Category: Alabama
Tour of Tennessee

Tour of Tennessee

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Hey Guys!!

I’m going to smash the rest of our time in Tennessee into one post. We were able to visit two more battlefields and a cave…and while they’re all really interesting and important places in our history…none of them are really big enough for their own post. I mean, I could go into detail about each battle, but Guys…I’m not here to give y’all an in-depth history lesson. I’m hear to entice you to go visit these places for yourself!

Lets get started!

In September of 1889, close to ten-thousand Union and Confederate Veterans went back to the Chickamauga Battlefield…this time as united countrymen under one flag. This meeting (the Blue & Grey BBQ) led to the creation of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in 1890…the nation’s very first official Military Park. Originally, the park was managed by the War Department but was turned over to the National Park Service in 1933.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is the oldest and largest National Military Park. We spent hours going through the various museums that can be found on park property.

Chattanooga, the gateway to the Deep South, was considered vital to both the Union and Confederate armies. Very little went as planned for either side and thousands of soldiers lost their lives. In the end, the battle at Chickamauga was the last major Confederate victory of the Civil War.

The park service was tasked with preserving the history and telling the stories of the battles that took place during the Chickamauga/Chattanooga battles by giving equal attention to both the Confederate and Union. We’ve always felt like the NPS has done an extraordinary job of staying neutral. They give you the facts that they know from every angle and let you make up your own mind.

While we drove the tour route through the park, we kept seeing acorns on many of the monuments. Being the curious nerds that we are…we learned that the acorn represents General George Henry Thomas’s 14th Army Corps because they stood “like an oak tree” on Snodgrass Hill during the conclusion of the battle. Most corps at this time didn’t have an individual identifying symbol but some did. Later, when Thomas was traveling with General Daniel Butterfield, Thomas asked Butterfield if he would suggest an emblem to represent the 14th Army Corps. Butterfield said, “If I had command of the Fourteenth Corps, which stood firm as an oak at Chickamauga, I would give it the acorn for a badge in honor of its bravery.” As the Union and Confederate Veterans started placing monument within the park, the acorn started to appear.

Russell Cave National Monument preserves an archeological site that represents over 10,000 years of use starting with prehistoric cultures around 6500 BCE and running through 1650 CE. There’s a small museum that has artifacts and reproductions of things found within the cave that show the life and tools used by the people who’ve called the cave home over the years. We really enjoyed the short walk to the mouth of the cave. There are some signs that talk about the different layers of time the archeologist have uncovered. The cave has 7.1 miles of mapped cave system and is considered the 3rd longest mapped cave in Alabama. And…if you go…watch for danger noodles. There were signs everywhere warning about venomous snakes.

The last National Park Unit we explored while we were in Tennessee was the Stones River National Battlefield. Stones River is the site of one of the most bloodiest battles of the Civil War with nearly 24,000 casualties. The battle lasted from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 and is considered a strategic Union victory that bolstered support for the Emancipation Proclamation.

The park preserves only a fifth of the nearly 3,000 acres of the original battlefield and includes a National Cemetery. You’ll also find the Hazen Brigade Monument (1863), the oldest surviving American Civil War monument still standing in its original location. The monument was built by surviving members of William Babcock Hazen’s Brigade to commemorate the battle.

One of the coolest things we found while we were park hopping in Tennessee is the Junior Civil War Historian patch. We’d never heard of it before, but one of the Ranger’s in the visitor center told us about it after he saw Alex in his vest with all of his badges. Usually, you have to ask about any special patches or badges…so it was really nice that this Ranger told us about this hard to get/not made anymore patch. The boys were super excited to add this special patch to their collection.

We didn’t just visit NPS units…we had a lovely Easter and played some new games as well as…

eat ourselves silly. I admit it…we stayed in a couple places purely to eat. What can I say? Foodies are a huge part of our travels. #willtravelforfood

Well, I think that’s it for our tour of Tennessee. We’ll actually be back in Tennessee for a month later this year and we’re excited to get back! We really enjoy the area.

See Y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Stop Off In Alabama

Stop Off In Alabama

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Hey Guys! From Florida we made our way back to Texas. We could have just jumped our way back like we did to get to Florida. But, where’s the fun in that…and besides, that makes for a long three days of constant driving. So, we decided to take our time and do a couple of weekly stays on the way back to Texas.

Our first stop was in Alabama at some friend’s house. We spent the week mooch-docking in their yard so we could visit more. I’m not going to include any pics of them or their kids…I didn’t ask and not too many people are hip to having their pics up on the web.

Jerl was thrilled to have access to a smoker again. He spent the week smoking meat and giving our friend tips. We’ve missed having a smoker. The road up to Alaska chewed up the smoker we had and we haven’t found one that would work with our space requirements since then…so…no smoked meat.

Our friends knew we were into forts so they took us to Fort Morgan State Historic Site one afternoon. Fort Morgan’s military history starts with the War of 1812 and stretches all the way to World War II. That’s over 100 years of service during varying war campaigns.

