FIRST WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY

Monday, September 29 – We headed to downtown Montgomery, AL, this morning to visit the Capitol Building and the First White House of the Confederacy. They are located across the street from each other. There is plenty of parking available. We parked the big truck about three blocks away at the college stadium, and it was FREE!

We visited the First White House of the Confederacy first.

This is a free, self-guided tour. At the door, you pick up a tour guide printout that describes the many historical antiques throughout the home. You are welcome to tour every room both on the ground floor and upstairs. The 1835 house is completely furnished with original period pieces from the 1850s and 1860s.

Jefferson Davis’ bedroom.

First Parlor

Did you notice the arrangement on the piano in the photo above. Here is what it looks like close up. Cotton is huge in this area.

Marsha loved this bowl.

Upstairs bedroom.

One of the guest bedrooms.

Guest bedroom.
 

The original flag that draped over Mr. Davis’ coffin.

The only complaint Paul had was the lighting was quite dim making it difficult for him to see many of the displays. (it has nothing to do with “old guy eye sight”). Marsha loved this house and said it is a must see. She could spend hours and hours in a museum like this, but Paul was able to wrestler her out in about an hour.

Next post…Alabama Capitol.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

FROM MONTGOMERY, AL TO BAY ST. LOUIS, MS

Sunday, September 28 – We moved on down the road today from Augusta. GA, to Montgomery, AL. We are staying at The Woods RV Park…don't let the name fool you...no woods. We have stayed here several times in the past when traveling from Augusta to the Gulf. This is a Passport America park with gravel streets and sites. There is a small strip of grass between each site. Luckily, the park is not very busy, so the RV's are widely spaced.

Looking right.

Looking left.

If you are in the area and plan on stopping here, be advised NOT to follow your dang GPS. Ours and according to the front desk, MOST GPS, will route you the long way from I-75, 13 miles of stop and go traffic. It is best to exit off I-65 which is only .5 miles down the road. If you do that it is a very convenient location.

We are only in Montgomery for an overnight stay and some very quick sightseeing on Monday. We’ll tell you about our Monday morning sightseeing in our next post.

So, after our tour of Montgomery, AL, we hooked up the 5^th wheel and headed to Bay St. Louis, MS. We are staying at a familiar place, the Silver Slipper Casino campground. It is located across a small street, about 100 feet from the Gulf. The beach is almost deserted. Our own private beach! The casino is about a half-mile down the street.

The campground has concrete pads with a patio and picnic table. The street is also concrete and there is a small strip of grass between the sites. There are two rows of sites with the front row costing an extra $5. We’ve always stayed in site #24, an end of the row with an unobstructed view of the Gulf. 

Looking right.

Out front.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

ALS WALK….AUGUSTA, GA

Saturday, September 27 – We headed down to the Savannah River in downtown Augusta, GA, this morning for the ASL Walk. Again, we are walking in honor of Delores Weaver, Paul's brother John's wife, who died of Lou Gehrig disease in 2009. We are members of team Dream Weaver, one of the largest groups of the 43 teams participating in the walk. We had over 25 walkers in our group.

This was are view as we walked.

We met at the river walk to enjoy the pre-walk festivities and to meet up with other team members. What a wonderful and thoughtful way for these people to spend a Saturday morning. Team Dream Weaver raised over $14,335 for ALS, and the Augusta chapter raised over $121,290 for ALS research.

Two or our members, Holly Weaver and John Arthur Erwin, our niece and nephew registered the walkers.

There was a breakfast buffet, coffee, water, snow cones, popcorn and lots more before we even began the walk.

Ann and Ross, our niece and nephew,  enjoy the pre-walk festivities.

Adam Weaver, our nephew, designed the Augusta ALS T-shirt logo.

John and Karen show off the back of our Dream Weaver shirt.

One of the local high school bands was here to lead the march and celebrate the day.

The walk was not physically challenging, but it was a very emotional experience for those involved. Hearing walkers tell their stories of loved ones suffering from ALS, and the uplifting spirits they maintain is very moving.

Young and old join in the walk.

After the walk, we gathered at John's house for a picnic. What a wonderful time with family and friends. John, Karen, and the boys did an awesome job preparing a cookout for all the Dream Weaver walkers.

Our partial group at the cookout.

We weren't quite done eating. The picnic ended in early afternoon. After visiting with family, the rest of the day dinner was a chili cook-off. Yikes! Another unfortunate opportunity to over-eat! After dinner, we bid our farewells to our “Southern Family” and returned to our 5^th wheel home in preparation of an early Sunday morning departure.

It is getting dark way to soon these days.

Thanks John and Karen for a wonderful, fun and way-too-much-eating time!

We'll head to Montgomery, Alabama, on Sunday for a couple day stay, and then on to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for several days at the beach. Check back and enjoy the Gulf with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!