louisiana

We did not spend much time there but our Louisiana highlight was meeting a group of retired couples who have formed a camping group. They pick a new spot and go one weekend each month. They were nice to visit with, even though Finn asked them why they were old and if they liked their hair styles...awkward. they were.so kind, they brought us fresh cooked cat fish and shrimp, hushpuppies, strawberry cake and homemade cinnamon rolls, Yum!

laughs along the way....an on going list

..."there's condensation in my underwear".

..."you.ain't from around here, is ya?"

...While driving through an underwater tunnel which was also a very narrow and bumpy one way, the gentleman in the pick up behind us laid on his horn, then once out of the tunnel, pulled up along side of us and said "hey buddy, if you can't drive that $%&**%$# any better than that yall need to get off the $#$&**$#?&% road!!" Then with a big smile and a friendly wave he said "welcome to Alabama!"

...while showering at the campground a rather large hairy older gentleman was brushing his teeth.naked, finnegan came running out of the bathroom a bit disturbed. from that point on we have had fun with the line "I poop naked!"

...all ladies sitting on their porch , regardless of age, are referred to.as porch grannies.

..."keep the hammer down big papa, mamas got a possum in the oven."--trucker.

..."burp that kitty"

...look mom, I just saw somebody falling in love.

...sweet! A worm grunting festival! How lucky are we!

...Finn caught a sand crab and must have held onto it too long because it tried to burrow into his hand...it was stuck there and his shrilling scream was heard for miles.

..."are all the rides like this?" --Finn, with tear filled eyes after space mountain.

..."how much longer till we're there?" "We are there now".

....both boys have been pinched to the point of bleeding by various crabs (separate occasions)

..."he loves me, can't we please bring him home?"

...somebody yelled "there's a snake in the water!!" Everyone evacuated the spring, except for Finn and eli who eagerly swam to the snake.

...we have had 8 flat bike tires.

...a young gentleman working at the grocery store insisted on carrying out the bags for stephanie, she resisted, he insisted, he said" where you from, anyway?" After she replied Minnesota, he said "I hate yankees"

natchez ms

Natchez Mississippi is named after the natchez tribe who lived here before the arrival of the Europeans. It is significant because it became the home of extremely wealthy southern planters on the backs of slave labor. It became a principal port for cotton export to Europe as well as slave import. There is a spot, called Forks of the Road, which became the largest slave market in the south. Two business men rented this property and became the most active slave traders in the US. They took advantage of the low prices for slaves in the Virginia area by bringing the slaves down in coffles (walking chained slave caravans) and selling them in the high demand, high selling price Natchez. They would also be transported by ship to new Orleans and then on to natcnhez from there. It was because of the high demand for cotton in Europe and the growing slave market that Natchez planters were able to become the nations most elite and Natchez had the most millionaires in the US. They built antebellum (pre civil war) mansions to show off their extreme wealth.
We had never heard of Natchez or forks of the road nor had we ever seen any antebellum homes. First we took a drive around the city and figured we would tour one of the homes. We were disappointed to find out that the charge for admission was way out of our budget. We continued our drive, noticing the extreme poverty, broken down homes in contrast to the ultra elegant homes you would imagine Rhett and Scarlett lived in.

We did a little research on Forks of the Road and were imagining the tragedies that occurred in that very spot before we got there. In contrast to the admission charging , full parking lot, complete brochure explaining antebellum homes, forks of the road was merely a grassy spot, with a placard explaining a bit of the history of the spot, nobody else was there. We were shocked by the dichotomy. This is a spot where actual human beings were bought and sold, the very reason for for the extreme wealth and the significance was more than understated.

We found out that one of the mansions is now a US national historic park, which is free this week so we decided to go see it. A greek revival, complete with 24 carat lined wallpaper and curtain rods, original oil cloth floors, over 1500 piece spode china, etc, etc the mansion was a perfect example of the opulence of the time. Our tour guide gave us a very informative explanation of the home, furnishings and families who lived there and spent all of 4 sentences discussing the slaves.

Driving trough Alabama and Mississippi has been a real eye opener for us northerners.

