Mardi Gras Started HERE!

That's the most common statement that we heard during our time of exploring Mobile, Alabama. They are passionate about Mobile being the birthplace of Mardi Gras and some, are even a little bit salty about it.

We arrived at a funky lil' campground in Mobile that was a trailer park turned campsite. Due to its origins, it was uncannily situated in a nice residential area, however the campground itself was beyond rustic. We are usually out in the sticks with more trees than homes, making this duality an interesting combo.

As some of you know, this former

Girl Scout Leader can hang with

the best of them, but this was the

first campground in our four months

of travel, that we opted out for

using their communal showers or laundry facilities.

Thankfully, our actual campsite

was tranquil and picturesque.

It sat up on higher ground towards

the front and was adjacent to a

nice patch of grass with trees

bordering our green belt, creating a

cozy feeling. That combined with

the friendly full time campers, more

than made up for the lack of amenities.

As we were unloading White Mouse, a young guy named Jake walked up and was sharing our love of old cars, as his friend Stacy joined us soon after. They were from Michigan and Connecticut but moved down here with Jake's wife and Stacy's mom.

Over the course of the week we also met Tom who lived with his wife down here for four months a year to get a break from the cold winters up North. He shared a story of how he had driven his motorcycle with some relatives from the MidWest to Alaska. It's the people for me, all of the wonderful and interesting people we meet along the way. Some are bonafide adventurers!

We also met Sean who worked for General Dynamics, specializing in sonar. He remembered my Dad's company, Spectral Dynamics who perfected sonar back in the day.

Man I miss chatting with my Dad. He's still around & his latest thing is he loves to click the locks on our RV. It's not the same as our face to face chats around the kitchen table of my childhood home, solving all the worlds problems, mostly mine - yet I'm grateful for his presence. He guides us & we have come to not only see the signs that he's here, we chuckle and say 'Hi Dad'.

We also met Greg who worked for Frios Gourmet Popsicles. After chatting with him a while, he graciously offered us a couple of frozen treats. We walked over to his AirBnB, which was a nice Class C RV.

Frio popsicles were beyond delicious, they were like a fancy dessert on a stick. If you ever happen upon them, we highly recommend these frozen treats. I gave Greg our blog address so he could enjoy our review of Frios desserts. << Hi Greg! Please be sure to share this with your neighbors, as I didn't get a chance to give them our link.>>

Alright, time to explore beyond The Shady Acres Campground. Our first adventure was to downtown Mobile. It was on a Sunday and these two heathens set out to take in the town, only to find out that 90% of the town was closed on the Lord's day. In California we ask, 'do you go to church?' and in this part of the country they ask, 'what church y'all go to?'

Nevertheless, we decided to park and walk around. As we set out for our stroll, I felt a bit flamboozled. Then, I looked up and saw this lovely young lady in a southern belle dress, complete with bonnet and parasol. I was stoked to see her, for not only was she a beautiful representation of the South, it showed me that something was going on in this town of theirs.

She was right out of a history book.

I asked if I may take her picture.

This moment, in of itself was

enough to make our day.

Then, it dawned on me,

she didn't dress up

this nice to wander

'round for no good

reason. I asked

where she was

headed and

quickly

added,

can

we

walk

with you to learn more.

She politely said, 'yes, 'mam' and off we went.

Side note: In California, I was never a fan of the term 'mam', because for me, it had a connotation of being old. One time in a restaurant a server referred to one of my then teen age daughters as mam and with big eyes they looked at me and said, 'wow, now you're a mam of a mam, that's really old' and laughed.

Yet, I knew calling me mam was all about etiquette and nothing about age. I understand that it's a term of respect and I no longer shudder, in fact it's quite endearing.

She explained that she was an Azalea Trail Maid, which are ambassadors of goodwill. There are 50 high school seniors chosen to serve as 'Official Ambassadors' from Mobile, Alabama.

Their dresses are meant to evoke Southern charm and hospitality, (shown here in yellow, blue, green and purple). Side note, the Queen is the only one who wears pink, she's not pictured here.

They make appearances at many

local, state, and national events.

They often serve as greeters

when foreigners and dignitaries

visit the city, and are required to be knowledgeable about the city landmarks and history. Hundreds of girls initially try out, but only fifty become Azalea Trail Maids. The Maids appeared at the inauguration of United States President Barack Obama.

The Oakleigh Belles of Mobile are a group of young women who represent the Historic Mobile Preservation Society and the community as ambassadors of southern history, culture, and hospitality. These high school students gain skills needed to confidently serve as docents at the Historic Oakleigh House Museum and the Richards DAR House Museum. They are pictured above, in the printed dresses.

I chatted with this delightful group of Belles, which is one of my favorite things to do. I soak up all of their idealism and I enjoy sharing as well, in hopes of inspiring young women. Their future is brighter more now than ever. Here's to limitless living!

Later that day,

we toured the

Richards - DAR

House Museum.

Our docent

is pictured here.

She was delightful,

poised and

very personable.

If anyone is

a Gilmore Girls

fan, then you

have heard of

the DAR

organization. We enjoyed

this very much!

I shared my blog, in case they wanted to read about our serendipitous moment. Then we bid our farewells and off we went to see the downtown of Mobile. Greg had told us about the Bier Garden restaurant and it happened to be on a street that was part of a marathon. So, while we dined on the sidewalk of this corner eatery, we cheered on the last few runners, who were on their last few blocks and some of them their last leg! I admired their commitment to finishing, as I only run when I'm chased.

You sure don't have to chase me onto an island, which is where we went the next day. I'll willingly scope out land surrounded by water anytime! Getting to Dauphine Island included a pretty drive and once we crossed the final bridge to our destination, the bright colorful houses set up on stilts cast a festive vibe. We parked at the shore and set out to explore Fort Gaines.

Fort Gaines was established in 1821 and was the site of the battle of Mobile Bay. Legend has it that this is where 'Damn the torpedos, full steam ahead' was first said - or more likely shouted!

This was, by far, the coolest fort that we have seen so far. It not only had the impressive perimeter that all proper forts have. It also gave us a detailed tour with a map that listed 25 markers with a written explanation of each spot. They showed us where they slept, the bakery and the very efficient and not so private latrines. I guess housing 400 soldiers necessitated the ability to go 10 at a time. It's just a matter of math and biology!

The most memorable part of this tour was the greatest love letter from the civil war era displayed here.

"..nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name."

I read this historical love letter in its entirety, aloud to Doug as my tears flowed freely, in honor of this brave soldier, his courageous wife at home, for all that our soldiers that have sacrificed so much and for love. I really believe that it all boils down to love.

Love More. Love with free abandon, just as this man did for both his country and for his wife. Whenever you feel angst, lean into your situation with love. And when you're in a state of bliss, share it freely, give generously and be love in the world.

With our hearts full of a

plethora of emotions,

we ventured over to

the other side of the

island to have lunch

at The Pirates Bar & Grill.

It was as if Palm Springs and

Florida had a baby.

The mid-century architecture

was amazing, I really enjoyed

this style. After lunch we took

in the iconic sandy beach

with river reeds, which is

where I the Floridian

backdrop came into play.

These late lunches have become our signature move, then we cruised back to our campground, to later enjoy an apple with peanut butter for a light dinner. Tomorrow will be a stay home day, so we can tidy up and prepare to travel to New Orleans the following day.

Radiate boundless love, towards the entire world,

Shari