Since I had a five-day weekend this year for the Fourth of July, we decided to head to Mobile and stay at Historic Blakely State Park in Spanish Fort, AL.
Blakely was the last major battle of the US Civil War fought on the same day that Robert E. Lee surrendered, April 9th, 1865. Roughly 3500 Confederate troops stood between more than 16,000 Union troops and Mobile, AL. At the end of the day, as expected, the Union had broken the Confederate lines and then moved into Mobile. The park encompasses the battlefield, preserving the lines and providing a glimpse into the past. It's hard to imagine almost 20,000 men facing off to do battle. The roar of the cannon, the sound of black-powder rifles. The clash of troops in such a beautiful area. And then, it was all over.
We drove up on Wednesday, It was a nice uneventful drive towing the motorcycle. Traffic was light so we made it in about 6 hours. After getting camp set up and having dinner, we took a walk to explore. We walked about two miles in total and by the time we got back to the RV we were soaked in sweat. It was hot and humid.
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| Campsite RV6 |
Thursday, the Fourth, we got up and went to find breakfast. We ended up at East Shore Cafe and let me tell you what. It was delicious. I had a shrimp salad sandwich served on a croissant and Jodi had their chicken pecan salad sandwich. It's located down in Daphne, AL on Main St. I really encourage you to try it if you're ever in the area.
We then proceeded across the bay into Mobile to do some antique shopping. Of course, as luck would have it we got soaked in a rainstorm. Afterwards we went and explored the battlefield as well as the defunct town of Blakely and found the boat dock for our boat ride later that evening. We headed back to the bus to cool off, have dinner and then get ready for our boat ride to watch the fireworks at the battleship USS Alabama.
Jodi and I in front of the hiding tree.
Stories say that after the battle Confederate Soldiers
hid in the opening of the tree to avoid capture.
Look at that beautiful smile. 💘
A beautiful sunset on our way to watch the fireworks
Fireworks Over the USS Alabama (BB-60)
The USS Alabama (BB-60)
On Friday we went and had breakfast at Waffle House then made our way across the bay to the
USS Alabama (BB-60) Memorial Park. Located at the park is the USS Drum (SS-228), a WW II Gato class submarine that completed thirteen war patrols, sinking fifteen ships and finishing the war 8th overall in tonnage sunk by US submarines.
Also at the park is a myriad of planes including an A12 (similar to the SR71), F/A-18 Hornet, A4 Skyhawk and others. It was really great to see each of them. After doing a quick tour of the USS Drum, we headed over to the 'Bama. 'The Mighty A' as she is affectionately known is a South Dakota class battleship commissioned on August 16th, 1942. She would go on to earn nine battle stars for her participation in WW II and lead the fleet into Tokyo Bay on September 5th, 1945 to accept the surrender of the Japanese. She was decommissioned in 1947, less than five years after she was commissioned, and moved to Mobile as a museum ship in 1965. Then it was back to the RV to cool off and relax.
Nope, not an F-18. A YF-17.
That's the USS Drum (SS-228) behind it
Three of 'The Mighty As' 16" guns.
On either side you can see four of her 5" guns
B-25
A6 Intruder
Saturday, we decided to go for a ride and headed south towards Magnolia Springs which was recently voted one of the souths most beautiful towns. Stopping off once again at East Shore Cafe for lunch where this time I had the Battleship with all the toppings. Afterwards, we rode south along ALT US-98 admiring the homes and the bay. Unfortunately, due to the excessive heat we had to turn back to get to the RV to get cooled off, so we didn't make it to Magnolia Springs this time. But we look forward to our next opportunity.
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