up at the Beach

The weather is warming and the activities at beach are beginning to pick up.  From now to late fall there will be something going on every week.  I am going to try to attend as many activities as possible this year. 

Yesterday was the Atlantic Beach Music Festival. Held at the Circle, it was free. Just took a lawn chair and enjoyed several great bands. 

A cloudless Carolina sky and the temperature in the low 70's. The weather was perfect. 

This is the Circle where the Pavillion used to stand. The Band of Oz was great.  There were also three other bands including the Fantastic Shakers. 

The crowd was estimated to be 5000. 

Herbert, Barbara and I had good seats. Becky is still in Tennessee. 

There is also a boat show in Morehead City this weekend and an air show at Cherry Point.  Hope to see those today. 

Venison Tacos

Really not bad. 

Venison from the Powell farm in Leroy, Alabama, avacado, onion, tomatoes, onions, and yogurt. First time I have ever tried it, but it was good. 

And a Large Time was had by All

Tony Mangum hosted a party for the Class of 1963 on Saturday and a large time was had by all. We were lucky with the weather and the temperature was perfect in the shade of the trees. Following are some random photographs taken at the event. The party was well attended though we had a few that were unable to attend due to health issues. 

Left to right. Herbert, Robert, Robert, Nita, Frankie and Mack. 

The pig is on the grill and smelling good!!!

Our class is so small that only half a pig was cooked. 

Ronnie checking his emails. 

Robert Matthews and his wife came down from Culpper, Va. 

Frankie came with Cecil Young. His battle with Parkinson's has taken its toll, but he still comes to the gatherings. 

Barbara and Max made it even though Barbara was suffering with some neck issues. Knew she would be there if at all possible. 

Rex and Pat. If you haven't seen Rex in a few years, you probably wouldn't recognize him with his beard. 

Not sure why Cecil is looking at his cup. John and Susan Roberts in background. They are building a new house in the  NC mountains which will be there permanent address soon.  SC's loss is NC's gain. 

Cecil and Maria. 

Tony's wife Edna. 

This little fellow gave me quite a scare when I first noticed him only about 12" from my head. Yes, it is a real snake. 

I am sorry, but I missed taking photos of a few classmates. Virginia was there even though her sidekick Berti was home feeling poorly. Hope it was just a 24 hour bug.  Glenda and Billy West and Kemp and Sandra Young were there. Ronnie Smith and his wife were also there. If I missed anyone else, I apologize. 

Oh, I just realized that I missed our host Tony. He was so busy running around waiting on the others that I totally forgot to take his photo.  

This is an earlier photo of Tony standing in his Civil War Museum. 

Thank you Tony!  What a great job you did. 

 

 

Tony's Civil War group returned from an engagement at Oakwood in Raleigh late in the day and gave us a demonstration with their cannon. 

  

I can't describe how loud it is. My ears are still ringing today. 

Hope to see you all at the next gathering of the Class of 1963.