On Thursday morning, March 1, we headed further northeast up the coast to Galveston. But before we got far, we encountered something that we haven't seen often. We had to take a ferry to get from Mustang Island to the mainland, and it was free. I guess instead of building a bridge, the state decided to maintain a ferry system. We stayed off the main roads and mostly followed the Gulf coast until we got to the Galveston area. We drove through Galveston and took another ferry to Bolivar Peninsula where we found our campground. Friday morning we left our coach and took our car back across the ferry to tour Galveston. Norm had visited the city a number of times and was disappointed with the changes in the Strand area. In the past, the area was full of warehouses full of interesting "junk" where one could find old books, old furniture and old pieces of clothing just stockpiled in storefronts and some warehouse type operations. But now the place has gone trendy, with fancy stores, souvenir and t-shirt shops, and fudge places and cafes everywhere. Oh well, I guess that's progress. We took a 90 minute tram tour of the city. What was revealed to us was an interesting place with lots of mansions and middle class areas. It certainly seems like place enjoying a recent growth spurt. The town was ruined in 1900 when a hurricane swept in from the gulf, destroying every building within 3 blocks of the Gulf of Mexico and killing 6,000 people. As a result, many buildings date back to the early 1900's. [Bolivar Peninsula Campground - Crystal City, TX - 29.27 N / 94.39 W]
We arrived for our 2nd stay at Maxie's and Norm immediately took off to find the Cajun music jam session that he enjoyed so much 2 years ago at our last stay. But the building was gone and the phone was disconnected. Another sign of progress? In addition, the entire area around the campground has experienced a surge of building. Movie theatres, a shopping center and a new post office are right nearby, and more is on the way. Walmart is due to construct a supercenter across the highway, with a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. All this makes it convenient when we're camping, but we wonder about the long term impact. We drove to nearby New Iberia to visit the Konriko rice factory. Its the oldest in the country (built in 1915) and it looks it. The place seemed dirty and there were cans of oil just sitting around open. We took a tour of the facility, and it was one of the least professionally done tours that we have taken. Most of the machinery was more than 50 years old, and a large amount of the processing was done by hand. It seems strange at this time to see such a lack of automation. One interesting feature was a large silo-looking building that can hold a million pounds of not processed rice. We heard that the price of rice has remained virtually unchanged for 40 years or so, but the per acre yield has about tripled during that time, allowing farmers to make a reasonable living. We met some fellow motorhomers on the tour and we went to Bon Creole, a local lunch stop where we had huge delicious sandwiches/lunch plates at moderate prices. We also went to Avery Island where we visited the factory of the McIlhenny Company. What's that you ask? Its the place where all of the brand of "Tabasco" Sauce is made. Most of the capsicum pepper plants are grown in Central and South America. The red peppers are picked and brought to Avery Island where they are mashed, mixed with a small amount of salt (mined at Avery Island) and then stored for 3 years in oak barrels previously used to ferment Jack Daniels bourbon. After 3 years the mash is mixed with vinegar and stirred for a month, and then strained and bottled. Its hard to believe, but on some days they fill 700,000 bottles in their highly automated factory facility. We met Joey and Connie Hebert for some chatting time and dinner and learning about life in the area. In addition, we met Lola and Ernie Crochet, whom we had met almost exactly 2 years ago when we were at Maxie's. We went out for dinner with them one evening where Norm had 2 pounds of crayfish and Shelley had a pistolette, bread dough, with minced crawfish in the center - and, it is fried.....delicious! Shelley also stopped at a orthopedic surgeon to have her arm checked out. After some more x-rays and some poking and prodding, the doctor said that there was no break...he thought that Shelley had bruised some nerves in her left elbow. He prescribed a combination of rest and medications, and said that it could be some time before all of the pain disappears. [Maxie's Campground - Broussard, LA - 30.09 N - 91.57 W]
We hit the road again on Wednesday, 3/7, heading for Biloxi, MS. After a relatively short trip, we pulled into the parking lot of the Imperial Palace, a 30 story high hotel and casino about 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Mexico. There were about 10 other RVs in the lot, including a huge Prevost (costing more than $1 million) with matching trailer to carry their Mercedes SUV which they use for driving around. We got up Thursday morning and drove around the shore area. The devastation from Katrina, in August 29, 2005 storm, was overwhelming. We drove for about 10 miles right along the Gulf of Mexico. More then half of the coastline was bare except for driveways and foundations, but no buildings. There was a tall sign for IHOP and another for Olive Garden, but there was absolutely no remnants of the buildings that was there. We drove past either a hotel or a residential apartment house, and there were no windows or walls...we could see right through to the other side. When we drove into the residential areas, there was a mixture. One area of homes seemed to have survived the storm with relatively minimal damage. In other areas, we saw brand new buildings being constructed on lots where there had been a total loss. We also saw damaged buildings that were being repaired. Then there were areas where the sites had been cleared and nothing was being built. On many of the last two kinds of sites, RVs had been placed where the residents had been living for the last 18 months. Casinos had been totaled and glitzy new ones are being rebuilt. There were contrasts everywhere. As we drove around, we both kept thinking of the affects of the storm on the people who live here. Its just hard to comprehend. [Imperial Palace - Biloxi, MS -30.25 N / 88.54 W]
