Our Anniversary Gulf Coast Trip - Part 4 - Bourbon Street

We left Mobile and drove to New Orleans on Thursday, August 23. It is not a far drive so we got there with daylight to spare. We already had two recommendations for the Oceania Grill so we lit out on foot for Bourbon Street.

We found the whole thing a bit shocking and quite a mixture of things to see. With a collection of weird looking people in the streets we'd pass a bar, followed by a trinket shop, followed by an upscale restaurant, followed by a strip joint with some really skanky looking hags standing mostly nekkid in the doorway. When we finally got to the Oceania, sweet Wifey was heard to say, "This is a real den of debauchery."

At the Oceania I had my first experience with crawfish in the form of crawfish etoufee, and it was DELICIOUS!

We finally made our way back to our most comfortable hotel, Quality Inns and Suites, New Orleans. They were very nice. They upgraded us to a suite for the same price and provided a hot breakfast. We were on the 9th floor well away from the street noise. We slept well that night.

Go HERE to see all our Day 1 New Orleans pictures. The saga continues in part 5.

Our Anniversary Gulf Coast Trip - Part 3 - Born to Ride!

Day 2 and day 3 in Mobile consisted of touring the area on the motorcycle. We first lit out for Dauphin Island. I had been there many years ago in fact right after Hurricane Camille, and the west end of the island was pretty much bare. Well, all has certainly been restored. Sweet Wifey had never been and she enjoyed the ride.

We also visited Fort Gaines. Built in 1821, the fort was instrumental during the Battle of Mobile Bay in the civil war.

After refreshing ourselves at the Common Loon Cafe, we took a ride on the Dauphin Island Ferry over to point Morgan.

After completing the ferry ride, we visited Fort Morgan. This fort built in 1834 saw action in the civil war as did Fort Gaines. I was surprised to learn that artillery was placed at the fort as late as World War 2 I suppose to shoot at Nazi subs if they ever tried to enter Mobile Bay.

That evening we made our way to Ed's Seafood Shed. For the very first time I experienced soft-shell crab, and they were DELICIOUS!

And at the end of the day, there was still time for a little blogging.

The next day sweet Wifey and I mounted Henrietta and headed in the opposite direction down the Mississippi gulf coast. We hugged US highway 90 all the way from Pascagoula to Pass Christian enjoying beautiful beach scenes and the many fine homes along the way. That evening we went back to Ed's Seafood Shed so sweetie pie could also enjoy some soft-shell crab. Gooooooooooood FOOD!

Go HERE and HERE to enjoy our day 2 and day 3 pictures from Mobile. More to come in Part 4.

Our Anniversary Gulf Coast Trip - Part 2 - The Battleship Alabama

In the upper portion of Mobile Bay resides a beautiful and magnificent sight. I speak of the museum ship, USS Alabama, (BB-60). The Alabama is a World War 2 South Dakota class battleship, steeped in history and tradition.

In my humble opinion there is nothing more beautiful and impressive than the World War 2 battleship. The lines, the colors, the huge guns, the thick armor, the speed and power, and the thousands of officers and men that lived aboard and fought those ships in battle are absolutely awesome and are second to none.

Of course these ships have now faded into history being completely supplanted by the aircraft carrier and the guided missile destroyer. Indeed they are monuments to a simpler and more straightforward time never to be experienced again by mankind.

Aircraft carriers are OK, but lets face it, They are nothing more than an airport on top of a big ship. There’s nothing much beautiful about that.

Our first full day in Mobile included a visit to Battleship Park.

The feature attraction is the USS Alabama, (BB-60).

She's a big sucker, displacing around 35,000 tons. Actually this is pretty average among battleships. The largest battleships in history were the Yamato and Musashi, built by Japan, and displacing about 65,000 tons. The Yamato and Musashi were both sunk by air attack and were never a factor in surface engagements. The Nimitz Class aircraft carriers displace around 100,000 tons and are the largest warships ever built.

Just about anywhere on the deck of the Alabama, you're usually within arm's reach of a gun.

Like this 20mm antiaircraft gun.

Or this twin 40mm antiaircraft gun.

Or these 5 inch dual purpose guns.

How about these triple 16 inch guns,

which can launch this 2800 pound projectile over 20 miles with precision? YEAH BABY!

There's just nothing better than big guns and a HOT CHICK!

One of my favorite places was the fire bridge where you could hide behind 16 inches of armor and direct fire from the big guns.

I could go on and on about the Alabama. In wartime, this ship had a crew of about 2500 officers and men. We visited the quarters of all from the captain down to the cramped quarters of the lowly seaman recruit. We visited the galley, the laundry, the sickbay, the dental office, the chapel, the ship’s store, the brig, the engine and boiler room, the magazines, and all those other places you might imagine might be required to meet the needs of all those men during weeks or months at sea. It’s all there, like a floating city.

Battleships park also contains other interesting attractions such as the submarine, USS Drum.

Also there are a variety of aircraft.

Last but not least are the Alabama Korean and Vietnam War memorials.

We finally went back to our hotel, the Drury Inn, a very nice place and not nearly as expensive as the Embassy Suites. That evening we found dinner at Felix's Fish Camp. We enjoyed delicious seafood and a beautiful sunset over Mobile Bay.

What a great day in Mobile, AL. Go HERE to enjoy all our pictures of the day's events. The saga continues in part 3.

Our Anniversay Gulf Coast Trip - Part 1 - Huntsville

The past 2 weeks have been really great. Coming up on Sept 2 will be the 40th wedding anniversary for Dr. and Mrs. Grouch and I wanted to plan something extra special for my sweetie.

I planned a 3 pronged approach for our anniversary vacation with a leg to Huntsville, Al, the Alabama/Mississippi gulf coast and New Orleans. I also made plans to take Henrietta, our motorcycle along for the ride. The problem with motorcycles is that you can’t haul many of your provisions with you. To solve this problem I bought a motorcycle trailer and we hauled the old girl behind our SUV.

 

Our first stop was Huntsville, Al. During the weekend of August 18 and 19, the Huntsville Hamfest was occurring. My sweet wifey had never been to a major hamfest and I thought this was a prime opportunity for her to give hamfesting a try. In fact I believe she enjoyed herself a whole bunch. Several of our old friends were there and we both enjoyed socializing.

WD4GXI, WD4JHD, KA4P, KU4K

 

We also stayed in the very nice and upscale Embassy Suites. It was a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. The hotel is connected to the Von Braun Center where the hamfest is held so all you gotta do is get up, eat the full breakfast provided by the hotel, and take the enclosed catwalk next door to the hamfest. Very nice and convenient. Fridee night we also enjoyed fine steaks at the Ruth’s Chris steakhouse on the ground floor of the hotel.

An aside trip included a visit to the US Space and Rocket Center. This is a must see if you visit Huntsville. You'll get a load of history from early rocketry to the accomplishments of NASA and our brave astronauts as they went where no man had gone before.

We concluded our trip to Huntsville with a visit to the home of Tim, KK5H, and Rhonda Holland where we had much good fellowship and arguably the best barbeque we had ever eaten. Tim smokes barbeque each and every year for his ham friends and the feast is a real treat for everyone. Thanks again to Tim and Rhonda.

Rhonda, Tim, and Fred the cat.

Booger, WO4V, Joan, W4JNI, Bill, AB4EJ, and Suzy.

Our host Tim, KK5H, hard at work.

The beautiful and sexy, N4OYM, on the ham radio.

From Huntsville, we packed our bags and headed for Mobile, AL. Go HERE to enjoy all of our Huntsville pictures. The trip resumes in part 2.