February 18, 2005:

This time we head about 20 miles east to Mobile, Alabama. The first stop was to the battle ship – USS Alabama – moored just outside of town. Although we had originally only planned this as a brief stop – we ended up spending over three hours touring the various decks of the ship – and the submarine that was also on display. The building that housed a considerable aircraft exhibit was still closed for repairs and trying to recover from the damage that hurricane Ivan did.

The SS Alabama was first commissioned in 1942 and was de-commissioned in 1947. After the community of Mobile raised over a million dollars in 1964, the ship was towed 5600 miles to the berth outside of the port of Mobile. After retrofitting the ship (complete with wood planking over the metal decks) – it was first opened to the public in 1965.

Work has continued over the years – and they now offer three self-guided tours of the ship – giving access to many of the upper and lower decks. The ship itself is about 680 feet in length, weighed 42,500 tons and held a wartime crew of 2500 men. The boys loved exploring the ship and even though some of the ladders and steps were fairly steep – Mickey handled the heights well. They were amazed at the size of the ship and just could imagine how much bigger the Aircraft Carrier that we saw yesterday would have been inside. They also were surprised to see how the ship carried everything it need to operate at sea – blacksmiths, surgical theatres, movie theatres, etc. They were also surprised that everywhere that there was free space – bunks could be hung to accommodate the extra wartime staffing. Mom was stunned by – what else – the galley. It had a series of rooms, bakery, butcher area etc. and a separate galley for the officers. There were bread ovens lined floor to ceiling for about a 12-foot length, ten enormous stationary pots (nearly four feet tall and two feet in diameter) – two of which were used for coffee and the rest for beans, stews, potatoes, etc.

Next we went through a small submarine that held a crew of 65 men and 7 officers. The boys then began to gain an appreciation as to how much more space the battle ship had over the submarine. Crew bunks were 3 to 4 deep and additional hammocks hung everywhere. They were also surprised to learn that nearly 20% of all submarines were lost during the war – and even though this one had suffered a hit to the stern – it was still lucky enough to make it home.

After leaving the USS Alabama we went through a tunnel under the Mobile Bay and into downtown Mobile. The older southern mansions along Government Street were very grand – complete with massive live oak trees lining the streets – covered with vines and Spanish moss. Stopped off at a mall to get caught up on e-mail and confirmed that our line of credit had been activated (Decided that we need some more money in order to finish the trip properly. Many thanks to Donna at RBC for being able to do this for us – all from an e-mail note). Then headed back across town to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Museum of Science – and their limited engagement showing on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit had pre-booked tickets and only allowed 25 people through every 15 minutes. It came complete with an audio tour – with information for adults and kids. We were not sure how the kids would take to this exhibit – but within a few minutes they switched over to the adult audio information and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the displays. It was a great way to get the information, rather than having to read and then look, you got much more detail and could spend your time looking at the parchments and pictures of the area. It’s amazing that the parts of the scrolls that are from the Old Testament are the same as what has been passed down over the nearly 2000 years since the scrolls were hidden. There are parts of all of the Hebrew books (of our old testament) except for Esther. They are not sure if the Yahad, who were very orthodox in their religious views, that had declined to copy these verses as there is no direct reference to God – or if it was just that all the scrolls related to Ester were destroyed. Mickey was amazed as to how they were able to piece together and decipher the scrolls that were written in three different languages and insisted on getting a coding key as to the Latin, English, Arabic and various Hebrew letter translations. Keelan was amazed as to how some of the artifacts had survived all this time – scrolls, leather sandals, glass vases, etc.

After completing the exhibit – the kids spent some time in the rest of the Exploreum – making virtual reality roller coasters, and playing with gears and magnetism. Left the museum just at closing time and headed back to the campground. Stopped at the Waffle House for supper – and Mickey was disappointed that they did not have more types of waffles – but Dad seemed to really enjoy the covered, smothered, capped, diced, chopped, and scattered hash browns. Mom was intrigued to watch the short order cook preparing all the meals – but was concerned that probably wouldn’t please some of the public health people that she works with or even her sister Arlene.

When the kids finally got home – they had a hard time writing up their journal for today – and they both thought that there were too many things to write down. Oh well – the next couple of days will be slower paced so that they can get caught up on their journals and schoolwork.

February 19, 2005

Today we headed south towards the Gulf Shores. The Gulf Shores are noted for their white sand beaches and the crystal clear waters – which are for the most part protected by islands and peninsulas. It was a booming area – with many houses, and condominium complexes. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ivan hit this area the hardest – and almost every house and building has been affected in some way. Many of the houses were condemned and are either awaiting demolition or are already completely gone. The rest are various stages of being rebuilt or still awaiting crews or an insurance settlement. There were miles and miles of homes that were for the most part still about 80%uninhabited. The businesses in the area were advertising dates as to when they hoped to re-open and the few that were open – seemed to have several shops in them (with businesses co-housing in locations that were less damaged).