On Friday morning, we drove to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The park was severely denuded of trees during a recent hurricane, but they had done tons of work to repair things and the place is looking good. From our campsite we had a great view of a large lake. We again met up with Paul and Carol Goldberg. Saturday afternoon the four of us went for about a 3 mile hike through the Bon Secour (Safe Refuge) National Wildlife Refuge. It was such a good refuge that we saw absolutely no wildlife there, except for a number of hermit crabs that were skittering around on a muddy bank of a stream. We went to the movies (The Last King of Scotland - a really good film about Idi Amin) and then went out for dinner at Lambert's. This restaurant is known for "thrown rolls". They literally throw yeast rolls across the room at their patrons, as the people raise their hands to catch them. They also bring you veggies and such that you didn't order, but are included in the price. The waiters also fake spilling mustard, dropping your drinks and other stuff on your clothes. Quite a dining experience, and the food is good and the prices right. On Sunday, we spent more time schmoozing with the Goldbergs and Norm washed the tow car and front of the motorhome. Paul, Carol and Norm went for a bike ride - probably about 5 miles through the camp ground and out on a bike path through the woods. [Gulf State Park - Gulf Shores, AL - 30.16 N / 87.38 W]
On Monday we got ourselves together and drove to Montgomery. We planned to see some civil rights stuff there. After taking a trolley that drove us around the city (both of us for $1) we stopped at the Civil Rights Memorial Center, sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This memorial honors 40 people who died during the civil rights struggle and chronicles the history of the movement from the Brown vs. Board decision in 1954 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1958. We then stopped at the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University. Here they go into great detail describing the Montgomery Bus Boycott, that started in December, 1955 and ended 13 months later. Norm went alone to visit the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor from 1954 through 1960. Incidentally, it is the only place that he was pastor. It was during this time, as a 26 year old, that Martin Luther King organized the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. There is a large mural on the wall, painted by a parishioner in 1980 that depicts Dr King's journey from Montgomery to Memphis. As one might expect, the church is modest, both in size and design. It was built in 1855 and is still the home of a vibrant congregation. While Norm was here, Shelley was busy trying to repair our e-mail, which completely crashed this morning. So far it seems as if she has done a great job. E-mail seems quite functional except that our address book is gone. Montgomery just seems like a town of extremes. Not far from the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where the Montgomery Bus Boycott was planned, stands a memorial to the Confederate soldiers killed during the Civil War. Also a statue of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, donated by the daughters of the Confederacy in 1940 stands near where the March from Selma to Montgomery ended at the steps of the Alabama Capitol Building. On our last night in Montgomery, we went our for dinner with Sheldon and Pat Finkel. Sheldon is a first cousin once removed, of Norm. He is a dentist who has lived in Montgomery since 1957. Norm and Sheldon probably last met about 60 years ago. We had a real nice evening with them. [Woods RV and Campground - Montgomery, AL - 32.19 N / 86.20 W]
Our trip to Perry on Thursday took us past large orchards of peach trees, and they were all filled with blossoms. When we were in Perry two years ago, it was the same time of year, and the blossoms were as pretty. When we pulled into our campground, we were greeted by Joannie and Earl, friends from Deer Creek. Not long afterward, Laura and Shelley Singer and Myrna and George Wolkoff also arrived. We spent the afternoon gabbing and then we all had dinner together in a pavilion in the campground. [Bolden's Perry RV Park - Perry, GA - 32.28 N / 83.44W]
By Friday morning, 3/15 we were in the Walmart parking lot waiting for the CHAI group to assemble. We expected 12 coaches and had set 3 PM as the time the caravan would leave for the rally. And by 2:45 everyone was there, and off we went, with flashers flashing and the CB set on channel 13. We arrived at the rally site shortly and within a short time we were all settled in. At 6 we had chalah and wine after a short Sabbath service. It was so windy that we couldn't get the Sabbath candles lit, so we substituted flashlights for the candles. Then all 23 of us went out for dinner together. One of the guys was here himself...his wife Gayle was home on Long Island on business. When we got up on Saturday morning, it was 38 degrees out, and we all emerged from our motorhomes bundled up with cold weather clothes. Fortunately that was the low temperature and the rest of the rally was sunny and comfortable. The rest of the rally was rally fun, but hectic. Since we were the coordinators for CHAI, and Norm had to run the CHAI business meeting, we didn't have much time to just hang out...we felt responsible for making sure that everyone had a good time. We must have been successful, because at the end of the rally we got thanks from just about all of the CHAI members who attended [Georgia State Fairgrounds - Perry, Georgia - 32.26 N / 83.45 W].
