Mardi Gras in Mobile

  Rainy weather greeted us for our first parade. Few people on the route meant that we were buried in beads – so many that we stopped trying to catch them and stayed far back on the parade routes for the rest of the weekend. On the last day of the celebrations we gave our bags of beads to a group of kids who were planning on taking them to Krispi Kreme where they could trade twelve pounds of beads for a dozen donuts. The beads are then sent to groups that sort and package then for resale – a great way to keep them out of the landfill.

          Wet!                           Must eat at least one moon pie!
    
  By Fat Tuesday the weather had cleared and the crowds were huge.


 
 
   I blogged about Mardi Gras in 2011 and since this information is still accurate I won’t repeat it. We still don’t know who owns the lot where we park but this year we decided to stay overnight. The lot is on a street that gets little traffic and is bordered by the cemetery and businesses, and is adjacent to the Big Zion Church. Most of the congregation parks on the street so the lot doesn’t get used even on Sunday. Fat Tuesday was a different story however! Groups of families and friends set up barbeque grills and shade canopies early in the morning and settled in to enjoy the day. After the last parade everything was packed up and we were alone again.

  I’m not sure about the rules for RV parking in the city but we saw a few lots taped off and filled with RVs. We also saw some RVs parked along the side streets. Pay close attention to the signs to avoid getting towed and fined. There’s a large area under the I-10 overpass that Mobile has dubbed RV City. It’s just a parking lot with as many RVs as possible crammed in. Spaces are about $400.00 for 20 days of dry camping during Mardi Gras season. We strolled through and decided that it was really awful but it sells out every year. In fact most spots are grandfathered in.

    Last parade and the final clean up begins.
Mardi Gras  30.68572, -88.05135

San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park

   In 1577, the Spanish built a fort at San Marcos De Apalache to protect trade routes and Spain’s claim to Florida. Located along a remote section of the Florida coast, the settlement provided easy access to the interior of Florida, the Spanish missions, and fertile farm land.  Although San Marcos was never a large or important site it was involved in conflicts between the Spanish, English, French, Indians, and Americans as they all sought control of the area. After Florida became a state it was occupied by Confederate soldiers who held it for four years.

  The park has a small visitor center with exhibits and a short video. Signs along a self guided interpretive trail point out  remnants of foundations and other evidence of the various occupations.

  The visitor center is accessible. A very short section of the trail is paved and accessible. The rest of it is dirt with steep hills and many roots.

  The parking lot is shared with a boat ramp parking lot and is roomy enough for any RV.  Park  30.15214, -84.20977

Meet Up on the Way to Mardi Gras in Mobile

     We finally caught up with these two intrepid travelers who are taking a break in their home state of Florida. Over the last four years we’ve been meeting in various places across the country to spend a few hours of talk and laughter before continuing on our journeys. This time Dave and Marcia introduced us to their favorite Greek restaurant, the Original Mama Maria’s, in Tarpon Springs where we stuffed ourselves with authentic made-from-scratch Greek food – yum! Dave and Marcia are gearing up for their next long trip which starts in less than 6 weeks. All of their adventures can be found on Dave’s Blog.

   Thanks Dave and Marcia! It’s always a pleasure to see you two. Happy trails until we meet again. :- )

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

   We visited this garden in 2011 and it’s definitely worthy of a return visit. The garden has two main areas. Beautiful themed gardens with winding paths fill the western corner. The eastern section features lakes circled by wide paths and planted with tropical trees and grasses. Since our last visit a butterfly observatory has been added. There’s also a outdoor garden with orchids artistically arranged in a tropical setting, the result of a partnership between Fairchild and the American Orchid Society which was previously headquartered in Delray Beach.

 

   A big thank you to my sister and brother-in-law for once again including us in their vacation plans!

 

  The gardens are very wheelchair accessible.The are a few wheelchairs for loan-no charge. The main paths are all paved and smooth. Most of the informative signs are close enough to the paths to be read easily. There’s one short hill through the tropical forest section.The tour trams are supposed to be capable of accommodating two chairs per tram but we didn’t try them.

