Saturday, July 4, 2015

2001~ November 21-December 1, Celebrating Thanksgiving with Family & Traveling to Gulf Shores, AL



We had stayed four days and five nights at Veteran Park so we could spend time with family for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Day 1: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 
I spent the day with my children and grandchildren, we ate Thanksgiving dinner.
Hannah, Nevada, Madison 

Nevada and Marcus playing Video Games 

Nevada, Jake watching a movie 

Nevada and Marcus in Jakes Room 
Day 2: Thursday, November 22, 2001
Celebrated Thanksgiving with family.

Day 3: Friday, November 23, 2001 
I spent the day with my granddaughter Hannah at the Conference Center and Veterans Park
The Renaissance tower 

Hannah at the Conference Center 

Hannah at the Conference Center 

Hannah at Veterans Park 

Veterans Park 
Day 4: Saturday, November 24, 2001 
We celebrated Thanksgiving with hubby's' family.

Day 5: Sunday, November 25, 2001 
I spent the day with my grandmother.


My siblings and grandmother

Visiting my Grandmother
Day 6:  Monday, November 26, 2001
Hubby drove our Damon Escaper to Luxury RV Park Gulf Shores Alabama where we stayed a week, along with all the other snowbirds.

Luxury RV Park
November is off-season at Gulf shores and all you see are snowbirds. The pace slows down during the winter months. 
It is a good time for sightseeing and driving along the ocean. 
Luxury RV Park Gulf Shores

Luxury RV Park Gulf Shores
November 26, 2001
We toured Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum and walked among the ruins.
We walked along the windy beaches of Fort Bowyers, with the windy salt air blowing in our hair. We toured the museum where we saw Mobile Point Lighthouse, 4th order Fresnel lens 1873-1966. 
Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum 

Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum  

Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum  

Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum

Fort Morgan “Bowyers” Museum 
Day 7: Tuesday, November 27, 2001
We spent the day at the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola that was festively decorated, for the Christmas Holidays during WWII, with Christmas music playing in the background. 
On the upper level, we saw a grocery store, a barbershop, army camps, TV shows playing in that era, aircraft, jeeps, & jungle camps. 
We saw pin-up girls posted at camps, we saw Hagia & Hagia Booz for fifteen cents. We saw the home of the Luck Marine. We saw hat a home of a military family may have looked like. We saw Pawn & Loan, Sandy Ridge Grocery, a Colonial bread sign, Jo, Jo's, a Buck Rodgers, airplane, we saw maps, family pictures, and radios.
The museum was full of airplanes, and jets of every size shape and color. 
There was a replica of a ship we went inside where we saw the sickbay area, with medicines, we saw bunk beds and toilets. 

We saw the US Coast Guard, a miniature boat display with airplanes ready to defend our country. We saw two floors of airplanes, flags, from different countries and the skylab simulated flying. Hubby had always dreamed of being a pilot. 
We saw the cockpit of an airplane that we crawled inside and played 
We saw F70-3M 129655 Aircraft, Blue Angles US Navy 16483 Aircraft and flight of the Blue Angles over St. Louis hanging from the ceiling. 
Museum of Aviation in Pensacola

Museum of Aviation in Pensacola

Museum of Aviation in Pensacola

Museum of Aviation in Pensacola
We walked back upstairs where we saw Jake's Garage, a sign Pepis for five cents, and a Texaco sign. We saw melons scales that did not work,  and a theater with popcorn.
We saw a hall filled with plaques of honor and one was Alan Shepard, one of the first men to walk on the moon.

Our next stop was the Big Lagoon State Park Perdido Key Florida. We were the only ones there as we walked along the boardwalk which took us over a natural laked filled with wildlife. We saw an observation tower but did not climb it. We walked along the sandy beach stopping at the water's edge. 

We ate dinner at Lambert's Restaurant “Home of the trowed roll. “
They bring you all the food you can eat rolls. The original restaurant is located in Sikeston, Missouri and another one located in Branson, Missouri. 


