For Spring Break this year we wanted to go to a body of water. Lake Michigan is always a nice choice, but it was March and still freezing up North. So we looked South, asked some friends for recommendations and found ourselves heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It is a thirteen hour drive so we broke it up by stopping in Tennessee for the night in both directions. Here are some pictures from our journey.
On our way down we stopped in Mansfield, MO to see the home where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and wrote the Little House on the Prairie books. We were in a hurry, so we did not take a tour of the house or the museum. But it was something that we would go back and check out another time.
We stopped for the night in a town in Mississippi called New Albany, right above Tupelo one of our destinations. Tupelo is the home town to Elvis Presley. We went to Memphis last year and saw Graceland, so we knew that we had to stop here on our way to complete the Elvis history tour.
It was of course closed, so we just walked around, luckily there are plaques all around telling the history of Elvis' childhood in Tupelo.
The girls with Elvis at age 13.
The church the Presley's would attend.
Sitting on the swing in front of Elvis' house.
We were going to stop here but the kids were getting restless. Apparently, this is the hardware store where Elvis bought his first guitar as a boy. There is a X taped to the ground where he once stood. At least that is what I read.
One eventful thing that happened somewhere in Mississippi was when Sam bit into a corndog from Sonic and his first tooth came out. He was so excited. He said he was one of the last kids in his class that had not lost a tooth yet.
On a road in Mississippi.
I'm the fool that tries to catch every state sign and Ryan just loves to see me scramble to get it.
The next day we were finally at the beach! We went to Perdido Key State Park Beach and it was so nice. It wasn't very crowded and parking was easy. It was just a super mellow beach day and we have missed those days.
Perdido Key is in Florida so I got another state sign. We were about half an hour away from Pensacola, Florida so we thought after the beach day we would drive around and check it out.
The kids passed out so quick, but don't worry they were awake as soon as we got to the hotel and were ready to watch Disney Channel all night.
The next day we headed to Gulf Shores and had to spend about an hour in this souvenir shop picking just the right thing to bring home.
We went to Gulf Shores State Park beach this time and it was another mellow, easy to get to beach. I was happy because it was definitely Spring Break in the town of Gulf Shores and I was hoping it wouldn't be on the beach that we went to.
Kate, our only child so far, that will spend all day in the water. I mean, in the water.
And a cool bird that was watching all the action.
My buddy on the beach.
So many shells, so little time. I think Perdido Key had better shells but it was still awesome to see shells just scattered everywhere.
Tried to capture some Gulf Shores architecture and this camera phone picture zoomed in from across the street was the best I could do. So cool to see all of the houses raised and most had storm shutters. It's a different each world than what I am used to.
The next day we headed North again. We thought we'd stop at a place called Alligator Alley but it ended up being an unmanned walking trail were you could see Alligators. We saw the sign that was in a hotel parking lot, looked at our babies and decided not to be adventurous that day.
We heard that Mobile, Alabama had some cool houses and a town filled with history so we drove around before we got on the road. This felt like a town you would imagine being in the South, huge, mossy trees, and really cool old houses and a little bit of Mardi Gras celebrations still left in the trees. I would go exploring more in this town if we ever come down here again.
Another state sign.
We stayed at the Memphis KOA on our way home and stayed in one of their Kabins. The kids said this was their favorite place to stay. Which reminds me that kids really don't need much to feel like they are on an adventure.
The next morning was St. Patrick's Day and it worked out perfectly that they could look for four leaf clovers right outside their door. This was actually a really peaceful morning, they just loved running around and making stuff.
Posing by a tree.
Porch swing pic. We always need one of these pictures.
We had to stop at this small town in Arkansas where the Beatles landed their plane to catch an awaiting car to go to Missouri. The town has commemorated that occasion and coupled it with the fact that it lies on the Rock n' Roll highway that a lot of greats traveled on to get to gigs.
It's a cute town and definitely worth the stop.
A mural at a boot shop somewhere in Missouri or Arkansas. At this point, we were ready to go home. You know when you are getting so close to home, you just want to hurry up and get there already? That's where we were starting to get around this picture.
Another state sign and the last picture.
We had a nice trip. I do hate that it is so far away but the beach days were so nice and beautiful so it made up for it. I would definitely do it again. Especially, if we went with another family so they had friends to break it up, by the end of the trip the kids had had enough of each other. It makes me excited for a trip to Lake Michigan when the weather warms up. There is something so nice about spending a day at the beach. Phew, that is all. What a long post.
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