When you think of Mobile what comes to mind? Well prior to our visit, not much for me. First impressions: A very busy sea port with cargo ships arriving nonstop; A bay with numerous natural gas platforms and the occasional oil platform; One of the most impressive war memorials I've ever seen; One good symphony orchestra; A beautiful Cathedral; Very friendly people; and not far away a Christmas light display that is one of the best in the country. Not bad for a 4 day visit. Also here is a quiz for the younger generation. What is this.
It's not a long trip to Shady Acres RV park in Mobile. The only reason I booked it was to be closer to the SaengerTheatre for our concert on Saturday night. I didn't know what the ride would be like late at night on unfamiliar roads. Knowing what I know now, we would of stayed at Dauphin Island. But that's ok. One of the side benefits of going to different RV Parks is that you meet new people, and we met a couple who we will be getting together with somewhere down the road.
Our first day wasn't typical. We set up, got the lay of the land etc. But since it was such a short trip we were done early so we drove into Mobile to pick up our tickets for the Pentatonix concert, which is why were were there in the first place. After we got our tickets we walked around downtown. Found a great local restaurant for lunch, and came across the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
The next day we went to Mobile's Battleship Memorial Park. For anyone who is a war history nut like we are, this is a must visit once in your lifetime. What's there you ask? Well we have the star of the show The Battleship USS Alabama, the Submarine USS Drum, over 25 aircraft from the A-12 Blackbird Spy Plane to a B-52 Bomber.
Now I have been in 4 WWII submarines. One of which was German, and the USS Yorktown Aircraft carrier. All of which were impressive. But this is downright awe inspiring. Don't worry I'm not going to go into all the tons of info about the ship. Nor am I going to post hundreds of pictures. If you want more either email me or go visit it yourself. For now here is a selection of photos to enjoy.
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| B-52 |
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| Battle Flag |
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| Shells for the big guns |
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| Lynn in the turret of one of the big Guns |
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| Seems like Lynn likes all of the guns |
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| And another gun |
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| Smaller spaces not made for 6'4" people |
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| A good idea of how big the ship is. |
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| And another gun |
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| Blackbird spy plane |
The other major attraction that we went to was Bellingrath Gardens which is about a 20 minute ride south. This 65 acre estate is know for its beautiful gardens and house, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. During the Christmas season it puts on a light show that is considered one of the best in the country. As we were walking the grounds it was like a never empty glass. The lights keep going and going. Every corner you turned was a different theme. From "Under the Sea" to Japan to the Christmas train. It was absolutely breathtaking. Here is a small collections of pictures that we took.
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| We got there early to avoid the crowd and are we glad we did. When we left there was a line of cars stretching 2 blocks waiting to get into the parking field. |
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| Even in twilight the lights were still beautiful. |
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| We hope you all had a great Holiday Season. |
To wrap up our stay in Mobile we went to see Pentatonix who sang with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. This was a first for PTX. The show was tremendous and so was the MSO. After the concert we got a meet and greet with PTX and an autographed CD. It was a great way to end our visit and we will try to see them live again sometime. But that will be hard this tour as most dates are sold out.
Hope you enjoyed the blog and we'll see you down the road.
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