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Thursday, November 29, 2001- USS Alabama
Rest/inclement weather day.
We rode the few miles west to Battleship Park where
the USS Alabama is berthed for display. In addition there are some tanks,
aircraft and a WWII submarine, the USS Drum.
The Alabama is still in it War configuration with scads
of AA guns. The tour is self guided and you can go over most of the ship. We
spent the entire morning touring the Pride of Alabama. It was saved from
scrapping 35 years ago by public subscription, school children figuring
prominently, and is now the centerpiece of Battleship Park. It is clear that
they love their battleship here in Alabama.
We then proceeded into the aircraft display hanger and
got an inside look at things from the chief curator who also happened to be a
cyclist of some renown himself. He gave us the lowdown and details that only he
could divulge so Joan and I really got our money's worth.
We had to ride back to the motel in the rain as the
cold front finally began to push thru. The wind was blowing very hard all day
(around 40 MPH) and we were glad we were not on the road battling it since we
would have had to go into the teeth of it. We had a tail wind returning to the
motel since the wind shifted to the west as the front moved along. The causeway
was covered with seaweed washed over the sea wall by the wind and a high tide as
we flew along with the strong wind propelling us.
We got take-out from Ed's Seafood Shed across from our
motel again. It is a very good restaurant, it reminds us of many of the
restaurants in the Keys. And plenty of food for hungry cyclists. It is upon
stilts, as is our motel.
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