Monday, November 16, 2015, Battleship Park

I visited the U.S.S. Alabama with my dad and the kids when Jon was around 8 and Katie was 5, so that would be more than 25 years ago. Joani opted for shopping back then, so today was her first chance to explore the giant battleship.

While one of the ships main objectives was to shell entrenchments on enemy-held territory, it was clear they had a huge problem with aircraft harassment. There were anti-aircraft guns positioned everywhere above decks.

This little bird had no idea he was perched on the barrel of a 50 caliber machine gun. I don't think I would have wanted to be here any more than he would have when the guns were in action.

Someone forgot to polish the ships bell!

Time to head below decks. There were as many as 2,500 sailors aboard when this ship was in action during WWII. Even as large as the ship was, it had to be extremely crowded. I'm sure it required a lot of adjustment to the around the clock activity and the near total lack of personal space (unless you were one of the senior officers).

The idea of providing 7,500 meals a day seems almost unimaginable, especially with all of the complications of being at sea. Imagine restocking the pantry or creating a decent variety of meals and feeding people all day long who were expecting breakfast since they just woke up while others want dinner since they are near the end of their watch. That's on a good day! Add the ever-present specter of a klaxon calling everyone to battle stations and it all falls into total disarray.

Somehow all those sailors have to stay neat and trimmed.  The five chairs in the barber station must have stayed pretty busy! (OK, two are out of the picture to the left)

It is difficult to imagine manning the boilers as a battle raged many decks above praying the torpedo planes fail in their mission.  I doubt the "warmth" of the engine room was much of a plus either.

The transformers below power the lights, presumably, in this portion of the ship. I suspect they were original equipment and still in operation (they were warm and humming) more than 70 years after installation.

Imagine the sense of relief looking out on the shoreline as the ship made landfall when the war was finally over.

Battleship Park had a complete collection of all modern fighter jets including one of only two YF-17's (it lost a development competition to the F-18).  They had an SR-71 and a B-52 among many others that might have taken another hour to really appreciate.  After nearly four hours on the battleship, our energy level drove the decision to tour the submarine first.  I actually forgot about the YF-17 as we quickly walked through the hanger to get to the submarine display.

Outside was the tangled wreckage of a plane that had us curious.  I asked one of the employees if a hurricane had damaged the plane.  He told me it was loaned to a studio to make the movie "Men of Honor." There was a little problem (apparently pilot error) that caused the aircraft to be returned in less than pristine condition.  He said the museum had learned their lesson about working with movie production companies.

The U.S.S. Drum was a nearly complete contrast to the Alabama. From the first hatch, it was clear the average sailors aboard were of significantly less girth than myself.

It must take a rare psychological outlook to serve on a submarine. It's more than just coping with the cramped, claustrophobic space. What about every creak and pop reminding you of the crushing pressure of the water wrapped around you 200 feet under the ocean's surface. Worse yet, what about when surface ships, dropping depth charges, have located your position! Of course, you better get along well with others. If you had a problem with one of the other 82 crew members you couldn't avoid seeing them in the tight quarters. I learned I could never be a seafaring sailor and I have a new respect for those who served to protect our nation.

No surprise, a lot of the submarine volume and personnel were dedicated to torpedoes.  There were six fore and four aft tubes and a total complement of 24 torpedoes.  Even more space was used to move the submarine through the water.  Underwater, the propellers were driven with large electric motors running on a massive bank of batteries.  On the surface, diesel engines powered the props and generators to charge the batteries.  There were two 126 cell batteries. Each battery cell weighed 1,647 pounds.  That worked out to a whopping 100 tons per battery!  Batteries comprised almost 15 percent of the total weight of the sub. 

Joani looked up the narrow passage to the periscope deck but let me explore it alone.  I can't imagine there could have been more than three or four people working in there at any given moment.

I wonder if there was ever a gauge that they looked at but just couldn't remember what it was?

After a total of five hours climbing through the battleship and submarine and skipping lunch, we, needless to say, were ready to get home to Sam, have some supper and finish off the evening with a glass of wine!

Friday, November 13, 2015

We saw Lambert's Cafe featured on Travel Channel's "countdown chow down" list years ago, so when we passed one in Foley, AL (there are three across the country) we had to try it out.

The guy to the far right in the picture below was a bit blurred as he was catching his own "throwed" roll.

I caught one too, but to avoid embarrassing myself I gripped all of the fluffiness right out of the roll. It was a hot mess, but covered with melted butter it was great!  I had a second roll handed to me as the server passed our table.  Fun fact:  Lambert's bakes an average of 520 dozen (6240) rolls a day - that's 2,246,400 per year!

The portions were huge and with all of the "pass-arounds," it was good that they provided us some to-go boxes.  Pass-arounds were included with every meal.  Servers wandered the aisles with fried potatoes and onions, fried okra, black-eyed peas, boiled cabbage, macaroni and tomatoes, apple butter and all of the hot rolls and sorghum you could eat.

So, overall, I guess we would say the Lambert's experience was interesting, but probably not something we need to repeat.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

We visited another science museum, this one in Mobile, AL. Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center was kid-centric and there were a couple class field trips, but it stayed pretty quiet. We spent a lot of time looking over the biology displays and I got to perform open heart surgery on a large screen computer simulation. Hopefully, my skills will never be needed in the operating room.

