At Least the WiFi is Good

We rolled into Foley, Alabama at about 3 in the afternoon. We were happy to leave Laurel, MS, because of the prediction for high winds and heavy rain. The weather was good all the way south and we easily slid into Anchors Aweigh (sic) RV Park just south of the town of Foley and a bit north of Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The site is very nice compared to our last location, except for the water everywhere! The area had received a huge amount of rain earlier in the day, so we backed into a small lake! The good news is that the water soaked in within hours and the wifi is super fast; the bad news is that the next morning we woke up to thunderstorms, flood warnings, and potential tornadoes. Just about the time we had decided what we wanted to do and see in the area, the rain started, and within an hour the tornado warnings appeared and we were warned to seek shelter! Fortunately, the park has a secure building and, along with a couple of dozen of our new best friends, and Sasha, we waited out the warning. Sasha was uncomfortable, and we were totally soaked by heavy rain, but we were safe! The local tv station kept us updated, so I took a pic of the screen just before we left for shelter. The slight blue spot was an area of rotation and was heading for Miflin. Our rv park is just east of Miflin!

 This was our first experience with severe storms and storm shelters, so we probably waited too long to seek shelter, and probably waited too long to return to the trailer, but we were happy to have had a secure place to go. Local news has told us that over nine inches of rain has fallen on this area in the last seven hours, with other areas of the Gulf Coast getting a foot of rain! There’s more on the way, but for now, we just need to be concerned about flooding!

The trailer and truck survived nicely, even though rain was falling at a rate that obscured the trailer 20 feet away! As things calmed down, we again considered what to do, and dinner made its way to the surface! Out we went, looking at a really interesting cloud:

Then, as if by magic, the skys began to clear.

We had previously determined that seafood was the order of the day during our visit to the Gulf Coast, and since we had eaten oysters and fried shrimp at Acme Fish House already, we drifted into the Wolf Bay seafood restaurant for shrimp scampi and coconut shrimp. Delicious!

We took a daytrip to Fairhope and Daphne, AL, a few miles north of Foley. In Fairhope a cruise of old town led us to a park at the edge of Mobile Bay, and dozens of birdhouses along the waters edge, and the city of Mobile in the background.

Except for shipping channels carved out of the bottom, the bay is only 3 to 10 feet deep!

Walking on the pier, we were accosted by dozens of pelicans! One of then had a tangle of fishing line, including a lead weight, wrapped around a leg. Not being equipped to deal with a wild animal, we had to shake our heads and move on. This patient guy followed us, hopping from one rail to another in hopes of a treat.

We stopped into Kravers Seafood in Daphne for a light lunch. It was good, but we wanted to have room for dessert at Whits Frozen Custard. This drive thru, take out ice cream shop has an outdoor seating area where we enjoyed an O’Henry George (hot fudge, hot caramel, spanish peanuts) and a Jubilee (hot fudge, hot caramel, pecans), and had a great conversation with some people that are moving from Chicago to Daphne.

Downtown Pensacola is about an hour east of our location in Foley, and we had to visit this very old city. In 1559, before Jamestown, and before St. Augustine, Tristan de Luna y Arrellano led an expedition to Pensacola Bay with 11 ships and 1500 men to establish a settlemen, which he named Santa Maria de Ochuse. Palafox Place is the original main street.

The street ends at the bay.

Our Son in Law’s best friend owns a donut shop on Palafox, so we had to stop in. Now, this is not your usual donut shop. No donut holes found here!

Welcome to Parlor Doughnuts.

These pastries are more like a sweet croissant than a cake. The dough is mixed, folded, rested, and worked again, requiring 3 day’s preparation before baking and toppings. The toppings include our favorites chocolate, maple and fruit, with dozens of combinations. Pics of current options:

You get the idea….

Two in the shop and four for the road and we left carrying a few thousand more calories.

We had to stop at what is arguably the most famous fresh fish store in the country, Joe Patti’s.

