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| Sure Doesn't look like that there is a storm coming. |
On Friday, August 24th, I had arranged a trip with my wife and mother-in-law to the sugar white sands of Perdido Key Florida. This was in Celebration of my wife's 1/2 century on the planet and her mothers 84th birthday. Both these events were wonderful reasons to go to the Gulf of Mexico for a few days of fun and delicious seafood. Sadly, Our Vacation in the Northern Gulf of Mexico was cut short by Hurricane Issac. Of course, we know that Hurricanes happen in late August, but when we were making the plans in early August the waters of the Caribbean and the Gulf were pretty calm and the threat of a storm making land fall anywhere near one of our favorite vacation spots seemed remote. So we planned our 5 night itinerary and made the plans to go. A few days before we left, a low pressure system slid from the coast of Africa and within a few days more Tropical Storm Issac was born in the Caribbean. We watched as predictions for the storm turned it northward and making landfall near where we had made our plans. But that didn't keep our intrepid group of travelers from setting off from Terre Haute to the beach paradise of Perdido Key. With an eye to the weather, we packed our bags and turned left o US 41 and started our trip down to the beach.
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| The View From the Condo. |
We set off at about 2:30 on Friday. I had arranged to get off from work a couple hours early so we could make some time toward the beach. On a normal drive, it takes about 12 to 14 hours for us to drive the around 700 miles to the beach. We always make plenty of stops. We eat when we get hungry and of course there are other reasons to pull off the interstate. But we had done well. Our first day of travel put us in the town of Athens Alabama which is about 1/2 way to the beach give or take 50 miles. So our trip was off to a good start. At this time, Issac was still below Cuba and working its way north west. We were not concerned yet because we hoped that the storm could still break up or it could change course and head to Texas. Vacationers are always optimistic. We were even lucky enough to find a reasonably priced room at the Holiday Inn Express in Athens. I like the Holiday Inn express hotels. The bed were comfortable and the rooms are clean. The breakfast, while maybe not the most flavorful was filling and plentiful. My wife was intrigued by the pancake machine. Push a button, get a pancake. I found it pretty cool too. The machine produced edible pancakes if you put enough syrup and butter on them. It was very much typical motel breakfast buffet fair.
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| Bonnie and her Mom on the moon. (Well I guess not) |
The next morning we jumped into the car and headed south. I had checked the location and condition of what was still a tropical storm Issac before we left. It was making land fall over Cuba. My hope was that the rugged mountains of Cuba would put up a better fight against the storm. Sadly, Issac came out pretty much in tact as it tracked over Cuba. We continued to drive south until we reached one of our favorite stopping places along the road. Priesters Pecans in Fort Deposit Alabama has loads of free samples of candies and coated pecans we even found a delicious blueberry bread that we purchased thinking we could toast it for breakfasts in the Kitchen of the two bed room Condo. Our only other stop of the that day was to buy gas. We had planned to luncheon on the beach around 2:00. So, We arrived in Perdido Key around 2:30 that afternoon, We checked into our condo and got the evacuation instructions. We might have been optimistic, but we weren't foolish enough to ignore the consequences of being wrong about the hurricane. Right after checking into the condo, we obtained our $200.00 gift cards from the Perdido Key Chamber of commerce. The Chamber has used the money they received from BP after the oil spill as incentives for people to stay at Pedido Key. They gave out American Express gift cards to people if they preregistered and show a zero balance receipt for accommodation at Perdido key. The length of our stay qualified us for $200.00.