Drove down a stretch of beach that had some fairly exclusive homes on it. The homes were askew on their pilings – or had the sand washed away from under their foundations. There were walls and roofs torn from homes and you could still see clothes and furniture hanging out from various openings. The traffic that was on the road this date were either building supply trucks, and construction workers – or people like us, looking at the devastation. There were very few others around.

It was hard see this much loss in one place – and we can only imagine what it looked like five months ago when Ivan first hit. They are still areas where they are still putting in power, water and sewer lines as the flood waters have washed them all the way Almost every house had a porta-potti in the front yard – as the work continues. The few houses that have been finished being fixed up – either had very responsive insurance companies – or no insurance – and just the money to pay for the renovations out of their own pockets. In addition to the road, earthmovers and construction equipment – use the beaches to move and re-move equipment and building materials.

From Gulf Shores, we went to the State Park at Perdido Beach. Although the State Park runs a considerable distance up the peninsula – most of it is closed. The trees in the campground area and service building have been knocked over – and they do not appear to be a priority to fix. The beach area had a porta-potti for their facilities – and the wharf and boardwalks are all but gone. However after about 10 minutes of walking on the white sand beaches – you tend forget the devastation that was around us and can see why people want to settle here – even with the risks.

Returned home to a great feed of local catfish …

February 20, 2005

Up this morning – to a lazy start – with the boys doing some school work – waiting for Dad to get moving (Dad managed to sleep in and the kids were very cooperative – only coming in once and awhile to snuggle – and try and determine what we were going to do). Mom was taking in this quiet time to get on the computer and write the odd email or help edit the diary or the pictures. Eventually got moving and headed back towards Foley and a flea market and Chinese buffet brunch. From there we headed to west along the coast to along the way to Mobile Bay. This protected bay area has some wonderful grand old homes interspersed with modern mansions and smaller cottages. Some of the estates are absolutely phenomenal – with long winding driveways and marvellous landscaping – especially with all the flowers coming out in bloom.

Although this area did not have the level of devastation of the hurricanes that the Gulf Coast did – there were still signs of the damage. We stopped in a park in the town of Fairhope – and the wharf and marina were badly damaged – with there still being a sailboat sunk but securely tied to the docks. The roof was blown of the restrooms on the dock – although the building is still standing. The local county health board has also posted a notice indicated that the water is again safe for swimming – as the bacteria levels have now dropped to acceptable levels. (Oh joy). The (@ weekly) bacteria readings date back prior to the hurricane however and have occasional days where the bacteria is considered too high to be safe.

Continued slowly back to the campground – where the boys did some soap carvings – while mom and dad did some work around the unit. Had some shrimp kebobs with the fresh shrimp we picked up this afternoon and finished off the evening with ice cream sandwiches from the Oasis Truck Stop down the road.

February 21, 2005 –

Today was a school work and catch up day. It was hot and muggy overnight – but the predicted rain never materialized.

The boys worked hard today and got a couple of lessons in – as well as doing some more soap sculpturing. While taking a break – Keelan managed to rip his pants, and get some road rash – after taking a tumble off his bike while racing around the campground. He handled it like a trooper – pushing his bike home with a bleeding hand and knee. We all had to go back and see the site of the “wreck” to see if we can we could find a piece of the material from the knee of his pants for a souvenir.

Today the crews at the campground finished up the repairs and renovations to the men’s clubhouse bathroom – so dad and the boys do not have to walk have to the small washroom down the hill. The in-door pool will probably be finished in a couple of days – so once again the boys hit the outdoor pool – and the locals thought they were crazy to go swimming at this temperature (still warmer than Moyie Lake gets).

Mom and Dad packed up most of the outside things today – and those people around us – who had not made much of an effort to talk with us – came over and expressed surprise that we were leaving so soon… They even commented on how well behaved our kids were (probably directly related to the other young boy who threw a temper tantrum after losing a chess match and broke many of the stone pieces – which the camp host was busily gluing the pieces back together).

Finished off the evening with Dad and Mickey running down to the Oasis and picking up snack (donuts and a pound of chicken gizzards – ah perfection).

February 22, 2005 –

No rain over night – but again extremely muggy. Finished packing up – and headed out on our way to the New Orleans area – with a brief stop at Barnes and Noble in Mobile to post our Web update. Mobile was so foggy – that we were barely able to see the USS Alabama when we passed by.