Hundreds of pounds of fresh seafood is available every day, of all types and sizes. It’s a seafood paradise, and even though Captain Joe is no longer with us, the selection and quality continues to be amazing. We’re starting to run out of space in the refrigerator but still found room for a couple of seafood tidbits!

On our last day in the area, we braved the crowds on Ocean Blvd and checked out Gulf Shores, Alabama.

This area is a destination for thousands of vacationers, and the condos, rentals, restaurants and surf shops are there to serve them.

We tried to get into deSotos Seafood restaurant at about 6 this evening and found an hour wait. We moved on…

And the draw for these thousands?

White sand and warm water.

It’s unique.

And beautiful.

We will miss this beautiful part of our country.

Laurel, Mississippi

Laurel, The City Beautiful, is 40 miles north of Hattiesburg, in the middle of Yellow Pine country, Mississipi. It has had its ups and downs since its beginnings in the mid 1800’s as a lumber town. By the end of World War I, Laurel was producing more yellow pine than any other place in the world. Four major mills were producing more than a million board feet a day, enough to stretch 189 miles!

The Great Depression saw the end of the lumber industry, and Laurel slowly deteriorated until the late 30’s, when William H. Mason, an apprentice of Thomas Edison, patented a method of turning wood waste into a wood fiberboard that was used extensively throughout World War II and it still in high demand today as building doors and interior millwork. Masonite has a presence internationally, but the local Masonite plant is still one of the areas leading employers, using 27 acres worth of timber a day! 

There was a short oil boom in the 1970’s, then Laurel went dormant again until locals Ben and Erin Napier begin to refurbish houses in the historic district about seven years ago. Erin kept a blog on their projects that was noticed by HGTV and became a television program called “Hometown”, now in its sixth season. We stopped for a few days to see what’s happening.

The temperature has been about 95 degrees, with humidity in the mid 70’s. Donna and Sasha have elected to stay in the truck with the ac maxed out!

The Hometown crew works out of The Scotsman Company, where their workshop is on view. The public is not allowed to tour the shop for obvious reasons, but a quick peek through a window gave us a look at the extensive equipment that any woodworker would love to have!

The Scotsman Company has been very successful, and that success has been reinvested in downtown Laurel. New infrastructure, with street improvements have made a somewhat haphazard design easier to navigate.

Along with Ms Pearls soul food and Grits ‘n Some, the Scent Library and Bird Dog Cafe, one of the most outstanding businesses in town is Hellfighters Motorcycle Company. 

This shop is huge. It’s primarily a motorcycle shop, but was founded as a support group for recovering male addicts. Every penny of profits is reinvested in an in house faith based program. Hundreds of men have graduated from the program, and some work in the store. It’s a worthy cause that has helped countless men overcome addiction issues. I wanted to make a donation via that blacked out Indian motorcycle, but had to settle for a few souvenirs….

Many of the motorcycles on display for sale are previously owned, and some are customized in unusual ways or are vintage machines.

Displays of apparel and trinkets are stuffed into every corner of the building. Gloves, helmets, leather goods and all the way up to $50,000 motorcycles are available.

There’s one area where we felt right at home.

Oh, and then there’s this:

In addition to having a complete and well stocked armory, the back room of the store is a collection of new and used parts for just about every motorcycle ever made: fenders, seats, lights, cables, engine and transmission parts, nuts and bolts! It a junkyard junky’s dream come true! There were eight rows of parts like this one.

We’ve enjoyed a bit of time in Mississippi, and our time in space 44 at Sleepy Hollow RV Park is no exception.

The weather has been interesting the last few days with thunderstorms, heavy rain, and wind. The trees around the park seem to protect us for the most part, but whenever we get a NOAA alert, we get nervous! The locals tell us that 99% of the storms don’t amount to anything, but there’s that 1%…..and as I write this, at 11:00 pm, it’s raining buckets, the lightening is cracking and the thunder is rolling. One “boom” just now was felt, as well as heard! The weather app shows that we have another hour of this, so we’ll need to stay up to comfort Sasha for a little while yet….and ourselves…..