Deep South Day 8

We had Arch tickets for 9:40, but they let us in early. Fun ride up and great views at the top. Today was much less busy than yesterday. B liked see Busch Stadium (Cardinals) from the Arch and watching the cars below.

Left St. Louis at 10:30 central time. ETA home is 6:12 Eastern.

Deep South Day 7

Went to the Arch first thing, but tickets weren't available until later in the day, so we bought tickets for tomorrow morning. Explored the Western Expansion Museum and the baseball display.

Drove to the Budweiser Factory and took tour (free!). J saw her beloved Clydesdales and bought a plush one. She did not like the smell of hops that permeated the first half of the tour. B liked the packaging plant. M & I liked the "hospitality room" - 2 free beers, pretzels and pop. J could watch the horses from here so she liked it too.

Lunch at Steak and Shake, then headed to the Zoo. One entrance was closed, so parking was crazy. M dropped us off at the entrance, but soon found us again after he parked.
Zoo was great. The kids especially liked the big cats, hippos, penguins and monkey house (lemurs!). B bought a plush lemur that he's been wearing around his neck.

Went back to hotel to relax for a little while and enjoy our nice big room. Then we took a scenic tour to see St. Charles Sand (where M shoots fireworks for 4th of July) and ate at Applebees. Stopped at Cabela's on the way back to the hotel.

Deep South Day 6

Mississippi is a looooong state. The only highlight of the drive so far was taking the long bridge across Lake Ponchartrain, and that was right at the beginning of our trip. Mississippi has been mostly wooded. Pretty, but monotonous. Arrived at hotel in St. Louis and kids went swimming.

Deep South Day 5

Starting to rain in Orange Beach as we leave. Stop at a store for souvenirs and to replace M's sunglasses that were consumed by the Gulf.

Arrive at Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours in Slidell, LA at 1:30. Swamp tour was great with Capt. Cousins. A lot of Louisiana history, culture and wildlife info. Saw a small alligator sunning on someone's dock. Saw two adult alligators and got great pictures. They were right alongside the boat. Also saw some rare birds (swallowtailed kites) and toured the swamp, a flooded forest. Very cool.

Found the apartment building where our cat, Bailey, came from! It was still damaged from the hurricane - the whole neighborhood has not been fixed up. The building is like a home divided into apartments in a neighborhood of similar buildings. We didn't see any cats.

Checked into hotel and headed to French Quarter for supper. Ate shrimp po'boys at Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur Ave. Live jazz.

Bought B a Saints hat at a souvenir shop and walked up and down Decatur. Crossed the railroad tracks and kids and M touched the Mississippi River.

Deep South Day 4

Drove to Pensacola, Florida (30+ minutes) to watch Blue Angels practice at the Naval Aviation Museum at 8:30 am. Also saw many old military aircraft.

Drove back to hotel and spent the rest of the morning at the pool and beach. After lunch we drove to the Tanger Outlet Mall where I shopped and the kids ate ice cream.

Back to the hotel for more swimming. Very windy today and cooler.

Went to supper at Lambert's Cafe - home of the "throwed rolls." J caught 2 rolls, M & B each caught one. (J yelled, "Hey, roll guy!" to get her second.) The kids were offered possum for dinner, but ate chicken strips and grilled cheese. We also tried southern dishes like fried okra, cabbage and fried potatoes and onions.

Deep South Day 3

Drove to Orange Beach, AL. Arrived around 3:00. Checked in to our ocean-front room at the Holiday Inn Express. Swam in ocean and pool. Beautiful and sunny. Sand is white and very fine. Good waves.

Drove into Gulf Shores looking for a Pizza Hut and finally found one. It was buffet night and kids eat free. Yum!

Deep South Day 2

Got up and had breafast at the hotel. Drove 10 minutes to Mammoth Cave National Park. Took 8:45 Historic Tour through the natural opening. Liked squeezing through "Fat Man's Misery" and "Tall Man's Agony." Experienced total darkness 300 feet below ground level. Tour took 2 hours, but it went quickly. Kids were nervous at first, but they were excited, too.

After the tour, we picnicked under a pavillion and the kids and I chilled in the shade while M explored a trail to the Green River.

Our next tour was the New Entrance Tour at 1:00. We took a shuttle from the Visitors Center to the entrance, which looks like a cement phone booth on the edge of a sinkhole. The entrance is impressive inside - very narrow, twisty and tons of steps. It was hard to imagine visitors in the 1920's navigating down on ropes! Our guide was Jerry Brandsford, whose great-great...Grandfather was a slave who was leased out as a cave guide in the mid-1800's.

The kids were on the lookout for bats, but we never saw any - we only saw one huge spidery-bug thing. Creepy.

Left Mammoth and headed toward Alabama. B lost a tooth in the car, just north of the Tennessee border.

Checked in to hotel (Quality Inn) in Athens, Alabama. Were told that there's not much to do in Athens, but Huntsville is nearby. We had supper at Logan's Roadouse, complete with peanut fight in the parking lot.

Went back to hotel and watched Duke beat Butler in NCAA basketball championship.

Deep South Day 1

Lef home after Easter service, around 1:00 pm. Arrived in Cave City, KY around 9:30 and stayed at Comfort Inn.