We stayed at a park in Robertsdale, Al about 10 miles east of Mobile called Wilderness RV Park. This gave us access to the city plus the gulf beaches. We went to Orange Beach and Gulf Beach not too far from the park. Cody just loves the beach! He chases the birds along the white, powdery sand and runs in and out of the water trying to avoid the waves. It’s to bad that we can’t let him off the leash because he would run amok. It’s also too bad that dogs are not allowed on any of the beaches in that area. We were happily looking for shells and walking the beach when a security truck approached us and said we had to leave.
Mobile is small for a major city. Mostly it serves as a port for cargo, and an occasional cruise ship.
The major attraction there is Battleship Park where you can tour the battleship USS Alabama, the WWII submarine the USS Drum, along with some impressive aircraft including the B52 stratofortress”Calamity Jane” that saw action in Vietnam and a U2 spy plane. After touring the battleship and the submarine, it is apparent that what you see in movies isn’t the same as real life. The battleship had a crew of 2,500 and had stores, barber shops, dry cleaners, optometrists, shoe repair, post office machine shops and medical facilities including an operating room. It was more like a town rather than a ship. The food prep and dining area was incredible. It wasn’t just one large kitchen with an enormous chow hall. There were different kitchens and dining areas for the officers complete with china. They actually had a soda fountain. As for the USS Drum, I couldn’t imagine living in those close quarters for more than 30 minutes. Talk about claustrophobic. Yikes.
We try to find interesting churches or government building in the historic downtown areas but Mobile really didn’t have much. We did find an old cathedral circa 1829. It is the Catherdral-Basillica of the Immaculate conception and is the first Catholic parish established on the Gulf Coast in 1704. Just a note: a “cathedral” from the latin “cathedra” or seat of the bishop, is the central church in a diocese which is a group of parishes is overseen by a bishop and is the church were the bishop is located. A “basilica” is a church of historical, architectural or spiritual significance designated by the Pope.
Here are some pictures of the park and the submarine USS Drum
Here are some pictures of the battleship, USS Alabama
hop off at one of the first interesting stops and ended up walking the remainder of the city, missing the guided narration completely and spending money on what ended up to be a short bus ride. This time, we stayed on the trolley for the whole route, got all the information, and then went back to areas we wanted to see more of.
This cobblestone, pedestrian road was the center of trade and commerce in the old days. Today, it’s lined with restaurants, ice cream, specialty stores, museums and did I mention ice cream. The area is a collection of homes and buildings dating from 1702 to 1924.
The Lightner Museum, formerly the Alcaraz Hotel build by railroad magnet Henry Flagler in 1847 as a southern resort for the rich and the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College are two of the highlights of old St. Augustine. Looming over the bay is the Castillo de San Marcos. This old fort, built in 1674, is the oldest masonry fort in the U.S. 
possession of the fort changed 6 times in its history. It’s rooms, guns, powder stores etc. are very well-preserved. Under United States control the fort was used as a military prison to incarcerate members of Native American tribes starting with the Seminole, including the famous war chief, Osceola, in the Second Seminole War and members of western tribes, including Geronimo’s band of Chiricahua Apache
evening so we ate on the patio. Arline had Shrimp and Grits and I had Red Beans & Rice, both southern favorites.
We were right on the water and hiking trails everywhere. A favorite hike of Cody’s was the Big Creek Nature Trail, a 1.3 mile trail that meanders through a pine forest and marshes. We had water and electric hookup but no sewer, but that was O.K. because their shower
mix with no collar, that wandered around the campsite. She was extremely timid and would not come near you.She was less she dogs and met came to greet Cody, whose idea of getting to know other dogs is to spar.The work campers that worked there fed her and made a bed for her under their awning, but she would not go indoors and she would disappear ,and come back in the morning. They believed she went into the forest to sleep in a den at night. Arline wanted to adopt her, which would have been a huge undertaking. Ultimately we decided that she really liked the freedom of roaming around the campground, and would not do well confined. Sadly we said goodbye.
There was a pretty good Visitor Center where we viewed a short film about the Park aqnd there was a private company that offered boat tours of the swamp. We took one of the boat tours that lasted about 2 hours. Because it was off season there was only us and a family of 4 on the boat. We wondered if we would see any wildlife, and a guest that had returned from a tour said she saw hundreds of alligators. Boy, did we ever! Apparently they like to sun, so 
these alligators were laying on the banks warming themselves, along with several varieties of turtles. The gators must not bother the turtles as many were in the same spot. As we slowly floated down the waterway, we spotted a huge Barred Owl sitting in a cypress tree along the water, Great Blue Herons, Ibis, and Egrets. The cypress trees where heavy with spanish moss and it looked just as mysterious as all the pictures we’ve seen.
In some cases, there were five or six all grouped together. The park maintains “trails” in the swamp by cutting the moss and underwater growth so there is a distinct trail through the open area. I asked what would happen if one fell into the water with all the gators around. Her response, “you’d get wet”. Apparently the movie idea of the gators hearing the sound and all slither into the water and attack aren’t true. Hey, works for me!
to an observation tower. About a mile out, mostly over a boardwalk, we came to the 30 foot tower and made it to the top. Swamp as far a you could see! It was a great view.
This is the largest 
Catholic Church in North America, and it is the 10th largest in the world. The dome stands 237 feet from the floor and has a capacity of 10,000. It was started in 1920, opened in 1959 and completed in 1961. This was truly an experience.
when we arrived so we were able to join. We toured the hall of statues – each state contributed one statue to the collection. California’s was Ronald Reagan. We stood in the he rotunda where some of our past dignitaries lay “in state”. There are
re-creation of a mail train and history of the mail delivery system from the American Revolution to the present. Glad we didn’t miss this one. We didn’t even know it was there. Did you know that my 2x great-uncle was the first postmaster of Las Vegas Nevada?
along the river to the FDR Memorial, the MLK Memorial, The Korean War Memorial,the Vietnam Memorial, ending at the Lincoln Memorial. It was surreal to stand at the site where King delivered his “I have a dream” speach looking out across the national mall in view of the Washington Memorial and the Captial Building.
White House and future residence of Donald Trump.I think he will be downsizing some! Arline noticed the “National Christmas Tree” across Pennsylvainia Ave. in the Commons. She thought it was a puny, scruffy looking tree not worthy of the honor. We were headed back to camp and were told that we could see Ford Theater, Lincoln’s Assassination site along the road to the train station. Unfortunately, we never found it.
Craig & Arline's circle the U.S. trip 