Flowers, flowers everywhere!

On our last day in Mobile, we took Mama and Daddy to the annual Flower Show at the Providence Hospital campus. It was a dismally gray day, and the rain was Mobile-hard, and non-stop. So glad we took advantage of the nice weather to do our outdoor activities when we did! The flower show was completely under cover in quite substantial tents, so the rain didn't dampen this event at all.

We arrived and were greeted by Mobile's traditional Azalea Trail maids, similar to Portland's Rose Festival court. These ambassadors of the city are high school seniors who have to attain specific standards of character, GPA, and extra-curricular activities. They show up everywhere throughout the year, and always wear a smile - and the requisite antebellum frills!



The flower show certainly had its share of designer floral displays. Every florist, designer, and landscaper in town had something to showcase. There were indoor room designs, like this favorite of mine.



There were outdoor spaces.



Even the local Book Clubs had theme displays interpreting some of the books they read over the past year.



But our hands-down favorite was the "Floral Couture" - a display of dresses made of flowers!



There were, of course, beautiful plantings of flowers everywhere we looked.


I was so excited to run into my friend, Carol Reeves, just before we left. She "in the biz", so I was on the lookout in case she was on site. We also saw a reference to our friend, Jay West, who built some A-frames for use in displaying artwork.

Don't know if we'll try to visit Mobile during Spring Break again; it was quite a rushed trip. But, this is a definite must-see if were in the vicinity again!

Alligators!

After we left the battleship, we decided to take advantage of the nice day, and drive to Summerdale in Baldwin County to pay a visit to Alligator Alley. This alligator farm is a protected sanctuary for alligators. It offers a boardwalk to view the wildlife safely, but in their natural habitat. The big attraction is the granddaddy resident, Captain Crunch. He's huge!



Here, they take in gators that have been captured elsewhere and need a safe place to live, as well as those needing medical attention. They live here in an appropriate gator environment, and breed in a place free from poaching. The staff does keep the population in check by culling eggs in the Spring. They also have protected areas for the babies to be raised so they don't become fodder for predators.

We even got to hold some two-year-old babies!



On the way out, we happened across a worker giving a rather large snake (boa constrictor? python?) some air, and got to hold it, too!



Although a bit off the beaten path, it was a great place to go, and much more hands-on than I expected. The whole family enjoyed it.

Visiting Battleship Park

Because we were in Mobile in the Spring, we finally had a chance to take the girls to Battleship Park. It was an absolutely perfect day for such an outing. Warm, but not hot, with a lovely breeze. Decidedly more appropriate than trying to wander around on an iron ship in the middle of summer!

First, we visited the battleship USS Alabama and its grounds.



We were greeted by a naval officer...



...and proceeded to visit different areas of the ship on our tour. Pretty cool how the ship is, by necessity, its own little town, with everything on board that could be needed during those weeks and months at sea. There were offices,



berths,



control rooms,



mess halls,



galleys, of course, for preparing all the food, and their ancillary pantries,



an alterations shop,



a post office (requiring a picture with Larry, of course),



a chapel,



medical and pharmaceutical rooms,



and lots of fun places to take cool pictures of the girls, just to spice things up.



After lunch at the on-site cafe, we headed to the submarine USS Drum. More compact, of course, than the Battleship, it sported the same amenities, just in tighter quarters.



Our children are no longer deprived. Sarah and Emily can now say they have visited one of the tourist attractions Mobile is known for.

Spring Break Travel

Anticipating a very busy summer, we thought we'd change things up a little bit, and travel to Mobile over Spring Break, hoping to ease some of the summer travel madness. Immediately, complications cropped up. A friend's son decided to get married that first weekend, and I was asked to sing at the wedding party on Saturday night. Of course! I wouldn't miss that for the world! We decided to simply take a red-eye out of Portland that night. We'd have everything packed and in the car, and leave from the party.

In typical fashion, it was decidedly cheaper to fly in/out of New Orleans than Mobile, so that was the plan. Everything was on schedule until we hit Detroit, where we were to change planes. That was where our first delay occurred. We boarded the plane, and were all buckled in, half asleep still, when the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we were disembarking. It seems they discovered a nick in a door gasket during their pre-flight check, and we couldn't fly until the problem was resolved. It was resolved 3 hours later when we were put on a new plane. Darn! That change in schedule meant we'd miss our opportunity to see the Mardi Gras Indians parade. Oh, well; we'd still have a chance to hit Martin's Wine Cellar and pick up some alcohol on our way through town. :-)

We deplaned in New Orleans, and treated ourselves to beignets at Cafe du Monde en route to our rental car. Ready to be on the road at last, tired, groggy, and really not looking forward to the three hour drive ahead of us, we made a quick stop at Rite Aid - and discovered we had a nearly flat tire! Back we went to the airport rental car lot and traded the car for a model with air in all four tires. Now we were really ready for a stop at Martin's!

Once again, we headed down Veteran's in Metarie - and ran smack into the Irish-Italian Society's St. Patrick's/St.Joseph's Day parade. And what a parade it was! There was no end in sight. Families were picnicking all along the route, pausing to catch candy and throws as float after float passed their spot. It continued for blocks and blocks and blocks - negating any opportunity to make a left turn at any intersection. Including the one we needed to take to get to Martin's. Grrr!

We finally made it to Mobile about 5:00 p.m. - too late to even crash. We checked into our room, freshened up, and headed to Mama's for dinner. What a treat! Some family members had already given up on us and left, but we got to see the sibs and - most importantly - collapse for just a little while. With a long-awaited and well-deserved drink!

Winter Formal

Sarah attended her first Winter Formal. She and a bunch of her friends met up and hung out together. They had a blast. It was held off-campus, at a place in The Pearl called Urban Scenes - quite posh!

If these pictures are any indication, I'd better watch out when she has a date to one of these things!