Of course, no trip to mississippi would be complete without some real southern bbq so we had lunch at the Pig Out Inn...delish!

miSSiSSiPPi

Our introduction to mississippi was perfect. Right away we spotted a huge junk yard so we went in looking for licence plates. We met Crash, a former minnesotan turned mississippi rebel, who was delighted to give us a tour of the junk yard, plus we got two plates!

mobile alabama

The drive to mobile was studded with beautiful homes, parks and fancy stores all along the coast of mobile bay. It was not the Alabama we had pictured. We had been saving our dining budget for a true southern experience and we found it at the oyster house. We went hungry and stuffed ourselves with gator, shrimp, flounder, grits and slaw, then topped it off with better than Florida keys key lime pie. Just what we were looking for.
Still surprised at mobile's prosperity, we were in route to a thrift store ( because they are always good in "upper" areas) while making our way to Mississippi. Suddenly we found ourselves in a not so nice area, but continued to the thrift store anyway. Well, it ended up being more of a culture experience than a shopping experience. The thrift store was part of a drug rehab center. It was hard and good to.see. We continued on and saw very hard times in Alabama. Later we were told we had been in an area known as 8 mile, which is the poorest community in Alabama. good discussion followed.

blue angels

A fellow camper told us about this excellent naval aviation museum, which is also the home of the blue angels. The let visitors watch their practice shows for free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so we rerouted our plan so we could go see them. On Monday we toured the museum and were floored at the amazing collection of aircraft that was all privately funded and is free to tour. A retired navy pilot, turned astronaut inspired us with his life story and commended us in our homeschool efforts and travels.
Tuesday we for up early and were so excited to see the show. We were blown away by the dare devil maneuvers, inspired by the skill and bravery of those pilots. So thrilled were we that we decided that we had to go back the next day to catch the show again and meet the pilots.

gulf shores ALABAMA

Not too far down the road we went to gulf shores al, again different, now because it is a huge state park that was rebuilt in 2004 after hurricane Ivan, complete with a pool, WiFi, laundry mat, store and very nice nature center. The boys loved the pool and the spot turned out being just what we needed. We spent a day at the pool, getting almost all of the sand washed off, and trying our best to use the WiFi to upload a back load of photos to the blog. We aren't sure but a frustrating mix of poor wireless, blog site issues and our pc ignorance prevented us from getting all the photos loaded.
There is also an extra long fishing pier that was doubled in length when it was rebuilt. People were catching giant reds the size of finnegan. We didn't get Amy of those but eli learned how to catch bait fish. We also saw a pod of rays swimming gracefully around the pier, their wings catching in the waves.
We got up close to some nature. We all got to pet baby alligators, which are quite adorable actually. A rainy day sent us to the zoo, which was very small and had some great animals. They even offer an interactive center where we got to feed, hold and play with lemurs! So flipping cute and fun!!

henderson (destin) fl

We are in a state park in mobile Alabama. The crazy thing about trapsing around for 2 months is that transition can be hard and the unknown of what lies before us. For a few days now we have all known that we would be leaving the ocean, leaving the beautiful beaches, the sea life, the fishing, the salt in the air and heading back north. We didn't want to go.
From st Andrews we continued west to Henderson state park (still fl panhandle). At first it was a difficult transition. So many people had told us how fabulous destin is, and after leaving ultra fabulous st Andrews, we had high expectations. But we were surprised that destin is a built up, ultra $$ community. It just took a while for us to appreciate the area. The camp site spot was special because each campsite was nestled in lush green old growth and very private. We had a rainy day so the boys constructed a shelter out of palms. Despite the dark grey skies, we hit the beach and tried to catch some pompano. Here an older gentleman who has been fishing there for 50 years taught the boys how to catch sand fleas (little crab like critters ) for bait. We didn't catch any pompano but Chris caught a ladyfish and stephanie found a nice sea bead.
The skies cleared and we went back to the beach where we met another homeschool family. Their oldest boy, Alex, showed the boys how to make duct tape wallets and then they all compared survival kits.
We spent the rest of our time at the beach, soaking it up. Eli spent so much time body boarding he got sunburned pretty good.