We continued on to Mobile, Alabama for a week where we did several more things with Dave and Mary.
We did have to note that we will not ever go back to the campground we stayed at due to the street noise and horrible bug situation! We found out all about "noseeums"! We could not enjoy sitting outside there and Mary, Mike and I had some miserable nights from the itching. Mike easily had hundreds of bites by the end of the week!
We now know that Mobile is the birthplace of Mardi Gras! Who knew! Most of us would assume it is New Orleans right? It is such a big thing in Mobile that the schools are closed for the week of Fat Tuesday as there are so many parades taking place all week and so many people are involved in them. Although Fat Tuesday is the biggest day, if you are not into that much craziness, you can attend some of the parades on the other days of the week that are not quite so crowded. We decided to go on Monday and were very happy with that decision.
While in Mobile we drove up into southern Mississippi to visit the Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. These particular sandhills are very special because they are a sub species of the sandhill crane spending their entire life in this refuge. There are only about 130 of these cranes and they are on the critically endangered list. We were fortunate to see 8 of them on the far side of a field.
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| Mississippi Sandhill Cranes on the critically endangered list |
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| a trail in the refuge took us along Davis Bayou.... |
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| crocodile |
beautiful blue accents under
this lizards chin and on his belly!
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| "Hucks" on the river |
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| a trail at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island |
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| pintail duck |
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| a noisy but beautiful mockingbird |
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| a pair of juvenile horned owls! |
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| adult and juvenile gulls |
Our Monday Mardi Gras
parade in Mobile!
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| seamen from the USS Mitscher, in town for a few days, led the parade. We visited the Mitscher and were given a tour of her deck areas. |
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| beads, candy and toys flying everywhere!! |
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| after the parade we visited the Bier Garten for a brew |
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| a mural made of mardi gras beads |
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| in Mobile it is oyster shell art! |
A day at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile: We toured the USS Alabama, a retired battleship, and the USS Drum, a retired submarine.
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| USS Alabama shot down 22 enemy airplanes during WWII |
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| USS Drum, during WWII she was credited with sinking 15 enemy ships |
Our last day in Mobile, Mike and I went to Blakeley State Park for some hiking. A very nice day with no bugs;) This park is known as the site of the Civil War Battle of Fort Blakeley, fought on April 9, 1865. It's fall led directly to the capture of Mobile by Union forces.
a trail at the park
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| Fort Blakeley was comprised of 3 miles of earthworks |
your unidentified duck is a pintail... looks like a lot of fun in Mobile was had by all...
ReplyDeleteThx! Love that blue bill and striking black and white on the pintail!
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