Entered into Mississippi – and it was interesting to see the trees here were just coming into bud. Could this be “spring”? Must be as some of the stores are selling bedding plants. The limited amount of Mississippi coastline appears to be filled with Casino’s advertised over multiple billboards. The only area that did not seemed to be marred by these billboards was the buffer zone around the NASA site and Naval Metrological services. There were numerous reports on the radio today, stating that if the Space Shuttle program does not go ahead – then the NASA site would be closed – and how devastating this would be to the local area. Continued through Mississippi – and into Louisiana.

The landscape in Louisiana quickly changes. The roads become rough as they are for the most part are built on concrete pylons over miles and miles of swamp. In the first 15 miles of the “rough” highway and bridges there were many cars over on the sides of the road – with flat tires – broken springs and axels. Despite this – everyone is travelling along at 75 miles an hour. We felt lucky to get through it – and into New Orleans.

Wound our way about 70 miles south and west of New Orleans and into a little campground in the middle of swamps close to the intercostals waterway. The campground – although not much to look at from the road – has wonderful swimming pools (one indoor, one outdoor and a Jacuzzi all working), that the kids went over to try out. The site even has WiFi and so we will be able to get caught up on our mail – and be able to do some planning for the next couple of weeks. The campground – Hideaway Ponds – advertises itself as where the “Cajuns come to Pass a Good Time”

It was hot and muggy when we pulled into campground – and it was reported that today was record breaking temperature for this date in New Orleans. If 85 degrees is what they consider winter temperature – I don’t want to be here in the summer.

The kids came back excited this evening – as the walls of the clubhouse and swimming pool – had many tree frogs on them. They had to take us back there to go see them – I think the final count was 16 frogs.

February 23, 2005 –

Awake at about 3:00 AM this morning to a major rain and thunderstorm. The rain was so coming down so hard at times you could not hear each other talk – lying together in the same bed. By the time morning came around – there were large puddles laying everywhere and the woods behind the RV looked more like a swamp (wonder if this is how the place got the name). The rain kept on and off throughout the day – so we had to modify our plans accordingly.

Headed south along the bayou into Houma to the Terrebonne Parish Tourist Information Office to enquire as to attractions in the local area. They suggested a local Plantation (which did not look that appealing), a crab plant that offered tours, (that after two hours of searching we found out no longer existed) and the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum. The museum is in a relatively new building downtown – and during the 1 1/2 hours that we were there we were the only ones in the place. Two out of three pieces of advice is not a great average – especially for a tourist information centre. However, we were able to secure a city map of New Orleans and will try our luck going in there (parking is one of the major issues) later this week when the rain is anticipated to be less than 1/2 inch an hour downfall.

Terrebonne roughly translates into “Good Earth” – and the Parrish (county) is located in Bayou country – with no fewer than 12 navigable bayou channels (old river channels of the Mississippi) that run through it. In some areas the bayous have been contained with levees – and in other areas they are just wide swamp like structures. This makes for a remarkable wetland area – and the wetland area considerably outweighs the “dry” land around here. Almost forty percent of the all of the US wetlands are in located in southern Louisiana – making the area around Terrebonne one of the most biologically diverse marsh areas in America. That stated – they say that the coastline of Louisiana is being eroded at a rate of about one acre every 15 minutes. This erosion means that as the sand bars and beaches are washed away – miles of marshland are lost to the sea.

The people who settled in the Houma area used the water and fertile land to survive and thrive. Sugar was the economic mainstay of the area in the mid-1800’s with large farms and plantations and then lumber became big in the early 1900’s and many of the cypress and live oaks were cut down. (They had some interesting methods of cutting trees using two small dugout boats and a cross-cut saw). They say you can still see some of the semi-circular drag lines in the swamp especially from the air. Houma also became known for both their export of oysters and sun-dried shrimp. The shrimp were shelled by people walking on them after the sun dried them. Later the fur trade became important – and with the money that furs were fetching – the whole family would often go up the bayou and use a float camp to trap. In 1937 Nutria were introduced to enhance the fur trade – however they quickly grew out of control – and with fur losing its appeal – the Nutria numbers mushroomed to where they can be frequently seen and are considered a nuisance. However the chef’s in Louisiana tried to address the problem by making the Nutria along with many other “foods” more marketable. So along with the Nutria, there is chaoui (raccoon) and rat de bois (opossum) – or as others in the south like to call it – Chicken of the tree. However these still seems to be very much localized Cajun specialities and have not caught on elsewhere – not sure if we’ll be lucky enough or brave enough to try any of these but we’ll see. We are, however, in the middle of Crawfish season and so it is available ‘spicy boiled’ all over the place. In addition to that there are salty oysters, crab and many varieties of fish readily available.

One of the Cajun dishes that did catch on was “Blackened Redfish” and blackened cooking as made famous by Chef Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans in 1980’s. This however was also somewhat of an accident. Although the Redfish (le poisson rouge) was known and enjoyed by Cajuns for years – Chef Paul had intended to spice and sear a tuna – but only when it was unavailable on his cooking show did he use a Redfish – causing the popularity of the fish (and it’s prices) to soar.

