This One Was Pretty

Heron Waiting for Lunch

Home That We Were Glad To See Still Standing

Friday - April 13 - Today was another beautiful day so we decided to drive over to Pensacola Beach which is like Hatteras, a spit of land with ocean on one side and the bay on the other. It costs $1.00 to get onto the Beach, free to come back.

We left the park here and took the ocean drive to go over to Pensacola. There is a large bridge over Perdido Bay so we stopped down under the bridge to watch the boats and look over to Orange Beach. The last time we were here there was an absolutely gorgeous multi-million dollar home right on the beach and we were curious to see if it had survived Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and I am glad to say it did. There were a lot of fishermen down there and 3 herons just standing around waiting for a free meal, we talked to one fellow for a bit and he said as soon as a fish is thrown into a pail the herons make a grab for it.

One thing that amazes us is the number of huge, new homes going up along the ocean and numerous huge new hotels and condos, and all are being built up high on stilts. At Flounders, where we had lunch, there was a mirror on the way to the Ladies with a mark as to how high the water had risen when Ivan hit and it was up to my waist. Sure would make a mess of things.

The beaches here are so much nicer than the beaches in Texas, there we found them quite dirty with lots of seaweed and the water is very brown, here it is beautiful white sand, very little seaweed, and the water is a beautiful blue, green. There were a lot of people on the beaches today, apparently it is spring school break somewhere as there were lots of kids - next week is spring school break for this area. We stopped for lunch

Can You See the Osprey in the Nest?

Serenity

Mirror Lake

Another View of Bellingrath House

A Small Home on the Fowl River

Bellingrath Home & Front Garden

Thursday - April 12 - Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and in the low 80’s. We decided to go to Bellingrath Gardens, it is south of Mobile so about 60 miles from here but having been there a number of years ago we knew it would be worth the drive.

The gardens were the creation of Mr. & Mrs. Walter Bellingrath. Mr. Bellingrath had the first coca cola distributorship in Mobile and was a very successful business man. His doctor suggested he find something to do for relaxation so he bought a fishing camp on the Fowl River, his wife then decided that it would be a good place for gardens so they purchased another 60 acres and hired the best architect in Mobile and developed the gardens, which were opened to the public in 1934.

In 1935 they built Bellingrath Home which is 10,500 square feet in size and is English Renaissance style. Mrs. Bellingrath had a very large collection of decorative art which is showcased in the home and is beautiful. Mrs. Bellingrath died in 1943 at the age of 64 and since they had no children, when Mr. Bellingrath died in 1955 at the age of 86, his estate had been converted to the Bellingrath-Morse Foundation to oversee the gardens and open the house to the public and it continues to be open to the public.

While there we took a cruise on the Fowl River aboard the Southern Belle River Cruiser. This river is home to 11 pairs of Osprey and their nests are amazing, they are huge and weigh over 140 lbs. We could see heads sticking out of the nests but didn’t get a good view of the Osprey other than that. The cruise was very informative and enjoyable.

Coming home we drove along the east side of Mobile Bay through some pretty little towns and couldn’t believe the number of new homes being built along the bay. They are all being built on very high stilts in order to protect them from flooding in the case of another hurricane, they look quite funny up on their stilts and there sure are lots of stairs to get in and out. When we got back we went to Doc’s Seafood Shack for a shrimp dinner which was very good.

Wednesday - April 11 - Today was overcast until about 3 then the sun came out and it turned beautiful. We had a quiet day, I read and just took it easy, then when the sun came out we went for a nice walk. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm & sunny so we are planning on going to Bellengrath Gardens.

Tuesday - April 10 - Today was a wet one, it rained early this morning then the sun came out so John went out and washed the trailer and truck - he wanted to make sure it would rain! And it did, it started to rain before he was finished washing and rained off and on all day with a very heavy rain and thunderstorm this evening.

There is a new Camping World back towards Mobile so we drove up there then came back and drove around Orange Beach and Gulf Shores where Ivan hit in 2004. There are so many new places here, it is hard to imagine a hurricane ever came through. We drove through Gulf Shores State Park and that is where we saw what Ivan had done, the sites used to be very private with lots of trees, now there are no trees - everything is open. They have just reopened the park and there are all new cement pads and hookups, which were badly needed before Ivan, but there are very few trees and where there are still some they are totally dead, very sad. The park is very large so it was the front part closest to the beach and where the camping is that took the brunt of the storm, at the back of the park there are still lots of trees and bush and it still looks the same. There is a new Wal Mart just behind the park so we stopped and got a couple of things there then came home and did laundry.

The internet here is very iffy, I can’t get on tonight so hopefully will be able to get on in the morning and get this posted.

Mr. Alligator

Egret in Swamp

Cypress Stand in Swamp

Houseboat in Swamp

Monday - April 9 - Today we left Abbeville for Gulf Shores, Alabama. Interstate 10 is a terrible highway in places through Louisiana, we were doing lots of bouncing!! Fortunately it was better through Mississippi and Alabama. Going through Mississippi we couldn’t see the coast at all, but Bucaneer State Park, where we stayed a number of years ago, is still closed from the hurricane as well as bridges along the coast. I guess it will take many years to get everything repaired.

We crossed the Atchafalaya Basin which is located in mid Louisiana and is about 20 miles in width from east to west and 150 miles in length. It consists of about 595,000 acres and is the nation’s largest swamp wilderness containing bottomland hardwoods, cypress stands, swamplands, bayous and back water lakes. There is abundant wildlife in the basin - alligators, snakes, bears, cougars, many species of fish, etc. etc. Interstate 10 crosses the basin on elevated pillars and is a continuous bridge for over 18 miles. We spent about a week in this area a few years ago and found it very fascinating. I didn’t get any pictures yesterday but will post a couple that we took a few years ago.

We are at Gulf Breezes RV Park in Gulf Shores for a week. The people next to us arrived yesterday as well and are from Barrie and it turns out they go to the same park as we are going to next winter in Yuma, in fact they will be about 5 or 6 sites down from us. They have been going there since it opened about 5 years ago and love it, so it was nice to talk to someone who stays there.

Sunday - April 8 - Happy Easter everyone, hope you all had a nice day. Today was fairly quiet, we did some cleaning this morning and then went to the potluck dinner at 2. All the food was very good and there was a ton of it. We were just finishing eating when Betty’s aunt came in, today was her 90^th birthday and she didn’t look a day over 70. She still lives in her own house and does all her own work except cut the grass, she walks two miles a day, drives and goes to dances - amazing. She has also had two bouts of cancer, but said she doesn’t have time for that nonsense! Certainly an inspiration.