Gulf Coast AL to Savannah GA via Tallahassee FL

 May 6 - May 15 2026

Sunset is not over the ocean here.

A relatively short hop from New Orleans got us through Mississippi to Gulf Shores Alabama. Gulf Shores is, as the name suggests, on the Gulf of America Mexico.The sand was so white and fine it was like being in the Caribbean. After setting up at the RV park, we went to a little place on the water for some peel and eat shrimp. My Uncle Dave introduced me to peel and eat shrimp at his place in La Porte Indiana. he used to bring up loads of Shrimp from The gulf and do a big shrimp boil that was life changing. I Have had the same dish many times on the west coast and have never re-created that feeling of perfection that i first had at Uncle Dave's. I think I finally found the secret. Gulf Shrimp. These seemed like they would have been overcooked and rubbery by the way the thin shell peeled off but they were perfectly cooked. Just a hint of Old Bay seasoning. 

Dipping my toes.

After dinner, I went down to put my feet in the Gulf. I expected a bit warmer since I saw some kids playing in the water a few minutes earlier. Still comfortable enough. I kinda forget that kids will go into water at almost any temperature. 

The next two days were rainy so we did not get to go back to the beach. Bummer!

Corsair!

I did, however, get to go to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola (home of the Blue Angels). As a certified aviation geek, I can safely say that this was the best collection of naval aircraft I have ever seen. They had aircraft from the first days of naval aviation. Think wright brothers type aircraft, to F18s and everything in between. My favorites were the corsair and the Zero that they had hanging from the ceiling. Reminded me of my bedroom as a kid where i would hang these same aircraft models from the ceiling using fishing line.

Zero

They also had a P-40 in Flying tigers livery. As I was looking at a Wildcat, a volunteer walked up and told me the story about the F4F I was looking at. Apparently, a pilot named Jack Taylor flew a Wildcat in WW II and came into the museum one day. They were struggling to repair some damage after a hurricane and he told them about how he named his business after he came back from the war after his aircraft carrier... the Enterprise. So the founder of Enterprise rent a car wrote an 8 million dollar check to the museum and they painted the Wildcat that I was looking at in his livery. He also told me about how in one of the Aircraft carrier models there was a dog on the fantail and that kids were the only ones who noticed it. I went and looked at the models again and, sure enough, there was the dog playing fetch with a couple of sailors.

Big Guns!

The next day Nancy and I went into Mobile to visit the Battleship Alabama museum. I guess it was the week for military history. I never realized how big these things were. It carried 2500 sailors and Marines and could lob shells 23 miles! 

Mess hall

One of my favorite parts was the kitchen. They had industrial sized bread mixers, dozens of ovens, and worked round the clock to feed their charges. 

We had to climb up and down steep ladders to get between the decks and my 85 year old mom did it like a boss! I was worried it would be too much but she went up and down to everything except the very deepest levels. They had other military stuff including tanks, helicopters and aircraft. 

Coolest -- Plane -- Ever!!!

They even had the coolest airplane ever made, the SR 71 Blackbird! This plane still ahs the world record for fastest jet powered aircraft ever made and it was made in the 60s. I once saw a fly by at an air show at Pt. Mugu. The afterburners kicked in as it came by and that silhouette. Supposedly, it leaked at ground level and only sealed up when it got up to speed and heated up enough to swell up the metal. THey had to re-fuel immediately after take off. They really don't make them like that anymore and likely never will.

One clean Duesenberg.

After Gulf Shores, we went to Tallahassee Florida for a quick overnight. It was my first Harvest Hosts site. Harvest hosts has short term RV sites offered by businesses for a night of two. I think they were mostly wineries and farms initially, hence the harvest in the name. This one was a the Automobile and Collectables Museum. They had a large grassy area to park your rig. I went into the museum (they kinda expect you to patronize the business). It was very strange and cool. This was mostly the collection or one person. Besides the hundreds of cars, including several batmobiles, they had old golf clubs, baseball cards, hundreds of old outboard motors, and all sorts of strange collections. 

Oled Outboards

The sheer immensity of the collection is what impressed me. This guy could not pass by anything that could be collected. 

Tuckers had a rear mounted modified
helicopter engine.

One of my favorites was the Tucker. You really do not see many of these innovative American cars. He even had the fake Tucker that was used for the crash scene in the movie "Tucker", I think it was a studebaker bondoed up to look like a Tucker.

Sunset in Savannah Riverfront

The next day was off to Savannah Georgia. We got a space at Fort Mcallister state park. Unfortunately, it was raining again for the next two days. It was the first time I had to bust out the deet as the bugs were fierce. I passed someone on a walk and wondered how you keep the bugs off. He replied, "which ones? The mosquitos, the biting flies, or the noseeum?" I ended up working the two rainy days.

Too much food.

We did go into Downtown for for dinner at the waterfront. Had clam chowder, crab chowder, Fried green tomatoes, and crab cakes. Too much food. The chowders were very good but the breading on the tomatoes was a bit bland and the crab cakes had too much filling. The beer was good though.

Mercer Williams house

The next day we spent the day in Savannah and did the hop on hop off bus tour. I really like these as they give you a good overview of a city. We did a full lap on the bus and then got off and walked about a mile. Savannah has so many cool old houses. I liked the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil House (Mercer Williams house)

One of the many squares.

What I really like about this city is the green space. There are 22 squares in the small downtown area,  one every two or three blocks. These squares have beautiful old trees benches (Forrest Gump box of chocolates was shot here) and are lined with cool old houses with loads of history. I think this would be a great place to be an urban dog.

Next, it is off to Charleston South Carolina... It's going fast!