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Never been to 'Bama before. The license plates say "Sweet Home Alabama"....
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In Foley AL, a restaurant where they throw the food at you . . . .
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They're proud of their family of food chuckers
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They didn't throw the steak or the fries . . .
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Not far from Mobile, Bellingrath Gardens promised many bloomin' things
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We were not disappointed
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Leatherleaf Mahonia looks a lot like Oregon Grape
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Roses are always nice . . .
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This rose was especially nice . . .
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Orchids of every hue . . .
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Spring flowers have great colors
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More orchids
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The gardens weren't exactly ablaze with color, but there were many nice spots
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Many of the trees had good growths of Resurrection Fern
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Hydrangeas of almost every hue were evident - they use small potted plants and replace them yearly
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Closer to the house, neat water features
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Nice
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They called it the Grotto. The water ultimately flowed to the river
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Not bad for a "fishing camp"
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We didn't take the nature cruise on the Fowl River
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Many places took advantage of the natural shape of the land
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We crossed into Florida to visit Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the Blue Angels
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It's also home of the Navy's premiere air museum
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The Spirit of Naval Aviation greets you as you enter the museum, underneath a replica of the first Navy plane - a Curtis pusher
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Lots of historical aircraft - this one is the first Navy plane to cross the Atlantic
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There were planes crammed into every avaiable nook - hard to see them all
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There were planes of every vintage . . . .
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Several cutaway displays showed the innards of the aircraft
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Carrier-based planes were displayed around a carrier bridge
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Those folding wing aircraft are fascinating
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There are about 50 aircraft outside, awaiting completion of a new display building
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Some of them are large amphibious planes like this one
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One display area recreates Pensacola as it was during WW2
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One gallery contains four of the Blue Angels planes in formation . . .
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This Apollo capsule was the Skylab II Command Mudule, and carried the first crew to Skylab (and back) in 1973
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The Cubi Bar Cafe, a working restaurant, is a replica of the bar area of the Cubi Point Officers' Club in the Phillipines
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Outside, we snapped a picture of the Pensacola NAS lighthouse, just because we like lighthouses
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Back at the RV Park, tubers floating by on the Styx River
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We had dinner with Lynn and Terri Schreiner . . .
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Next day, just before they pulled out . . . looks like retirement suits them well
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Up the street, the Derailed Diner attracted us . . .
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One of the lunch booths - the hind end of a pickup truck . .
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We were impressed with the Mobile skyline, and those impressive buildings
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Mobile is proud of the battleship Alabama, now a museum. We didn't tour it . . .
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The sign said it's a 7/8 scale replica of 1/3 of the original Spanish fort. Still impressive . . .
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We drove around looking for impressive homes, and were not disappointed . . .
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We liked that tower . . .
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This is Oakleigh House, dating to 1833, one of Mobile's historical home museums. It was closed that day . . .
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Really nice . . . but think of the effort to keep it clean!
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This is the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, from 1855, Mobile's "finest antebellum home". It was open that day
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The house is authentically furnished and restored, and gets a lot of use for weddings
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In fact, this bride was having pictures taken while we toured
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Next stop, Dothan, and quite possibly the classiest-looking "campsite" we've ever had . . .
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There was a huge motorcycle rally down the road - and we saw (and heard) these folks for days
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The famed Dothan "Golden Peanut", signifying it's the Peanut Capitol of the world.
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There are several decorated fiberglass nuts in town, including the King Nut himself
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'Sam" welcomed us to Sam's Cub . . .
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And this fellow offered up boiled nuts - cannibalism, maybe?
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Dothan also has lots of murals depicting the heritage of the city - this one early industry
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All of these country music folks supposedly have a connection to Dothan
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This mural celebrates some of the more positive aspects of Black life in the area
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In the RV park, this decked-out Cruiser makes ours look pretty plain
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Outside Montgomery, the entrance to the Jasmine Hill Gardens, a celebration of Greek art
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The folks that built these gardens were great fans of ancient Greece
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The made more than 20 trips to Greece to bring back statuary and other things
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Jasmine Hill is also a popular wedding place - there were two happening the day we toured
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All of the Greek artifacts are replicas of ancient things, but were made in Greece
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A leisurely stroll around the gardens takes about 90 minutes
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Lots of discoveries as you turn corners
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This replica of temple ruins is the only one of its kind in the world
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Very beautiful . . .
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There's a wedding group at the end of the walkway
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Many colors of poppies
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Many colors of foxglove as well
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The ornamentation on the cast-iron fence is all hand-painted, custom made in New Orleans
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It's Greek - you knew there had to be naked wrestlers
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Not to mention nymphs
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And more beautiful flowers
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That's the entrance to the Montgomery Tourist Info Center, in the old train station downtown
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For 50 cents, we could ride all over town on the "Lightning Route" trolley . . .
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Montgomery was the home of legendary country singer Hank Williams, and the museum celebrates his life
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There's even a Hank Williams statue at the place where his funeral was held
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That's the Court Square Fountain, with the Alabama State Capitol in the background
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The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church was Dr Martin Luther King's first (and only) pastorate - 1954-60
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The Alabama State Capitol Building
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The home where Dr King and his family lived while in Montgomery
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The first White House of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis lived here for a few months in 1861
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Nice building - the state historical archives
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The King Memorial Legacy Center is behind the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
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The Civil Rights Memorial Center houses a museum, library and study center
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The Civil Rights Memorial (foreground) was designed by the same lady who designed the Vietnam Memorial
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Some old houses are in need of some TLC
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The Church of Christ was originally built as the local Synagogue, and was purchased for $7500 in 1901
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Nice ornamentation . . .
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Entrance to the Old Alabama Town . . .
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We shared part of our visit with some school groups, so the blacksmith was working that day
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The wander through the old cotton gin was fascinating
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Cotton arrives at the gin in wagons
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and comes out the other end in bales, which require some hard work to pack
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A finished bale is almost as hard as a rock . . .
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We had a delightful spinning and weaving demonstration
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The Lucas Tavern dates to around 1840
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This old doctor's office was used until the 1930s
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Never heard of that practice before . . . must have been when "Fragile" stamps came into vogue
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The old homes were appropriately furnished
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The really old homes were less well furnished
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Old stores are always fun to graze
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OK . . . that looks way too familiar to be that old
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The docents were very informative . . .
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The old railroad freight station now serves as the main building for the local baseball stadium
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Finally, this look at the old train shed we parked in. We think the stained glass is a modern touch.