Graceland

Our campground at Hernando Point was only about 20 miles from Graceland, so we succumbed.  Graceland is on the south side of Memphis.  It is easily reached going north of our campground up highway 51.  Very little traffic existed on this route.  The campground is really perfectly situated for a Graceland visit.

Of course Graceland is there for a profit.  We handed over $10 for parking and $54 for a self-guided audio tour of the mansion.  If one wanted to visit the airplane and auto museum, more cash was needed.  Of course, you could hand over wads more cash to purchase Elvis's likeness and name on everything imaginable.

A shuttle takes you from the parking/ticketing area across the street to the house.   Audio devices are issued so that you can hear a description of what you are seeing at your own pace.  Video recording and flash photography is not allowed.  Most of the house is sufficiently lit to allow flash-less picture taking.

And now some flash-less photos. First the front door:

 Here is the formal living area viewed directly upon entering the house.

The billiard room with its pleated fabric walls.

The "monkey" room:

The backyard.

A photo-op with the King:

A garage building full of gold records and other memorabilia.  The room has two aisles filled with his trophies.

More gold/platinum records in the racquetball court:

A favorite movie poster:

The "Memory Gardens" burial plot:

And a parting shot of the front yard:

 

The crowd was light during our morning visit.

Arkabutla Lake, Mississippi

Today we drove about 230 miles northeast and landed 30 miles south of Memphis at the Hernando Point Corps of Engineering Campground.  The campground lies along the shores of the 12,730 acre Arkabutla Lake.  The campground is less than 10 miles off I-55 and about 5 miles off of US 51 on Wheeler Road.

Payment of the $20 fee is on the honor system.  Sites are level and paved with table, grill, fire pit and lantern pole.  Some sites are on a bluff overlooking the lake while others are inland.  Most sites have some shade.  Some of the parking pads are raised so that there is a steep drop off to the table etc.  One needs to watch their step in the dark so as not to fall and/or twist an ankle.

Our site #21 is fairly typical.

Here is a view from our front door:

The campground has 83 sites and is listed as acceptable for RVs up to 40 feet.  Electric and water hookups are at each site.  A dump station is available.  Temperatures were in the mid-80s when we arrived so snow was not in evidence.  Shucks!

Okatibbee Lake, Mississippi

Today we started our trip north for the season.  We followed US 45 north from near Mobile to Collinsville, Mississippi.  The short 180 mile trip brought us through lightly populated and heavily wooded parts of eastern Mississippi.  Collinsville is about 15 miles northwest of Meridian.

We set up camp at site 32 on the Black Gum loop of the Twiltley Branch campground at the Corps of Engineering complex at Okatibbee Lake.  In other words, we are camping for the night on a rather large lake in eastern Mississippi.

The sites in our area all have electrical and water hook-ups.  We had a roomy area on our door side, but the site was a bit crowded on the opposite side.

For $20 a night, we have a wonderful little piece of paradise for the evening.   All sites came with a large newer table, fire ring, grill and lantern  pole.  And best of all, we could not get much closer to the water without getting our feet wet.

 We sat out until dark watching boats unload and reload from the nearby boat ramp. A couple of jet skis were also seen racing from one end of the lake to another.  Many fishing boats were out and about.  Upon check-in, I was told that the fish have begun to bite which brought in the fishermen.

Surprisingly for us, the campground was quite full.  We were not expecting so many campers in March.  We are fortunate that we were able to get such a scenic site.  Unfortunately, we expect to be on the road again in the morning.

Alligators Galore

We took another Wisconsin-based couple with us to Alligator Alley which lies a few miles northeast of Summerdale, Alabama, on highway 71..  We heard mixed reviews about this place, so we weren't expecting much.  We did want to see some alligators, however, so we handed over our $8 entrance fee.

We were pleasantly surprised.  All the alligators are "rescued" from housing developments, etc. and moved to the expansive natural settings of Alligator Alley.  Instead of feasting on family pets, these nuisance alligators now feed on turtles, snakes, fish and other more appropriate morsels.  The large natural setting includes a swamp which offers viewing on an elevated boardwalk.  Food pellets are for sale to reward the creatures for being themselves.

So, what is the difference between alligators and their cousins, the crocodiles?  There are several including alligators prefer freshwater whereas crocs prefer saltwater.  Alligators have a U-shaped, rounded snout whereas the crocs have more of a pointed, V-shaped snout.  But the easiest way to distinguish them is that the crocodile has a tooth on their lower jaw which sticks up over their upper lip even when their mouth is closed.  But whatever they are, they are best viewed in the wild from a distance.

