Historical Sunday

We are constantly surrounded by beauty.  Whether it be history of the place you live or out in Mother Nature.  John Muir once said, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."  That is exactly what my wife and I accomplished today.  It is amazing how refreshing knowledge can be, how refreshing a simple walk outside can be.

We started the day with Fort Conde, which is located on the south side or Royal Street in downtown Mobile Alabama.  It is a replica of the historic french fort of the 1720's.  It is at 4/5 scale as a third of the original.  If Fort Conde was true to size it would cover large sections of Royal Street, Church Street, Government Boulevard, Saint Emanuel and Theatre Streets in downtown.  It would have covered about eleven acres.  The fort guarded Mobile and its people for almost one hundred years.  When England was in possession of it, it was named Fort Charlotte in honor of King George III's wife around 1763 to 1780.  In 1780 Spain
ruled the region and it was named Fort Carlota until 1813, in 1813 Mobile was occupied by American troops and the Fort was renamed Fort Charlotte.  In 1820 the U.S. Congress authorized sale and removal of the fort because it was no longer need, by 1823 most of the fort was gone.  In 1976 the replica was built in honor of the American Bicentennial.  Right across the street from Fort Conde is the Mobile History Museum.
 We decided to take a look at the new exhibit "Scottsboro Boys" and take a walk through the history of Mobile as well.  From the very beginnings of native American settlement all the way up to more recent times.  Mobile has been through almost anything you could imagine from hurricanes, plagues and even explosions.  A very fun and educational day.

After that we would head across the pond to Daphne Alabama.  We would go to Village Point park which is located off of scenic HWY 98.  This park is a landmine of history and also registered as a National Recreational Trail.  The park consists of links to some of the first settlers of the eastern shore.  Located inside the park is D'Olive Cemetery.  The D'Olive's lived here on their
plantation in the 1800's.  Evidence of  Indians, Spanish, French and English have been discovered in the park.  It is also home to six champion trees of Alabama.  Jackson's Oak is one of them, it is Alabama's champion live oak.  It was said in the War of 1812 that Andrew Jackson gave a speech from one of the tree's limbs to his army, but the tree is dated back even further than this.  It is on a Spanish land survey map from 1787 as a line marker.  The park includes several trails which are very easy hikes and a great place to enjoy.  If you follow the gravel road all the way down it will take you to Bay Front Park as well.

Overall it was an excellent day with my wife, we enjoyed nature and learned a little bit more about the place we call home.  In my opinion these are the things that matter, the history, the largest trees of its kind, spending time outside with someone you love, not the things most of us let ruin our day or consume our time and energy, myself included.  It was adventures like today that started it all for me and wife, from historical places and museums to canoeing the Delta and camping in the Sipsey Wilderness.  So once again I challenge you, get out of your house and enjoy yourself and the place you call home.  Believe it or not most places are filled with some very interesting things if we are willing to look.  Until next time, live to wander.

The Sipsey Wilderness

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.  Wash your spirit clean."

                                                                                                                           -John Muir

Day 1:  We would leave the house before seven o' clock in the morning, I am so excited about this trip, with only four hours of sleep I am up by six am.  The drive will take nearly six hours to get there.  Sipsey is located near Double Springs, Alabama and consists of over 24,000 acres of vast wilderness, which is located in the Bankhead National Forest.  It is the first designated wilderness east of the Mississippi.  Upon arrival we decided to start at the Randolph Trail head and make our way to 209, needless to say we didn't know how unmarked the trails really were.  We loaded our packs and into the woods we went to see what kind of adventure awaits.  You never truly understand what over packing means into you are in the middle of the woods.  Over packing is an understatement, but live and learn.  The first of the trail was pretty boring, mostly just woods and spiders.  It seemed like forever but we finally go to the fork in the trail, unloaded our packs and took a real break.  After a few adjustments we were back on our way.  Past the fork is when the trail would start getting interesting.  We come to nature's stairway, which was just a bunch of rocks that looked like stairs, we were starting to see the beauty of Sipsey.  We finally made it to the water and started our hike, wondering where we were supposed to cross the water with our heavy packs.  After several hours of trekking through the wilderness I looked at the map and realized that the water was on the wrong side of us, we had been walking for hours in the wrong direction.  Knowing that it would be very easy to get back on track, we decided to call it a day and camp in the middle of nowhere, you couldn't have found us if you wanted to, my kind of camping.  You could definitely tell it wasn't a usual spot for camping, no fire rings and plenty of fire wood.  After getting the tent set up my wife would finish with the sleeping bags and whatnot as I started the fire and would later collect water.  Everything was pretty wet due all the rain we have had, but with a little determination and some zippo fluid I would construct what would look to many as a bonfire.  Nothing would be bothering us tonight.  After getting the fire going and plenty of wood to dry out, I decided to get water.  It would be dark very soon, so we decided to have supper and call it a day.  That night would be one of the most peaceful nights I have ever had, laying in the tent in the middle of nowhere really can do wonders for your soul.  The frogs and crickets seemed like they were singing to me and I even heard an owl talking to me as well.

