Wandering Wednesday 6

This Wandering Wednesday  was a little different because I needed to travel to Mobile for a meeting. After consideration of several possible scenarios, I decided to make one stop on the way down and then visit some places in Mobile.

First, I got a late start.  Since I was going to be spending the night in Mobile, I spent a little time with my fur babies, especially the dogs. We played ball, “where’s the mama” and  I worked with Skeeter some on sitting, staying and going through the cat tube. ( I know he's a dog, but he fits through the tube just fine!)

Interestingly, I stopped at the rest stop right before Greeneville and after returning to my car, I decided to check Facebook. Sitting there looking at my phone, I looked up as someone passed by my car and immediately thought, “I know him”.  My next thought was, “no, it couldn’t be”, but about that time his brother walked by and I knew I knew them.  So, I got out of my car and looked in the direction they came from and sure enough, I saw these two young men’s parents, as I knew they wouldn’t be traveling alone!  I walked over and said something and the dad, spun around, grabbed me and hugged me.  I didn’t think he was ever going to let me go!  The first young man who had passed by the van was a former student of mine.  I had taught him from 3^rd grade through 6^th grade.  He is probably 30 or 31 now. Yep, it’s official, I’m getting old!!

After a mini reunion in the parking lot of the rest stop, I headed on my way.  Now, this is a very unique family, and very loud, so anyone within a couple of football fields knew we were having a little reunion right there at the rest stop!!

I continued on my way and got to my first stop, which was Georgiana, Alabama.  I had decided to go to the Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum. When I arrived I was greeted by a friendly older lady, who told me the admission was only $3.00 and that I could take all the pictures I wanted.

 The home was small, but there was a nice collection of Hank Williams memorabilia .  Here are some of the pictures.

I asked the nice lady about a place to eat and she told me to go over the railroad tracks and turn right and I would see Friendly G’s. “They have good sandwiches, but they might be closed on Wednesday”, she said.  I couldn’t find Friendly G’s to the right, looked for it using my GPS and it took me the other direction, but I still couldn’t find it. Finally decided to head back to the interstate and start looking for a place to eat. Finally, when I got to Evergreen, I decided to go ahead and eat at a chain, simply because I was very hungry.  I got off the interstate, thinking I was going to end up with fast food, when I saw a sign for the Shrimp Basket. Still a chain, but so much better than a cheeseburger!

After a lunch of fried shrimp and stuffed crabs, I felt like a nap might be in order, but  instead began driving again! My lunch came to 14 dollars with tip, so it was a little more expensive than I prefer, but it was very good.

I got to Mobile and it was about 3:15 and I knew several of the places I had hoped to go closed at 4:00, so I made my first stop at the Carnival Museum. Admission was $4.50 with my AAA membership.  This museum is in the downtown district of Mobile and chronicles the history of Mardi Gras in Mobile. It was actually very interesting and made me want to go down for Mardi Gras sometime. If you didn’t know it, Mobile’s Mardi Gras is the oldest Mardi Gras Celebration in the United States, starting in 1703, which was 15 years before New Orleans was founded. The celebration was suspended during the Civil War and didn’t resume until 1866.

Here are some of the pictures from this museum.

When I left this museum, I realized my hotel was right around the corner, so I went ahead and got checked in. At this point it was after 4:00, so I knew I would not be able to go to any more museums, so I headed to Bienville Square. However, I was a little uncomfortable here, as there was a gathering of what I believe were probably homeless men. That in itself wasn’t what made me uncomfortable, but a policewoman had just been there talking to one and  when she left, the conversation was quite loud and agitated.  I took a quick picture of the fountain and left.

Next,  I headed to Magnolia Cemetery, which was founded in 1836. The cemetery has many old graves, some of notable people in the history of Mobile. The graves are adorned in very elaborate stones, and urns, and crosses and there are many tombs throughout it. For more information on this cemetery, you can check out the website http://www.magnoliacemetery.com/default.htm

Here are some of the pictures that I took here.

I called my old college buddy, Redd and made plans for dinner.  I went back to the hotel and changed clothes and then headed out to meet him for dinner. Dinner was at the Olive Garden( I know, a chain, but I let Redd choose).

After dinner, I decided to stop at the Mellow Mushroom and have a drink and listen to some music on the patio.  My friend Thera had told me to go hear her friend Phil play if I got the chance, so that is exactly what I did.  I only got to listen to about 30 minutes of music, but I enjoyed it and I made a new friend!

So, Wandering Wednesday came to a total of:

Hank Museum: $3.00

Lunch : $14.00

Carnival Museum $4.50

Dinner: 0.00 (Redd picked up the tab)

Margarita: $6.00 (including tip)

Total: 27.50 –just $2.50 over my $25.00 Wandering Wednesday Budget, but I ussualy don’t continue Wandering Wednesday into the night!

But wait…That’s not all!! After making a phone call, I realized that I had Thursday morning free, so…

I took my time getting moving on Thursday morning, but once I did, I checked out of my hotel, got permission to leave my car in their lot, then,I walked just a few blocks down from my hotel to the Visitors Center and Fort Conde Museum.  This museum is actually a replica of  about 1/3 of the original fort, which protected Mobile for nearly 100 years. Some of the rooms were closed for renovations, but I walked through what was open and took a few pictures.  This attraction is free. http://www.museumofmobile.com/other_locs.php

I then walked around the corner to the Code-Charlotte House Museum, but it was no open yet. It was 10:30 and they did not open till 11:00.

I then walked back to directly across from Fort Conde and went to the Hisotry Museum of Mobile. This museum cost $7.00 to go in, but I was so hot from walking, I gladly paid that $7.00 in order to enjoy the air conditioning!  http://www.museumofmobile.com/perm_exhibits.php

Here are some pictures from this museum. 

 This is a sign and building I passed by walking back to my car.

The La Clede is the building with the balcony.

Statue of Raphael Semmes

I left Mobile on Thursday at 4:30. My trip home was uneventful. I did snap a picture of this cloud, which I thought was interesting.

 All in all,this was a fun and informative Wandering Wednesday, which kinda turned into a partial Traipsing Thursday!