One of the most entertaining exhibits had a lot of steel shavings dancing to the music inside a sealed case.  When Flight of the Bumblebee played the shavings were just a blur.

The most interesting exhibits seem to always involve magnets!  This gem did not disappoint.

The little nubs danced to the music creating a mesmerizing effect.

Oh, to be a kid again with access to this giant foam Tinkertoy set.

I was having a big time playing with magnets and nano-ferrofluid. Pretty cool stuff!

What if a box of chocolates were really this size?  At least the exhibit gave me a different perspective on eating chocolate: chocolate grows in a tree, trees are plants, plants make a salad and everyone knows salads are healthy.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Through Facebook, I realized an old friend from high school, Larry, lived close to our current RV park.  After talking on the phone, I found he was less than 6 miles away!  Larry kindly invited us over and we spent a pleasant afternoon catching up a little on the last 45 years (Wow!  That revelation made me feel old!).

Larry and his wife, Linda (who was, unfortunately, at work), had just moved into their new house along the Fish River.  They worked with a builder who was able to nestle the house in amid the existing trees with only very minor trimming.  The custom built house was one of the nicest we have ever seen.

Just a few steps away from the large screened porch was the outdoor hub of life along the river. The boat dock included everything you could need whether you're fishing, watching a game or just waving at the passing boats.  You could even sit and wait for the mail to be delivered by boat right to the dock!  We were told this is the only remaining water delivery of mail in the Postal system.

Larry took us on a boat ride down the river to Mobile Bay.  It's been a long time since I was out on a boat and the ride took me back to my days as a teenager when I could not get enough skiing.  He said sometimes dolphins swim up the river, so we kept our eyes peeled, but I was distracted by houses and docks along the shoreline.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Some mornings you get up and the best breakfast decision is eating out.  How could you say "no" to a made from scratch Hardee's Biscuit?  It also gave us the opportunity to get our first look at Fairhope, AL.  After our biscuits, we parked along Fairhope Ave and walked the small downtown area.

We will have to return some evening to see all the lights we saw going up.

We are looking forward to Fairhope's tree lighting on November 19th.

Fairhope had a Charleston, SC kind of feel (although on a much smaller scale).  It was very walkable with lots of interesting architecture, nice homes and parks from the main street all the way to the water's edge (Mobile Bay).

We used to marvel at the sprawling mansions, but now the tiny cottages catch our eye.

This little gem already had our monogram on the door and a lending library out front.

The Live Oaks are so impressive in their grandeur.  They practically envelop the little cottages.

A short walk from the center of town takes you to the bay.

It was easy to see why Fairhope is a popular town for retired folks.

Monday, November 2, 2015

I cannot say we were unhappy to leave the Styx River "Resort".  We had decided to visit all of the Escapee parks (I think there are 18) and Rainbow Plantation, in Summerdale, AL, was a mere 24.7 miles away (75,623.8 miles total).

The park was located midway between Foley and Fairhope and only 30 miles from Mobile, so we knew there would be plenty to explore in the area.  It looked pretty nice on Google maps, so Joani had made a reservation for a week.  When we arrived we made a quick decision to extend our stay to a month.  Some confusion at the office made it a month and two days, but then we didn't have any place we had to be.

Behind the campground was a neighborhood of Escapee members who have built residences to accommodate their RVs.  I will have to see just what I can learn that might apply to our someday/somewhere home base.   

Sunday, November 1, 2015

It was another gloomy one, so a short road trip to Pensacola was the order of the day.  At the visitor center, we found directions to one of the only places where dogs were allowed on the beach.

Sam really wasn't much of a fan of the sand between his toes or he didn't like the look of those clouds so it was a short walk.  It was not a hard sell to get us back to the car since the clouds were spitting a little rain.

A visit to the Naval Air Museum required entry onto the base. It was lucky Joani had her ID (she doesn't always carry one) or we would have been turned away. From the parking area, the museum appeared small, but that was some kind of optical illusion because it was really quite large inside.

Below was the NC-4, the first Navy aircraft to cross the Atlantic. It was designed during WWI to search for submarines but never saw service before the end of the war. "The mammoth wooden hull . . . supported wings that stretched to 126 feet. Four Liberty V-12 engines fed from tanks containing 1,891 gallons of gasoline provided 1,600 horsepower, enabling a top speed of 85 miles per hour when the aircraft was at its fully loaded weight of 28,000 lb." With no mufflers, it had to make a lot of noise, but even more surprising to me was that our motorhome weighed two tons more than this airplane fully loaded!.

I cannot imagine just how terrifying it would have been to operate an antiaircraft gun while incoming planes were strafing your ship during World War II.

The PBY Catalina Flying Boat display was extremely well done. Below the suspended aircraft, a cutaway of the fuselage allowed you to see all of the aircraft workstations. There were even sleeping cots for the large crew.

A TBM Avenger, like the one below, was piloted by our first president Bush during WWII. By contrast to the NC-4 above, the single engine on this plane produced 1,900 hp and achieved a maximum speed of 276 mph.

The old Plymouth, below, was just a staff car during WWII but you have to love the lines and that style!

With the overcast skies it wasn't too warm outside for Sam, but since he was patiently waiting for us we decided to save the large hanger filled with newer aircraft for another day.