We left Andalusia on Monday (April 14) and drove to Mobile. Andalusia was my last area on my mission, and Semmes (a Mobile suburb) was my very first area. I was in Semmes for six months, and while I was there, my companions and I lived in a trailer on the property of the ward mission leader and his family (the Shoemakers). It was awesome! My companions and I spent a lot of time at the Shoemaker's home, so it was the mandatory stop while visiting Semmes. Brother and Sister Shoemaker have turned their large property into a learning farm for school groups. It was so wonderful to see the Shoemakers again. Sister Shoemaker took us for a tour of the farm on her golf cart.
And we got the VIP treatment--up close and personal with the animals
Lil Sebastian!
This is the site of the trailer that we lived in. So many good times and sad times in that trailer. I was a little sad that it wasn't there anymore. I'm standing where the front door would have been.
Our favorite animal was Larry. He is a wild turkey that was raised from an egg by Sister Shoemaker, so he is the tamest, funniest bird I've ever met. He was constantly showing off by puffing up and drumming at us. And he would angle his feathers to make sure that we always saw his good side.
Michael got his face painted
And he got to throw a spear and shoot a bow and arrow. And learn about Tee-pees.
So back to Larry: he followed us around wherever we went, but it was too hard for him to stay puffed up AND keep up with us, so he would deflate when we weren't looking. Anytime we stopped to look at him, he'd puff back up. I took this picture over my shoulder.
And as soon as I stopped, this is what he did:
I was glad that Michael got to do something fun while I got to see one of my favorite mission families. (And Rachel got to take a nap while we toured the farm). I can't get over how grown-up their daughter is.
This is what she looked like when I left:
And now, seven years later:
I just wished that their son was there. (He was out with his grandma).
The next day, we hit up my other tourist spot: the Bragg-Mitchell Home. Coming back from Zone Conferences, we would drive past the beautiful Antebellum homes in Mobile, and I just wanted to go inside one. So, I found one and made everyone tour it. I enjoyed it; Michael was super bored. After the tour, we got Michael to take a picture for us (because I knew he would just make a ridiculous face in it anyway).
And then I tried to take one with Michael and Rachel:
And then, there was a Zombie Apocalypse:
After the home tour, we headed to the U.S.S. Alabama Battleship and Memorial Park in Mobile Bay. The boys really loved this stop.(I liked it too, for the record.) It was one of our favorite stops.
In addition to the Battleship, we got to see the U.S.S. Drum, a submarine
And go into an Aircraft hanger to see cool planes, including this Blackbird:
And we had to run away from a B-52 Bomber:
We stayed in our second hotel in Mobile. We stayed downtown, which was pretty fun. But, our kids went to bed around 8 p.m., and we all slept in the same room. So, how did we work that, you ask. Well, I'll tell you. We put Rachel in her pack and play on the opposite end of the room from the bathroom area and tried to block her pack n play from view so she couldn't see us. In Mobile, that meant next to the bed Michael was sleeping in and making a wall of pillows between the two of them. To get Michael to go to sleep, we tucked him in and then hung out in the bathroom area. We'd pull in the extra chairs, plug in the laptop, and watch our shows until we were ready for bed. Oh, and we turned on white noise apps up REALLY loud.
After two nights in Mobile, it was time to head East again.Rachel like pushing the luggage cart:
We took the scenic route to Panama City Beach. We tried to see the Mobile Lighthouse. Turns out, it is not currently in the bay. Oh well, we got to see a part of the bay I've never seen before, which was cool. We also stopped at Lamberts, "home of the throwed rolls". We saw a billboard for it in Mobile, and it triggered a memory. Since they advertised throwed rolls, we HAD to check it out. It was pretty awesome. If you're ever in Foley, Alabama, go! But bring a LARGE appetite because they want to make sure you're full. And yes, they have servers throwing rolls at whoever asks for them.
After lunch, we drove the rest of the way to Pensacola and onto the Navy base to see the Pensacola Lighthouse:
And on our way off the base, we stopped at the National Naval Aviation Museum to go to the bathroom. We wished that we would have known about how cool the museum was so we could have budgeted more time to check it out. We only meant to run in, but we ended up staying for a half hour or so. They had a whole kids play area, which was awesome. Oh, and I'm pretty sure it was free.
I loved this little mini-air craft carrier. Museums always get bonus points when they have fun things for kids.
They had several models of aircraft carriers, so I asked around to see if they had one of the U.S.S. Ranger, the aircraft carrier my dad was on. They told me that they had the bell from the Ranger, so on our way back to the car, we stopped to get a picture of it. I was really excited. But, turns out, my dad's Ranger wasn't the first Ranger. This is the bell from the World War II Ranger. Still cool, but not as exciting.
And we saw One Eyed Willey's hot dog stand on our way out of town.
I wished that we would have had more time to at least drive through my area in Pensacola. I wanted to show Brian UWF campus at least. But, I was only their for two months, so it wasn't a big enough deal to go see it. I wanted to see the lighthouse when I was serving there, so that was the mandatory stop for Pensacola. And the Beach.
We drove on Highway 98 so we could see all those little beach towns along the way. We made it to Panama City Beach around 7 Wednesday evening--just in time to see the sun setting on the waters of the gulf.
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