  The parking lot for the gardens isn’t large enough for RVs but since the gardens are surrounded by Matheson Hummock Park that isn’t a problem. After you turn into the park driveway make an immediate left into the large Matheson lot. There’s room for the largest RV and it’s a short roll to the garden’s entrance building. Gardens  25.6791, -80.27353

John Prince Campground

  One hundred and thirteen roomy sites with beautiful views of the lake are reserved for short term campers. The rest of the sites which number just about 200 are for long term campers. Most of them are very close together with a view of the neighbors’ RVs – yuck. Even so the campground appears to very popular with the long term sites filled for the season. All of the sites include water and electricity. About 2/3 also have sewer hookups. I didn’t have any problem reserving a short term site even though I called just a couple of weeks ahead of our arrival.

  None of the sites are specifically accessible but most of them are usable with paved parking pad that extend under the tables. The park has many activities including 4.5 miles of accessible, paved walking/biking paths.  Campground  26.59321, -80.07915

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee NWR

  Central southern Florida from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades National Park is a wetland of slow moving water.  As the area was developed for residential neighborhoods, farms, and ranches in the early 1900s, dikes and canals were built to drain the land and provide flood control, altering the delicate ecosystem. The Marshall NWR is one of only three water conservation areas in southern Florida. These areas and part of the Everglades National Park are all that remain of the original Everglades fresh water marsh.

  The Marshall NWR is home to 250 species of migratory and year round birds plus numerous mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Most of the 143,954 acres of the refuge is accessible by boat, canoe, or kayak but small section the eastern edge features a very informative visitor center, a short boardwalk loop through a bald cypress swamp, and a grid of trails and gravel roads for walking and biking.

       

        

      

  The visitor center and the boardwalk are accessible. The trails and gravel roads are accessible but wheelchair users may need assistance due to uneven and lumpy ground.

   Visitors with oversized vehicles should drive past the visitor center parking lot and turn right into the small bus and RV lot. This is a pull in only lot so it’s necessary to back up when leaving. If you’re towing try turning left and parking in the lot at the end of the spur road. Refuge  26.49867, -80.2134

Flagler Museum

   Henry Flagler formed a partnership with John D Rockefeller in 1867 and together they built the powerful monopoly of the Standard Oil Company which made both of them very wealthy men.  By 1885 at the age of 55 Flagler was ready for a new challenge. He moved to St. Augustine with his 2nd wife and began building the resort hotels and coastal railroad that made Florida a winter retreat for rich northerners.

   Whitehall, now the Flagler Museum, was built in Palm Beach in 1902 as a wedding present for Flagler’s 3rd wife, Mary Lily. The house and it’s furnishings showcase the excesses of the Gilded Age when outdoing one’s neighbor was a common endeavor. An example of this is the aluminum leaf, which was more expensive than gold at the time, used to highlight the plaster molding in the Drawing Room. The house has been expertly restored after serving as a hotel for 34 years and many of the furnishing are original or close copies.

  Visitors have the option of taking a docent led tour, an audio wand tour, a smart device tour, or a self guided brochure tour. The grounds are rather plain but don’t miss the huge kapok tree just outside the property along the South Lake Trail.

   The house is accessible with the exception of the history room (step up) and the railcar. A wheelchair ramp is located on the left side of the house. Visitors will be guided to the Grand Hall to  begin the tour.

  RV parking spaces are along the road that accesses the parking lots.  Museum  26.71364, -80.04222

Betty Steflik Preserve

  The main trail in the preserve is a boardwalk that travels through mangrove swamp to a view of the intercoastal waterway.  A sandy trail intersects the boardwalk to make a loop through a shady forest of cedar, palmetto, and Brazilian pepper. The boardwalk is a little over a mile roundtrip. I think this is probably a good bird watching trail but we saw very few on the cool, cloudy day of our visit.

    The boardwalk section is accessible. We tried the the sandy trail going to the west and found too many roots.Traveling east we encountered fewer roots but we did hit a swampy area. The trail passes through the parking lot (where we stopped) and continues to return to the root filled section and the boardwalk.

  The main parking lot is large enough for any RV but the entry road is narrow, one lane,and slightly overgrown with trees. Another option is the lot in the park behind the George Wickline Senior Center in Flagler Beach.  Preserve  29.47626, -81.13344