Alligator Alley is very kid-friendly.  Even older kids can get into the act.

Above, the great and fearless hunters has captured a ferocious young alligator saving the local community from certain destruction.  The band on its mouth holding its jaw shut was for demonstration purposes only!

Swimming was posted "at your own risk" throughout the park.  Not too many people were seen swimming for some reason.

The star of the park is named "Cap'n Crunch."  Here is the old captain snoozing in a secure area on "time out" for being too aggressive in the park.

The park has a feeding schedule where you can view the ritual from a shaded area.

The gators were feasting on a small feral pig. previously killed.  It was quite a show.

We felt that the entrance fee was very well worth the experience.  We have never seen so many alligators and no zoo experience comes close.

Bellingrath Gardens

We took a short day trip through Mobile and south of Theodore on the west shore of Mobile Bay to the renown Bellingrath Gardens.   The garden totals about 65 acres and include a home also available for tour.  We opted for the $12 self-guided tour of the gardens and passed on the extra fee for the home tour.  At an additional charge, there is a river cruise available on the Southern Belle.  The rose garden was honored as the 2004 Top Public Rose Garden in the US.

The gardens were abloom with the colors of azaleas.

Other times of the year camellias (winter), roses (summer) and chrysanthemums (fall).   During the Christmas holiday season, the gardens are aglow with poinsettias and lit with festive lighting which brings busloads of spectators during December evenings.

There are also many water features in the garden which offer a little tranquility from the noise of colors.

Of course other flowers were in bloom also.

And after a long stroll through the flowers, a little nose scratching was in order.

Now for a pollen count!

Chair Auction for CARE

The chair caning project has concluded.  The project ended with 22 chairs donated for auction to support Escapee CARE click.  Bob and Barb Derflinger organized the project for the second year in a row with all proceeds donated to CARE.  Here are these fine and generous people with photos of the completed chairs made by volunteers here at Rainbow Plantation:

The small rocker that Donna caned (chair number 9) brought in a $115 bid and was sold to her acquaintance, Lee:

Lee owns a lot here at Rainbow with a small stick house on it.  She and Arly thought it would fit perfectly in their new sun room.  The couple also bought a second rocker for the same room.

Only Escapee members could bid on the many chairs available.  Neighbors of ours in the campground (in a small class B and from Ontario) had the highest bid on another chair.  The couple donated the chair back for auction.  The second time around a teddy bear was added to the chair.  Another member bid $500 on the chair but only wanted the hand-made teddy bear.  The chair was re-auctioned and in total brought in over $1000!

The event was a huge success.  $4200 was raised at this auction with all proceeds going to CARE.  In the last two years, the Derflinger's caning project raised $6000 for care.  This year's event will be covered in an upcoming issue of the ESCAPEES magazine.  Watch for it.

And the saga continues.  Plans are already in the works for a similar project for next year.  Donna found a small chair in need of a caned seat at a local flea market.  The $5 price tag was acceptable, and it too has been donated for next year's project.  One of the permanent residents has offered a storage room and this chair was placed until next year's project becomes reality.  Over the last two years the Derflingers have not only volunteered their time and talents to this project, but also out of pocket expenses for chairs and caning supplies.  Next year will be different.  A member has donated a Seiko wall clock with all sorts of crystals and sounds, etc, to the park.  The park in returned raffled off the clock to park guests.  $400 was raised in the raffle and all was donated to the Derflingers to cover their chair and cane costs for the upcoming year.

Now all that is needed are more motivated bidders in 2013.

A little Road trip

On Sunday we took a drive to Dauphin Island.  The rainy weather earlier in the week gave way to a warm, sunny day and that was all the encouragement we needed to hit the road and do some exploring.

Dauphin Island is on the western shore of Mobile Bay so we decided to drive through Mobile to reach it.  We could have taken the ferry from Ft. Morgan west of Gulf Shores, but we wanted to see the western shore.  The 65 mile trip to the island brought us through several small fishing communities aglow with the colors of spring.  Dauphin Island is actually a barrier island situates three miles south of Mobile Bay.  The island lies in the Gulf of Mexico and is reached by a three mile long, 2-lane,  high rise bridge, and is about 14 miles long and 1.75 miles wide and its widest point.  About 1300 residents live on the island year around.  