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| I always wanted to fly an F18. |
Our first meal on the beach was at the shrimp basket, a familiar haunt for my family. The food was tasty, pretty much redeeming itself from the last time we ate there. The oysters were fresh and creamy and the shrimp were tasty with the very light bit of breading they put on them. Even though they don't serve grouper as their fish any more. The broadhead, a variety of catfish, was very nice flaky and good. I had a delicious Yuengling Larger to was all this wonderful food down. All in all it was a good experienced
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| My daughter likes K'nex and Legos. She would love this. |
We were tired but we also knew that our stay at the beach might be limited, so as soon as we found your condo, we changed into swim suits and made our way to the beach. The weather was beautiful. the temperature was hot, but not badly so. The humidity was not as high as I have experienced along the gulf coast. Our first mission when we arrived at the condo was to enjoy some of the terrific surf that was being kicked up by the winds out to sea. Issac was still out to sea far enough that the waves were not so high as to prohibit our enjoyment. Even so we could feel a strong westward rip current as the winds were blowing from the west. Issac was still in Cuba. Unfortunately it was pretty clear at that time that Cuba wasn't going to tear the storm up enough to prevent it from effecting our vacation. We really enjoyed the waves. I could personally feel most of the tensions of my work flow from my body into the Gulf of Mexico around me. Later that evening we walked across the highway to Lillian's pizza. You might wonder why, with all that fantastic seafood around us we would choose a pizza for dinner. At the end of the day we decided that we were tired and didn't want to get out after all the driving we had done over the past couple of days. That evening, before bed, Issac emerged from Cuba and unleashed his wrath against south Florida and the Florida keys. There was lots of talk during the day that Issac would turn northward, with a bullseye on Gulf shores. This would put our condo in the north east quadrant of the storm, which since the forward momentum of the storm is in combination with the Cyclonic winds is the worse part of the storm. However, that evening the storm was predicted to go a bit further west. I think it was at this point that the weather service got a better grip on where the storm was going.
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| You know I couldn't pass this up. |
The next morning, we were awakened by the fire alarm in the condo. Someone had pulled the alarm and it was going off right in our bedroom. I was just getting up to make coffee but my wife was sleeping peacefully away. We didn't have to abandon our Condo because the building manager was quick to come up and let us know that it was a false alarm. I don't care how big the emergency, its very difficult to go from dead asleep to on the sidewalk in a matter of a few minutes. Finally, after about 20 minutes of squawking and announcing that an emergency had been reported, the alarm was silenced. In the mean time we checked the weather. We took comfort in the fact that Issac was predicted to go west of where we were. Issac's predicted land fall slid even a little further west. Our hope was that if it would push far enough west then we would get to stay. We had talked a head of time that if any sort of evacuation was ordered, mandatory or voluntary, we would go. We sat on the balcony and saw dolphins. I can think of only one time when I didn't see these beautiful creatures swimming and playing in the gulf.
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| I know that there aren't lots of beach pics. But Its me by a Saturn V for crying out loud. |
After a bit of time enjoying the beauty that the Florida pan handle had to offer our little group decided we were getting hungry. The people of the northern gulf coast know already that one of the best places for breakfast is the collection of restaurants know as Tacky Jacks. Tacky Jack's has several locations scattered around the northern Gulf coast but the original location, at least I think it is the original location, is in Orange beach Alabama, overlooking Perdido bay. Originally, Tacky Jack's started out as a bar on the top floor with a breakfast restaurant on the bottom floor. When we first started going to Tacky Jack's, we went for the huge pan cakes that were the size of a dinner plate. My wife loves pecans in her pancakes and being in the south, where pecans are famous, Tacky Jack's is only too happy to offer them on the menu. We have, in the past, eaten upstairs in the bar as well. They serve what they call Garbage Can Nacho's. This Sounds kind of unappetizing if you think too much about it, but the The Garbage Can refers to the amount of different things they put on the nachos. Meat and cheese are included of course, but when you add the jalapenos and the sour cream and the other nacho toppings you feel like they put everything in the kitchen on this delicious appetizer. Interestingly, while my wife had the wonderful pan cakes, I found something new on the menu that I thought would be delicious for breakfast. Shrimp and Grits are a staple of the southern states. And cheesy grits are a staple all over the south. Putting fresh gulf shrimp with perfectly cooked cheesy grits can only make a delightful breakfast. These were good shrimp and grits. The dish had plenty of perfectly cooked gulf shrimp over some delightfully creamy and cheesy grits. With each spoon full i got some shrimp and i savoured every bite. I may have found my new favorite breakfast on the gulf.