The construction of Fort Morgan began in 1819 and took a total of fifteen years to complete. The total cost in 1834 was $1,026,777.41. The fort stayed active and manned until 1944 and then in 1947 the military deeded Fort Morgan to the state of Alabama where it became one of Alabama’s state parks.

We had such a good time exploring this fort with our friends! I think it was even better than most forts for the boys because they had Cam and Brie to explore with them.

We also made it to the 5Rivers Alabama Delta Resource Center where the Apalachee, Spanish, Mobile, Blakeley, and Tensaw rivers all flow into Mobile Bay. It was a really cool place! We did a short walk (it started raining on us) and spent time going through the learning center and the exhibit hall where we got to see some of Alabama’s native animals up close. If you’re ever in the Mobile area…you should stop and check it out!

We met our friends back in 2016 while we were exploring New York. We were staying in the same campground. Our kids and their kids hit it off quite well. We’ve kept in touch since then and any time we’re near Mobile, we spend time catching up. We’ve made some of the coolest friendships during our crazy nomadic adventures!

Thanks for putting up with us for an entire week L Family!! We loved visiting with y’all and meeting more of your family!

See y’all down the road!

Montgomery, AL

Montgomery, AL

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Hey Guys! We spent almost a week in Montgomery, but the only thing we did was visit the SCB.

Montgomery became Alabama’s capital city in 1847. The building you see in the picture above dates back to 1850-51.

The current SCB replaced an earlier building that burned down. There’s a lot of history to be found in Montgomery. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to explore any of it.

The House and Senate Chambers in the SCB were both made into museums. We could walk into the room but not too far.

The dome was gorgeous! This pic doesn’t do it justice at all.

There are eight different 1920’s murals beneath the dome that illustrate Alabama’s history. It took three years to complete all eight murals.

In 1861, the Confederate States of America was born in the Alabama Senate Chamber when delegates from the Southern states voted to establish a new nation.

I have a thing for staircases. It started this past summer in the New York SCB. I’m not the best at getting the shot yet, but I’m working on it. I love to look at the staircases in each SCB. They’re all so different.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for you this time. We had a short week filled with everyday mundane things…school, cleaning, work.

See y’all down the road!

Pizza Roundup Pieology

Pizza Roundup Pieology

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To my fellow pizza lovers, I bring to you a post from Pieology in Montgomery, AL.

Pieology is a really tasty pizza place where you make your own pizza like what you do with sandwiches at Subway.

They have loads of tasty topping you can choose from and all the toppings are unlimited!

Yum!

The decor is good and the food comes out quickly.

Price was very reasonable…

The bathrooms are clean as well. All in all, I think Pieology deserves a 5 star review.

See y’all next time on…

Pizza Street!!

Sweet Home Alabama

Sweet Home Alabama

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Hey Guys!!

We made it to Alabama!

On our way to Montgomery, we stopped by a friend’s house and spent the weekend catching up with them! We met this family in June 2016 during our time in New York and our kids became fast friends. After a week of chit chatting and getting to know them, we jumped at the chance to stop by their home and see them again. They really made us feel at home.

We all went to see the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park where we got to poke around all twelve decks that are open to the public!

 There are all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore on this huge battleship.

What you can’t see in the picture above are the two big boys up on the gun turret too. All of the boys loved getting to really check out the big guns.

Once we climbed around outside, we headed inside. Check out the lockers. One was open so we could see what it might have looked like when the ship was being used.

I love the old pics and other personal items they have on the door of the locker.

I had to share this picture of a food tray in the infirmary. Check out the Nestle’s wrapper! It looks so different that what we see now.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many valve wheels to turn in one place! I’m not gonna lie…I might have tried to turn more than a few. Maybe. *wink, wink*

What did I tell you? Valve wheels everywhere!! And buttons. Lots of buttons. I may or may not have pushed a few of those too. Shhhh…..

Besides the battleship, the park also had several aircraft. The coolest one (in my opinion) was the A-12 Blackbird spy plane. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a decent picture of it. Sorry. You’ll just have to take my word for it…it was very cool.

If the battleship and the aircraft weren’t enough, there was even a submarine we could explore! This was our first sub exploration and it was awesome!

The USS Drum is the oldest submarine on public display.

It was set up to look like it might have during it’s time in service. I love seeing all of the old items.

And added to the wheels and the buttons…levers. Tons of them! We kind of felt like kids on a playground.

I got a workout just going through all of the doors. They don’t look that bad, but when you’ve got short stubby legs and a big camera around your neck…well, I’m not the most graceful.

We had dinner that night at Ed’s Seafood Shed. Gotta have seafood when you’re in the Gulf Shores area, right? The food was fantastic, the view was ah-mazing, and the company wonderful! We had the best time visiting with our friends and we can’t wait for our next adventure together!

See y’all down the road!