Day 2:  We wake up in nowhere.  After a small breakfast we packed up the tent and bags and would head back to the car.  This is what the wife and I would call the "Forever Walk."  It seemed like it would take forever to get back to the car.  Nothing seemed familiar until we finally got back to one of the very few trail markers in Sipsey, haha.  Here we would take a lunch break, collect water and truly decide what we wanted to do.  The only thing in our minds is that we had to go back up the nature stairs which was directly uphill, with no mercy what so ever.  I decided to take a "shortcut" after some convincing, needless to say that my shortcut would be a bust, so we backtracked and towards the car we headed.  Instead of finding somewhere to camp we decided to hike back to the car, unload more than half the stuff in our bags and make our way to the Borden Creek Trail, which is what were going to do from the very beginning until my brilliant idea.  It was nearly four o' clock by the time we got back to the car.  This would be a true test for both of us, with our heavy packs and strong desire to get back to the car, we have yet to be pushed this hard in any of our adventures.  We decided as soon as we got to the new trail the first area that looked decent to camp we would set up, take it easy and get ready to adventure the next day.  We found a very decent spot that overlooked the water and already had a fire ring from previous campers.  It took us no time to set up camp, but getting a fire going would be very tedious, due to the fact that this area was very much camped and firewood would be very limited.  After a couple of hours of searching for wood, we would have a decent fire, but nothing like the first night.  I am very proud of the fire I built the first night, even though I cheated just a little bit.  Tonight we would eat like kings.  We sat outside our tent by the fire just enjoying what the woods had to offer, nothing but peace, quite and each other.

Day 3:  Happy Birthday to me!  It is nothing like waking up in the middle of the woods on your birthday, I recommend it to everyone.  It is possibly the greatest gift you could ever receive to wake up next to the one you love, on your birthday, in the woods!  Even though we both felt like we got hit by a bus by this day, we wouldn't let it slow us down, this was our last day and we were going to do some exploring no matter what.  We had breakfast, packed our stuff up and headed back to the car.  It was no where near the trek as it was the previous day.  We left everything at the car but some water and the walking stick.  This would be when

we finally got to see the true beauty of Sipsey, no heavy bags, no looking for campsites, just the wife and I looking at nature.  It felt very good to be in something besides pine forests, nothing against them I have just seen them a lot lately.  The Borden Creek Trail was very nice despite, as usual, hardly no markings and several different versions of the trail. Even though we didn't get to see any of the "famous" spots of Sipsey we still made the most  of it and got to see enough to make us wish we were there everyday.  We would probably hike around two or three miles before heading back to the car to make the long drive back to Mobile.

Overall it was an excellent trip and couldn't have asked for anything more on my birthday.  In total we probably hiked ten to fifteen miles total in the three days that we were there.  There is something about being in the woods that really soothes my soul and I do believe this time my wife fell a little bit more in love with the woods.  Even though we were ate up with bugs and beat up by the trail we  both still had a smile on our face the entire time we were there.  Our bodies broke, but our souls renewed and singing with the chorus of the woods and mother nature.  Until next time.

Be sure to check out my google + account or http://www.facebook.com/livingwander for the rest of the pictures, thanks for looking.

Ferry Ride

Today I woke up early to help a good friend of mine do some work.  Little would I know that it would be more fun than work, so I thought I would share it with everyone.  We headed towards Gulf Shores on HWY 59, which I think is one of the strangest parts of Alabama.  We were heading to Flora Bama to pick up some extremely heavy and sandy plastic walkways.  After dealing with the heat, heavy, and a near fall out we had lunch and headed towards the ferry at Fort Morgan.

Upon arriving at the ferry, we see it driving off towards the direction we needed to go, we had missed it by about ten minutes.  It would be another hour before it returned and we could go to Fort Gaines which is located on Dauphin Island.  We decided to walk around and check the area out and come to find out it was pretty awesome.  After walking around and taking in the sights we could see the ferry returning and it was almost time to depart.

This would be the first time I had ever ridden the ferry or really any kind of boat this large in my life and of course the water would be extremely rough, with about three foot waves.  The boat rocked back and forth as water splashed over the bow.  It took a minute to get my sea legs, but I think I accomplished it and got some pretty nice pictures.

Upon arrival at Fort Gaines we were told to drive inside the fort, this would be a first for anyone.  Who would have thought my first visit to the fort I would actually ride in a truck all the way in it.  After unloading the walkway, much easier than loading, we decided to take the VIP tour of the fort.  I can honestly say we got to see things that most people do not get to on a regular basis at the fort.

I never would have thought that a day of work could have such an awesome adventure with it.  From one end to another we made a big circle on land and sea.  From Fort Morgan, to Fort Gaines.  Just thinking what those men went through, really can make you appreciate life, whether your from the North or the South.  I challenge you to live life, go on an adventure.  Take tomorrow and use it for a journey you will never forget.  Until next time.