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| How we got to the Moon. (More Saturn V Pics) |
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| Giant F1 rocket engines of the Saturn V. |
My wife and I spent the rest of the morning in the surf and sitting in the sand. Issac wasn't so close that the waves had become dangerous, actually they were perfect for body surfing again. So i ditched my glasses and newly purchased Tacky Jacks cap in the bag with the towels and enjoyed the surf, letting it carry me in again and again on the top of the waves. It was great fun especially after I figured out how to let the eastward flowing tide help me get back to my feet. Fortunately for everyone there is no known video evidence of my seal like adventures in the surf. after a couple hours of body surfing and sitting in the sand it became time for lunch. We originally wanted to go to Cobalt's, a new restaurant that was fairly close by, but their menu was a Sunday brunch menu that we didn't find too attractive. Our second choice was The Fisherman's Corner, a fairly new bistro that serves Cajun and Creole food. They served a brunch as well but the food they offered appealed to us more. They weren't busy when we got there so we were seated quickly. The food was very good. I had a Gumbo Salad which fried shrimp, oysters, crayfish and okra, everything you would expect in gumbo over spring greens. The dressing was sort of a remoulade with out being to spicy. My problems my dish were, the breading on the seafood was too heavy and personally i like a corn meal based breading for fried oysters. Also, all the fired things were under salted and a bit more spiciness would not have gone amiss. Still the seafood was fresh and flavorful and well cooked. So all in all it wasn't a bad dish. My wife hand the scrumptious shrimp and grits in what was almost and etouffee sauce. She had eaten this dish before. The grits come in a baseball sized fried ball and the sauce is delicious. After lunch we went to the outlet mall, were we bought more stuff to eat at Harry and Davids and as we returned we purchased a wonderful Hopes Cheese cake. You see, We had purchased all these wonderful things in anticipation of being at the beach for several more days.
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| Inside Apollo 16. |
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| Reentry was hot. Look at the scaring. |
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| Precious Moon Rock |
Sadly, none of that was meant to be. The next day started out beautifully. The sun was out and the sand on the beach was warm and lovely. My wife and I awoke early and decided to take a walk on the beach. We noticed that all the loose man made stuff had been removed. The beach loungers and the big white containers where the cushions for the loungers were kept had been hauled away. All the trash cans were gone. Even the mats where beach combers cleaned the sand from their feet before entering the condos were gone. There were no other people walking that morning ether. It was a little creepy but still beautiful. Knowing that this could be our last day, my wife and I wrote our names in the sand where the waves can wash it away. This is a ritual we came up with some time ago. We want the gulf to remember us when we come back. Then we returned to the Condo. At the bottom of the elevator we were met by the same Meyers Real estate fellow that we had seen the previous day when we had the fire alarm was go off. He asked us why we were still there and told us about the mandatory evacuation that had been ordered. In addition, He told us the power and water would be shut down and the elevators would be turned off around noon. That was enough for us. the prospect of spending three or four days with no electricity or water and no elevator made us pack our bags and leave northward. We had a back up plan in mind so that we could still enjoy at least another day of vacation before returning home. We would stop in Huntsville and see the Rocket Center. That evening we exited I 65 and drove the 15 miles over to Huntsville where we lucky enough to find a room in the Marriott hotel that was right next to the rocket center.
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| Our first manned space Vehicle |
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| Juno, Jupiter, Redstone and the Saturn S1B. |
The US Space and Rocket had its start in 1950 when Werner Von Braun and his group of displaced German V2 rocket scientists where moved from Fort Bliss Texas to the Redstone Rocket Arsenal in Huntsville. In the area surrounding Huntsville, Von Braun and his team developed the Mighty Saturn V rocket and its smaller Cousin the Saturn S1B. The New SLS (space launch system) that will carry astronauts into deep space is being designed and tested at the Huntsville Marshall Space Center and the near by Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Von Braun worked with Alabama legislature to create the US Space and Rocket center on land donated by the army. the US Space and Rocket Center Opened its doors in 1970 and remains one of three locations in the world where you can see the actual Saturn V rocket. One of these mighty rockets is at Kennedy, one is in Huston at the Johnson Space Center and the third is on display at the US Rocket Center where there is a full scale mock up stacked up in the missle park, as well as the three stages of the Saturn V preserved in a Davidson building on the site. Along with the Saturn V, a Mock up of the space shuttle stack, Juno, Jupiter and Redstone rockets that were based on the old V2 designs and an Atlas rocket like the one that took the Mercury Astronauts into orbit have been set up in the Missile park, outside of the Welcome center. The Juno booster was made famous when it lifted the United States first Explorer Satellite into orbit. The Juno rocket was a modified Jupiter Rocket that shared many of the same parts as the Redstones that were used to lift Allan Shepard and Gus Grissom to the Sub Orbital flights in the early 60's. At that time, the Navy was given the best chance to put a satellite into space but the Vanguard program was plagued by explosions and problems. Von Braun's team was able to get JPL's Explorer Satellite into space before Vanguard was able to get off the ground.