We left Perry and the FMCA rally on Thursday morning and drove to Wildwood, FL. Monaco, the motorhome manufacturer maintains a repair facility there, and as usual we had a list of things that needed tending to. We pulled in there on Thursday afternoon, and met Scott, our service writer about 9 AM on Friday. He told us that they were really busy and that there was virtually no chance of us getting any work done until Monday morning. So we left our CRV in our parking space and drove down to Deer Creek to visit our site and to see our friends. As as always the case, we were greeted by tons of friends and acquaintances. We checked out all of the changes that had taken place since we left in December. The place looks great, no longer the desert that was there three months earlier. On Sunday afternoon we returned to Monaco in Wildwood. We tried to speed up the repair process by giving $20 each to Inez, the shop foreman, and to Scott, our service writer. Things seemed to go reasonably well, and at 10:20 AM on Thursday all of our repairs were completed. Scott told us that he sent everything up to parts who had some work to do in the billing process, but that things should be done within 2 hours. To make a long story short, we left at 3:30 never having seen the bill. Scott told us that he hadn't received it yet, but that he would call the next day to discuss it. We drove back down to Deer Creek, near Disney World, on Thursday March 29 where we planned to stay until we headed north. The stay was pretty busy. We had a stone retaining wall built on the back of our property and then purchased a 10 by 12 shed which was sited there. We also purchased a golf cart so that Shelley and Rags (and Norm sometimes) could tool around the campgrounds for errands or for pleasure. We also met Dick and Sally, friends from last year who rented our site for the month of February. Shelley's mom came from Marathon (in the Florida Keys) to visit for 4 days, highlighted by 2 Passover Seders and a marathon trip to Disney World. We were there almost 12 hours, and visited both EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom. We all had a great time. The Seders were also wonderful. The first Seder was held in a clubhouse in Deer Creek. Along with the three of us, our friends Arnie and Lois (from NJ) and Earl (from NH) attended. For the second night, Sue and Ralph Marino invited us. It was really strange having someone by the name of Marino leading a Seder. We had a wonderful time there also. The food everywhere was wonderful. During the last week or so before leaving Deer Creek, we met Jimmy and Geri Capps. While talking, we found out that they were from NC. We told them about our experience 2 1/2 years ago in a campground near Williamburg, VA. We met up with a group from North Carolina who were so friendly. They were 15 or 20 coaches traveling together and they invited us to share breakfast and dinner with them. We were able to get through the delicious, but strange to our taste, southern cooking, and we remembered the warmth with which we Yankees were treated. We exchanged travel cards but had never been in contact again. Jimmy asked if we remembered the names of any of the people there, and we didn't, but we volunteered to retrieve the travel cards from our file. And would you believe that sitting right in our file is a card from Jimmy and Geri. And they had one of ours. We just couldn't get over the coincidence. We also spent lots of time with Earl and Joanie Bell, friends and fellow CHAI members who bought the lot directly across from ours. And with old and new friends. On our last evening in Deer Creek, we even had a visit on the golf course from an alligator that we guessed was about 6 feet long. [Deer Creek - Davenport, FL - 28.14 N / 81.38 W]