Day 8: Wednesday, November 28, 2001
We toured the USS Alabama Battleship located 2703 Battleship Parkway Mobile, Al 36602.
We walked along the decks of the mighty USS Alabama. 
The ship received nine battle stars from WWII. We walked up and down many flights of stairs and saw many memorials honoring our veterans who died for our country. 
USS Alabama Battleship Mobile 

USS Alabama Battleship Mobile 

USS Alabama Battleship Mobile 

A-12 Blackbird Spy
We walked through the aircraft Pavilion and saw many exhibits including A-12 Blackbird Spy, Tuskegee Airman’s P-SID Mustang, Vietnam PBR River patrol boat, and many other military bombers and flying planes. 
We walked through the USS Alabama rose garden, we saw the Coastguard 1378 helicopter black and white, and we saw the F-15 fighting Falcon Viper Replica of USS Alabama. 
We saw the galley of photos in the Battleship memorial park. Christmas music was playing over the radio, the park was covered Christmas decorations.

Day 9-10:  November 29, 30, 2001
Friday we rode to Gulf Shores and we walked along the beach filling our shoes full of sand. it had stormed the day before so the gulf was still violent with pounding waves and red flags were out.
We saw the iconic PInk Poney Restaurant and we watched bird feeding on fish. It was an overcast day, very windy by a pleasant day. 
During the summer months this beach is covered with the sound of tourist but today it is silent. 

It is time for our vacation to come to a close so we are heading out. At 11:30AM we crossed Mobile Bay in our Damon Escaper and we can see the USS Alabama in the distance as we near the Mobile Bay tunnel. 
At 6:29 PM the sun is setting as we ride through Mississippi. We stop for the night at Sam’s Town Casino RV Park where we stay a couple of nights before we began our journey home. 
We spent some time gambling in Sam’s Town, Hollywood, and Harrods Casinos.
The casino's in Tunica MS

The casino's in Tunica MS

The casino's in Tunica MS
Day 11: Saturday, December 1, 2001 
We spent Thanksgiving with family, we rode to Gulf Shores for a short vacation, where we saw the Museum of Naval Aviation, The USS Alabama, spent two nights in Tunica and traveled home to Fenton, Mo

Friday, July 3, 2015

2000-2002~ Sites we visited in Missouri


September the first, I moved to Miss Maria’s RV Park in Fenton, Missouri with my husband.

We made many friends and had lots of cookouts and get-togethers with brother electricians when at the RV Park. 

Some of the places that we visited were:
We visited the Butterfly House at Faust Park, 15193 Olive Blvd. Chesterfield, Mo 63017 where there are thousands of live tropical butterflies fly freely in a glass conservatory. 

The St. Louis Zoo 1 Government Drive St Louis where we saw elephants, cheetahs, penguins, bears, hyenas, lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, primates, birds, and reptiles. 
The St. Louis Art Museum 1 Fine Arts Drive St Louis, Mo 63110. 

Six Flags Over Saint Louis Theme Park:
My husband’s sister won four tickets to Six Flags in Missouri; she could not use the tickets so she gave them to us.
All bags had to be checked before entering Six Flags Park because of 911. 

We went to Six Flags in September and again in October for Halloween.
The most fun was at Halloween:
We walked through a couple of haunted houses where I bumped my head when I was frightened by a goblin.
The goblin looked at my husband and said, “ That is the funniest thing I have seen tonight.”
My husband also laughed.

We saw several tombstones covered with spider webs lying all around on the ground.
We saw many scary white ghosts, and black bats flying among the trees.
The street lights flicker with orange and black lighting.

Fenton is known as the city of parks and we visited many of Fenton’s parks.
RV Park Fenton 
The City currently has over 340 acres of parkland, featuring active and passive leisure pursuits. Fenton City Park amenities include 7 softball fields, 8 soccer fields, 2 basketball courts, 4 tennis courts, picnic pavilions, 2 playgrounds, and a 1.4-mile pedestrian/bicycle trail. 
Neighborhood parks range from 1 to 16 acres featuring playgrounds, fishing ponds, nature trails, and pavilions.  
RV Park Fenton 
RV Park Fenton 
Saturday, October 6, 2001
We rode to a German neighborhood in south St Louis called Bevo Mill most of the people there are from Bosnia and Croatia. We visited the Miniature Museum of Greater St Louis. It houses a collection of artistic miniatures. The museum collects, preserves, and sells some of the most impressive miniature works from dolls to their houses.
We saw a miniature replica of the Long Branch Saloon from the TV show Guns Smoke. We saw the windmill Bevo Mill Restaurant located at the intersection of Marganford and Gravois roads. We saw the Stari Grad Fadil’s Bakery Restaurant in the Irene Building and much old building no longer in use. 

The Bevo Mill Restaurant 
The Bevo Mill Restaurant located at the intersection of Morganford and Gavios 
Storefronts in Bevo Mill 
Long Branch Saloon  
Storefronts in Bevo Mill 


Replica of Bevo 
Town of Bevo most stores are closed 
We watched the Founders Day Parade in Fenton Missouri.
In the parade we saw the daughters of the American Revolution, a group of Boy Scouts, Michal Gibbons Missouri State Senator, Greg Quinn County Council, Larry Steelman Alderman, riding in a black Corvette, and the Silver Falcon Marching Band of Rockwood Summit High School.
RiverChase of Fenton, Olde Town Fenton Veterinary Hospital, owners walking their dogs, people riding horses, and driving old & new Cars.

We saw the Saint Louis County Police and the Number 1314 Fenton Fire Department firetruck. 
  
Fenton Parade
Sunday, October 21, 2001
Museum of Transportation
We visited the St Louis Museum of Transportation Train Museum location at 2967 Barrett Station Road, St Louis Mo
We saw the Rogers and Hammerstein State Fair billboard starring Bobby Darrin, Pat Boon, and Ann Margaret. Displayed was Bobby Darrin’s dream car, a 1963 Chrysler turbine car.
Train cars: Union Pacific, Nickel Plated Road Daniel, Sabine River, and Northern.
St Louis Museum of Transportation
St Louis Museum of Transportation
St Louis Museum of Transportation
St Louis Museum of Transportation


St Louis Museum of Transportation
We did a drive-through at Jelly Stone Park at Christmas. 
Jellystone Park address: 5300 Fox Creek Rd. Pacific, Mo 63693 
December 2001
We waited in a long line to drive our car through Yogi Bear’s Jelly Stone Park.
The park was decorated with red, green, yellow, orange, and blue lights flashing, dancing, and glowing light everywhere
Many of the summer cabins were transformed into different light themes.
We saw the Space Age Jetsons orbiting overhead in their jet aero car.
We saw the primitive family of the Flintstones, with Dino chasing Fred.
We saw Snow White and the seven dwarfs in a line with their tools headed to the diamond mInc.
We saw Santa Clause rains in hand with his reindeer saying, “ 'Merry Christmas, and to all a Good Night”
We saw an ice pond with anatomic dolls skating on ice.

Lone Elk Park Sunday, November 18, 2001
We drove through the Lone Elk County Park, located in Valley Park near the intersection of Hwy 44 and hwy 141. The park consists of 546 acres loaded with bison, elk, and deer that roam freely. It is a beautiful drive and you can watch wild animals in your car. 
   
 Lone Elk County Park
 Lone Elk County Park
 Lone Elk County Park 
Sunday, November 18, 2001
Laumeier Sculpture Park
We visited Laumeier Sculpture Park, seventy-two acres of land given by Matilda Laumeier. A personification of Mother Earth, this piece proposes that a land easy to an understanding ingratiating face is what the public wants to see. 
Robert Morris's minimalist sculptures are often arrangements of geometric shapes placed on the floor, up against a wall, or suspended from a ceiling. There is no expressive or symbolic associated with this work and it is a study of pure form. Some of the pieces that we saw were Vito Acconci,(Faces of the Earth #3), Jonathan Borofsky (Man with Briefcase #2968443), Niki De Saint Phalle (Ricardo Cat, 1999), Donald Judd (Untitled 1984), Alexander Liberman (The Way 1972-80), Jonathan Borofsky, (Parts of a Ballerina), Ronald Gonzalez,(Birds fly through us 2000), Ernest Trova, (Abstract Variation 1980), George Greenamyer,(Heritage Schooner for Debra Lakin 1998) Judith Shea, (Public Goddess 1992) & Terry Allen, (Symphony Lounge 1998) were a few of the pieces that we saw.
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Laumeier Sculpture Park 
Laumeier Sculpture Park,
Malls of St Louis MO area:
Brentwood Promenade hwy 170 and hwy 64/40 Missouri
We visited the Chesterfield Mall on hwy 64/40 Clarkson Rd Missouri.
Crestwood Westfield shopping town Watson and Sappington Road
We visited Jamestown Mall Lindbergh and old Jamestown Rd. Missouri
Northwest Plaza Westfield shopping town Lindbergh Blvd and St. Charles Rock road Missouri.

It snowed my first winter in Missouri which was just before Thanksgiving. 
There were still patches left from that snow in January. 
The streets are cleaned every day and the traffic flows smoothly most of the time but sometimes the weather does unexpected things and the traffic slows to a halt. 

The next winter was mild.
January 2002 that night before we left Fenton it snowed.



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