A Taste of the Confederacy and 98 Year Old Hot Dogs...

We drove into Alabama and spent a night in Fort Payne. It was just a quick stopover...we didn't even unhook the truck from the fifth wheel. We stayed at Wills Creek RV Park. It's easy to get to, right off Interstate 59 and has pull thrus long enough to stay hooked up. Only disappointment was that they advertised cable TV and no longer have it.  Now I have two NCIS episodes to catch up on!

State Capitol Building

Our campsite

We reached Montgomery, AL the next day and stayed at Capital City RV Park.  It's located just outside Montgomery, so it was a good drive to go anywhere, but we liked the park. Lots of pull thrus, grassy areas and decent  space between sites for a city RV park. They are serious about their rules and there are traffic cones marking which way to go, but that's why the park is so clean and quiet.

Our turbo went out again on our way to Montgomery. This time the check engine light came on. Jack pulled over, turned off the truck and restarted and the turbo kicked back in. Unfortunately we lost the turbo at least three more times. When we arrived at the RV park we mentioned it to the owner. He recommended a nearby mechanic who had worked at Ford until he opened his own shop, Lee's Auto Repair. Jack took the truck over, Lee took him right in and found the problem and took care of it.. It was a shorted out EGT sensor. So happy for the recommendation and that it was only $200.

Lots of Civil Rights history there as well as some Civil War history. We visited the First Confederate White House where Jefferson Davis lived. It was interesting to see, but I looked at it with a different perspective since I just can't get into the whole Confederate Southern Pride thing. Jack's a Civil War buff and he really enjoyed it.

Here are some photos of the inside...

On the right, a close up of the detailed trim...

We didn't get to see the Rosa Parks Museum...it was closed, but I found this National Park Website very good reading. It takes you through the Fight for Civil Rights step by step. Even though I lived through most of it, I still learned a good bit reading through it.

I did discover a hot dog place downtown that's 98 years old and it looks it! Chris' Hot Dogs. it's now run by Chris' son Theo. The hot dogs and burgers were basic, but good and the prices were very reasonable. We had two hot dogs, two burgers, two drinks and an order of fries for $14...that's cheaper than McDonald's!

We didn't find much else in Montgomery to interest us. I went to a mall looking for a department store so I could  pick up a Clinique eyeliner.  There was both a Belk's and a Dillard's and neither had cosmetic counters! I'll try somewhere else.

We did get a chance to just relax and chill a bit before heading to our next stop...New Orleans.

Battleships, a Submarine and a POW...

USS North Carolina

USS Alabama

One of the things we've done while in Pensacola is drive to Mobile, Alabama and visit the Battleship, the USS Alabama, and the Submarine, the USS Drum.



We visited the USS North Carolina in Wilmington in January (although I just realized the visit never made it into a blog post) and, to me, a battleship is a battleship, but Jack wanted to see how the two ships might differ and I'd always wanted to see a submarine, so off we went! Jack found many differences in the battleships (please don't ask me what they were), but all I can tell you is that the signs for the self-tour were laid out much better on the North Carolina than on the Alabama.

USS Drum
Bunks above and below torpedoes

After touring the battleship we went to tour the submarine. I knew they were compact, but this exceeded my expectations. There were bunks packed in everywhere...even among the torpedoes...can't imagine sleeping either above or below a torpedo...and the doors between sections were so small it was hard even for my 5'3" self to get through. There were a few areas where we had to walk sideways in order to navigate through them!

Being able to see the inside of a submarine was very interesting...as long as you aren't claustrophobic!

Before we left, we visited the gift shop. I'm not much for souvenirs but I always like to look and we had the good luck to happen upon a book signing. Former World War II POW Col. Glenn D. Frazier (Ret.) was autographing copies of his book Hell's Guest. I bought a copy for Jack and we thanked the Colonel for his service. Jack finished the book in two days and really enjoyed it and I've added it to my "to read" pile.