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MMU mock up. (Bonnie wasn't really Scared)
Quarantine Trailer (Imagine 11 days here) |
Along with its impressive collection of rockets and missiles, the US Rocket Center has an impressive collection of Simulators, Mock Ups and artifacts from the early days of space flight. Visitors can imagine them selves in the tight confines of the Mercury Space Craft. Or wonder how Gordon Cooper could spend 8 days days inside the only slightly bigger Gemini space craft. An original Apollo space craft that went to the moon on the Apollo 16 mission is on display. Looking inside the Apollo space craft you can imagine the thrill that these brave men experienced as the traveled to another world. Visitors can find a mock up of the lunar lander and a rover, which in of its self is an amazing piece of engineering. Light and strong, the lunar rover folded up in a nice compact bundle that stored neatly in one of the side panels of the landing stage of the Lunar Lander. Along side of the lander is an exhibit of lunar soil and regolith found by the astronauts that went to the moon. Just across the way, behind the Apollo 16 command module is some of the rarest stuff on earth. An actual Moon rock is encased in plastic and is available for the public to see. Near the Apollo space craft is the actual Airstream quarantine trailer used for for the Apollo 12 mission. Visitors can go inside and look through the Plexiglas and see where the crew was isolated from everyone for 11 days. The story of the trailer and how it was lost and re-found again is an interesting one. You can read about it online or at the Rocket Center. The rocket center doesn't have displays for just the past. Visitors can find simulators for the new Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle that astronauts will use to go into deep space. My wife actually slid her self into a Mock up of the space craft. It was designed to visitors the feel of what it would be like to be inside this new space craft.
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| Bonnie in the Orion Mock up. |
On December 13, 1972 Gene Cernan left the moon for to this date was the last time. This December will mark our absence from the moon for 40 years. Of course, NASA had plans for additional missions and had built more Saturn V Rockets to go. Funding, and lack of interest killed the last 3 missions. Now our closest neighbor sits glowing enticingly out our windows still becoming us to come back but, 40 years after our last visit to the moon, there are no moon bases, and our space strategy seems inconsistent at best. We still haven't visited the far side of the moon that only a few people have seen. The space shuttle was an amazing machine. As flawed as it was, it could carry people and heavy cargo hundreds of miles into space. The shuttle made the Space Station possible and who isn't awed by the amazing photos that the Hubble space telescope have taken. With out the Shuttle none of this would be possible. But now, The time has come in my mind to go somewhere. Perhaps we reach out to the moon again, or we should go to an asteroid like current mission planners are contemplating. Our Technology should be driven in the spirit of peace and exploration and a thriving space program can provide that. Much of the new technology today is being driving by weapons of war. Millions of dollars are being spend finding new ways of destruction. We should channel some of that scientific energy into going to beautiful unknown places. We should be expanding our technology by seeking solutions to the problems presented to us by a trip to Mars. Our survival as a species may depend on finding new worlds to colonize. Our nature demands that we go to new places and "look behind the next hill". We must as the poet says, "Slip the surly bonds of earth" and "Put out our hand and touch the face of god"*
* High Flight was written by Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee. He was an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed by a mid air collision over England the 11th of December 1941. He was a hero.
* I wanted to put another footnote to this post with regard to all the poor people that lost their homes to Issac. I know it seems trivial to write about a lost vacation when so many other people were affected by this storm. I have friends that live on the gulf and their lives have been effected by so many things. Hurricane Ivan destroyed many businesses. The BP oil spill caused and is still causing hardship for fishermen and the tourist industry in that area. I in no way want belittle what these folks are going through. As a matter of fact, we have always tried to return to the gulf coast area as quickly as we can to support our friends. Maybe this blog will show others how wonderful the area is and get them to go down and enjoy the beautiful gulf coast soon as well.
* I'm sure you noticed the number of photos from the Rocket center and not as many of the beach. This is OK with me because I have tons of photos of the beach but just a few from the Rocket Center.
