Day One

We went ahead and left today although we really hadn't planned to. The deciding factor in it all was that Lexie either needed to be dropped off at the kennel today between 9 - 11 or tomorrow from 3 - 5, and we really didn't want to leave that late. So we decided on taking a nice leisurely trip. Tonight we stopped in Mobile, AL - about a whole whopping 3 hours from home. No we didn't stop from being tired of driving or anything, we actually stopped so that tomorrow we can visit the USS Alabama Battleship. The memorial grounds are quite spectacular with tons of planes, tanks, guns, and the USS Drum submarine as well. I can't wait to get aboard it and take some pictures. For now I hope this will tide you over, as I must get off this unsecured network. I believe the next stop may be in Destin, FL.USS Alabama began her combat service augmenting the British Fleet protecting convoys on the "Murmansk Run" from England through the North Sea to Russia against German warships and aircraft. The ship transferred to the Pacific Fleet in August 1943, and earned 9 battle stars providing gunfire support for amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands and protecting carrier task forces from air and surface attack. Alabama was credited with shooting down 22 Japanese planes. Her radar was the first to detect enemy bombers in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, at the unprecedented range of 190 miles. This warning enabled U.S. fighters and anti-aircraft gunners to destroy over 400 Japanese planes. Decommissioned in 1947, Alabama was "mothballed" in Bremerton, Washington until 1964, when she was transferred to the State of Alabama and towed 5,600 miles to become a memorial in Mobile.

The Park's artifact collection contains representative Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard aircraft from before World War II through the Persian Gulf War. Included are a Mach 3+ A-12 Blackbird, the submarine Drum, tanks and artillery. Alabama conducts youth group overnight encampments.

USS Alabama is a National Historic Landmark.