FTJ, Entry 63: Of Ships and Subs and Sister Strong

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabbages and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings." -- Lewis Carroll

Last evening we had a lovely dinner at Flipper's at Bear Point Marina, right around the corner from our resort. The sunset was the typical spectacle, so we snapped a few more photos.

Beau had just returned from his day at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in nearby Pensacola. He spent the day engrossed in the exhibits and planes.

F-14 at the museum entrance. All are now retired from active combat.

The famous Chance-Vought F4-U Corsair, many of which were built in Stratford, CT, and powered by East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney engines. Many claim it was the finest propeller-driven fighter of WWII.

Honoring the "Good War"

Today we hit Mobile, AL, and Battleship Memorial Park.

F-4 Phantom, from the Vietnam era.

Right as we entered, Beau saw something very familiar: a B-52 "BUF" Stratofortress. (BUF stands for Big Ugly F--ker in Air Force slang). When he was serving back in the Vietnam era as part of the Strategic Air Command in  Plattsburg, NY, he was a mechanic (some may find that hard to believe), working on these babies every day until he was switched to tankers (KC-135s, the military version of the Boeing 707).

Beau climbed over, under, around and through these big birds during his service days.

The park's major attraction is the USS Alabama battleship, which served proudly during World War II. The park allows you to go all through the ship, which is jaw-dropping in its complexity and engineering genius. It amazes me that someone -- particularly back then -- could design a floating, fighting city housing 2,500 men. Boggles the mind. The turret and the projectiles, the gun barbette, the mess halls, the operating room, the darkroom, the ice cream parlor, the cobbler's, the tailor's, the officers' quarters, the brig, the chapel...you get the picture. My brain imploded. Then thinking of all the men and all the sacrifice the ship typifies...it can get very emotional.

Kaboom! She has nine 16" diameter main guns in three turrets, with 2,700 lb. shells propelled by 270 lbs. of gunpowder -- accurate to 20.7 miles range!!

20 millimeter anti-aircraft guns. She has dozens of them all over the deck.

Crew quarters -- cramped is the word.

Beau was tempted to just turn the key and walk away, methinks!

We also saw tons of aircraft and the submarine Drum, which also saw action during WWII.

Beau in front of the Drum.

And another highlight: Colonel Glenn Frazier was there signing his book, Hell's Guest. Also featured in Ken Burns's book The War, he was incredibly dignified and forthright about his experience during the Bataan death march and his years of confinement in Japanese POW camps. But when he told us about his best buddy who did not make it, and the way he died, Laura the mushmelon lost it. Had to walk away before I boo hoo hooed all over the poor man's medals.

He inscribed the book to Beau and I took their picture together. Sadly, we somehow lost the photo (I may have accidentally deleted it). But here he is:

Meeting Mobile's Sister Strong (Baby Sister) at the Condé Charlotte Museum House

Since we had left Buddy at the groomer's, we rushed to our next stop -- a lovely old home called the Condé Charlotte Museum House, located in the historic section of Mobile. We were greeted by our tour guide, Sister Strong (also known as Baby Sister -- pronounced Bah Suhs in her accent). 

Anyway, she gave us a wonderful history lesson about the city of Mobile and its founders, along with interesting details of the house and its furnishings. She was super adorable, and Beau kissed her when we left (he is such a flirt!).

A few things we learned -- related to Mobile, the house, or to Sister herself:

• The house was built on the foundation of a jail (dating from the 1820s).
• The expression "sleep tight" comes from the need to tighten the ropes on rope beds.
• It was so hot in the summer that book bindings melted, and books were put into special presses overnight to rebind them.
• Sister enlightened us on the Black Belt -- an area of fertile black soil stretching across central Alabama and northeastern Mississippi (she was born in the area and it gives her a very distinctive accent). It was one of the South's most important agricultural areas before the Civil War.
• Although first explored by the Spaniards, Mobile was founded by the French (Bienville and d'Iberville); then the English took over, followed by the Spaniards again (who came in to help Washington kick the Brits out of Mobile during the Revolutionary War). Then  the Americans took it back, without a shot being fired.
• Mobile's sister city is...Havana! Mobile traded with Havana, and one of the two founding Frenchmen succumbed to Yellow Fever in the city and is buried there.
• Mobile and Havana both have the same statues of d'Iberville. Mobile's statue is pointing south and Havana's is pointing North.

Cool, huh?

Outside the Conde Charlotte house.

Sister and her new boyfriend.

Beau was thrilled to see this Seth Thomas clock (from Connecticut) among the furnishings.

OK - enough for now. This could have gone on forever. (I think Beau took about 100 photos at the Naval Aviation museum!)

Joyce and Dave will be here tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait to see them -- and start our trek!

Tanks, Panky

PS - hope this is not filled with typos. I am tired and bleary-eyed!