The entire island is a bird sanctuary and tourists flock to it during the annual migration.  We decided to take a walking tour of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on the south eastern shore line.  Several trails were available looping through the heavily wood sanctuary.  What I believe were long-leaf pine and palms were numerous.  There was a swampy area as well as a small lake in the sanctuary.  Though  we did not see many birds, we did see several turtles at the lake side as well as many fish in the shadow of a small pier.  The south end of the sanctuary is bordered by large sand dunes and the Gulf was not visible until traversing the dunes.  Once over the dunes, we saw a nice sandy beach with several people enjoying the beautiful day.  And Donna also took a break in the sun:

Walking back to our vehicle, we stumbled upon the island's only campground, Dauphin Island Campground, run by the city.  It abuts the sanctuary and contains 152 camp sites, 80 with full hook-ups.  It looks like a very nice place to do a little camping and is only a couple of hundred yards from the beach. 

Of course, after an hour or two of hiking, we needed sustenance.  And sustenance we found at the Common Loon Cafe.  The cafe is a small quick-order place with several booths inside as well as seating on the front porch.

They had a small menu of some seafood items, hamburgers, gumbo and seafood po'boys.   Ordering at the counter, we both opted for their grilled shrimp basket.  The basket included shrimp, fries, cole slaw and a drink for $12.99.  The price was similar to other restaurants we ate at on the eastern shore of the bay.  Donna asked for a garden salad instead of the fries and slaw.  Our meals were soon done and we were both surprised by the quality and the quantity.  Ten large, fresh shrimp were perfectly prepared in a garlic-butter sauce with just the right hint of heat (cayenne, I assume).  Donna could not hide her feelings for our lunch:

The shrimp were the best we have had since we arrived at the Gulf last November. They were larger and tastier than we anticipated and were well worth the price.  They would have been worth the hour and a half drive alone.  Superb.  We topped off the meal sharing a slice of home-made Key Lime pie.  Delicious.  We are ready to go back for more.

Giving Birth Again

OK, I know real men don't make teddy bears.  But real men can be assisted in making one.

I took a teddy bear making class here at the Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale during a cool and wet week.   Several other men participated.  It began on Wednesday and several people had their bears done by Thursday!  As I didn't know it was a race, I took my time to make every stitch perfect (well, maybe somewhat perfect).  More bears were "born" on Friday. But I plodded along with quality pointers and assistance.    The hardest part for me was actually threading the needle.  I could not see the eyelet.  I felt like a kid going to their grandma having the needle threaded every time I ran out.  But I persevered, and so did Donna.  By Saturday noon, we had another bear with movable arms, legs and head.

The craft instructor, Diane (center) gave me an old "Thumbs Up!"

Now to make it some proper clothes!

Mardi Gras Survival

We survived our first Mardi Gras here in Alabama, the home of Mardi Gras in the US.  We had a good time in the communities attending several parades and collecting multiple pounds (literally) of beads, stuffed animals, other trinkets and the god-awful Moon Pies (two cookies separated by a poor quality marshmallow creme).  The night parade in Fairhope was the best because of the lights.  Many of the floats were three-tiered with usually 4 to 5 people on each tier, each side, throwing all sorts of stuff that will overfill local dumpsters.

 But all the parades had hordes of people crowding towards the floats with empty bags (several per person).  People of all ages begged the throwers on the float to toss them the all important stuff.  Here are photos from one of the parades in Gulf Shores:

We even saw several people with 5 gallon buckets to hold the stuff.  We only used our necks (for beads) and our jacket pockets for the other valuables.

But the most fun we had during this time period was here at the Rainbow Plantation.  All around goofiness was the goal.  The schedule was packed with activities including a parade through the park comprised of RVers riding various decked-out vehicles.

Even the spectators were in a good mood (and good-looking!):

Other entertainment was also crammed into the schedule including at several meals available here in the park as part  of the festivities.  About 275 people were served meals by volunteers at each setting.  Crowded was the word.  On the first night, desert was a frosted velvet cupcake.  But two of the cupcakes contained a small plastic baby signifying that the prospective eater (hopefully not swallower)  were the King and Queen of the Mardi Gras.  The King and Queen were responsible to hold rule over the festival and participants.  Fortunately we were not the lucky people to be crowned, but these two were:

Whenever the King and Queen would enter the clubhouse, the goofiness began:

The park brought in performers and used volunteers who performed various skits and/or musical presentations.

The below link was one of the most memorable performances (skit by the Queen of the gala):  click:  Little Things.

A good time was had by all including Donna's hand-made teddy bear: