Here and There

Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: Alabama

2017 – Shortstop: Gunter Hill Park – Montgomery, AL

grscott

We’ve come to love Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds. There is always a lake nearby, the sites are spacious, and the price is right (especially using our half price America the Beautiful pass). Not all Corps campgrounds have sewer hookups, but when we come across one with full hookups we feel like we’ve hit the jackpot.

Gunter Hill Campground, near Montgomery, AL, is all the above. It’s in a beautiful setting with really nice, paved and large sites. With the state capitol nearby, there are plenty of local attractions. The only negatives are a poor Verizon signal, a neighboring race track that can be noisy at times, and getting a satellite signal from some sites is impossible. This is a popular campground and reservations, especially on weekends, is a good idea.

2017 – Campground Review: Escapees Rainbow Plantation – Summerdale, AL

grscott


We really like this campground. The Escapees club is the largest (maybe only) organization for fulltime RVers so when we are at an Escapees park we enjoy the company of like-minded people. This campground, being in the sunny south and in such an interesting area, attracts lots of folks who maybe aren’t RVing fulltime but are at least “long-timers” who spend the winters as “escapees” from the cold north. Everyone is friendly and welcoming and there are lots of walkers who enjoy stopping for a chat.

Not only are there many people in RVs, there is also an entire neighborhood of houses occupied by folks who have “retired” from RV travel or at least have decided this would be a good place to put down some roots. There are a variety of houses but nearly all of them have some kind of accommodation for a RV. It’s fun to walk around and see all the innovative ways people have built houses that also provide for RV parking and use.

The RV area is grassy on packed sand. We enjoyed the spacious site and a nice shady oak tree. In the past we have parked under oak trees in the fall and didn’t enjoy the acorn bombardment on the camper. This being spring we mainly had to put up with leaves falling (the oaks don’t shed leaves until new leaves come in and “push” them out).

There are lots of activities in the park’s activity center: everything from a music group to quilters to a chair “caning” group. Of course, there are plenty of eating opportunities as well.

Let me include in this review a special mention of Robertsdale Church of the Nazarene. We worshiped with these fine folks the past month and enjoyed it very much. Pastor Melissa and her congregation made us feel right at home and I recommend this church to any who visit Escapees Rainbow Plantation.

2017 – Southeastern Alabama and area

grscott

The gulf coast of Alabama is a terrific place to visit. In addition to major league attractions like the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL and Battleship Alabama in Mobile, AL (both already reviewed) there are many fun and interesting things to see and do.

Of course, the main attraction of the area is the beautiful while “sugar sand” beaches. We enjoyed strolls along the beach – getting our feet wet and the sound of the surf. In addition to all the above, there are several great restaurants in the area, a big outlet mall and much more. We spent a month on the Alabama gulf and enjoyed all it has to offer. Chances are good that we’ll be back!

 

 

2017 – Battleship Alabama – Mobile, AL

grscott

Spending a few months each year volunteering at Battleship Texas as we do, we couldn’t resist visiting the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL. What an amazing Battleship! We spent several hours looking around and enjoying this WWII ship.

In the main exhibit area you learn about the history of the ship. We especially enjoyed watching the free 15 minute video of the ship. The officer’s living spaces, main guns, anti-aircraft guns, ships bridge, flag plot room, and fire control tower are located on main deck and above. We climbed nearly as high as was open to tourists.
There was an amazing amount of fire power on this ship. We looked inside one of the 16″ turrets, and checked out several of the other guns. Below deck forward was Warrant officer’s living spaces, Marine Corps living spaces, post office, sick bay, engine room and radio room. Below deck aft is the crew’s living spaces, crew’s galley, bakery, brig, barbershop, and laundry.

We enjoyed our visit to the Alabama very much. On the same property is the submarine USS Drum as well as several WWII aircraft, tanks, etc. We were pretty tired from our exploration of the big ship and decided visiting these other exhibits would have to be done on a future visit!