The interrelationship with the bayou for still exists for many today. People still rely on it to provide them with food – and people can be seen fishing along the sides of the road – even in the rain today. Even those who work the deep sea oil rigs out in the Gulf – use their 7 on 7 off schedule to come back and shrimp or crab, etc. Ocean going fishing boats line the navigable bayou channels many miles inland – waiting for when their owners come back.

Left downtown Houma in the middle of a torrential rainstorm – deciding not to stay in town for the Cajun music special at the community center – opting for our own fish feed and a nice warm hot tub and swim back at the campground.

February 24, 2005

It continued to rain throughout the night – but was just drizzling by the time morning arrived – so we thought we would head off to Avery Island. (It had better dry up before we go to leave as there is a puddle 10 feet around and 8 inches deep around the power plug for the RV. It does not seem to like the best idea to go unplug an electrically cord while standing in this puddle). For those of you who have not spent time reading the small print on the bottle – Avery Island, LA is the home of Tabasco Sauce.

Avery Island is known for is huge salt deposits (which was mined) and an old sugar cane plantation. Edmund McIlhenny was a banker from New Orleans that married into that Avery Family and moved to the island. During the American Civil War that family had to abandon the island but returned after the war to try and get the sugar cane plantation operational again. In 1865, pepper seeds originating from Central America, were given to Edmund – which he planted in the family garden and made into hot sauce for friends and family. The hot sauce was originally bottled in French perfume bottles that were found around the area. Soon the popularity of the hot sauce caught on – and he received a patent on his recipe – and in 1868 he sold his first 100 bottles for a dollar a piece. His father-in-law did not like his first choice of name for the sauce so they pulled out a map of Mexico and chose the name Tabasco off the map.

Soon, as many as 700 acres of Avery Island were planted with “Capsicum frutescens” variety pepper plants and the island became home to a plant and many workers to produce the hot sauce. The original recipe and process are closely followed today. Every January, seeds of specially selected capsicum peppers are planted in the greenhouses; with the seedlings being planted into the fields in April (after the last possibility of frost). When the peppers are the right shade of red (based on the petite baton rouge) they are hand picked – and are mashed with a bit of Avery Island salt – the same day. The mash is fermented in white oak barrels for three years before being mixed with vinegar, strained and bottled.

The passage of time and the introduction of technology has brought about a few changes – today the fields at Avery Island only produce about 30 acres of peppers – primarily for seed stock – while most of the rest of the peppers come from many fields in Central and South America – in order to minimize the possibility of crop loss due to weather or disease. The factory currently produces up to 750,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce a day and is exported to over 100 countries with labelling in many different languages. In the 1940 Ned McIlhenny, Edmunds fourth son, became the architect of the Jungle Garden and Bird City where many of the then endangered snowy egrets migrated to. The Jungle Garden is filled with many exotic plants and an ancient gilded Buddha. Even with the discovery of oil in the nearby areas in the 1940’s Ned was able to protect the beauty of the island.

During the tour of the plant they identified that the white oak barrels were used 21 times before they were cut into pieces and sold as barbeque wood. It was revealed that the barrels were used and cleaned Jack Daniel barrels (ah dad is once again on his search) and are then over stamped with the Tabasco diamond shaped logo. Dad wanted to know how the barrels were cleaned and who got the “swish” from the cleaning process – but none of the employees could tell him. (Since Tabasco is a successful 6th generation family run company – Dad had to conclude that the family members got the swish and that is what kept them happy and working well together).

After completing the tour made a mad dash to the company store in the pounding rain. (Needless to say we did not have the opportunity to see the Jungle Gardens). Had samples of many of the Tabasco and McIlhenny products – including ice cream -, which was very good. A test is used to measure the comparative heat of peppers called a “Scoville Unit” in honour of Wilbur Scoville a pharmacist who first started to measure the heat in peppers. Each type of pepper has a different heat – with Habanera type being generally accepted as the hottest. Therefore each type of Tabasco sauce has its own level of heat and being able to taste them all in a row made this distinguishing easier to make (Green Pepper 600 – 1200; Garlic Pepper 1200 – 1800; Smoked Chipotle 1500 – 2500; Original 2500 -5000; Habanera 7000 – 8000). Ended up picking up a few things that we had not seen in Canada – as well as a couple of Tabasco sausages and boudins (pork, rice and hot sauce in sausage casings – which Dad really enjoyed).

Headed back to the campground with a brief stop for groceries. The hour long trip was done in a heavy rain with standing water everywhere. They received over 3/4 of an inch of rain this afternoon but despite this we had a good time and finished things off with Tabasco Popcorn for snack. Hopefully tomorrow things will clear up for our trip into New Orleans.