Moving On to Mobile

The big attraction here is the battleship USS Alabama. Commissioned in 1942, she earned 9 Battle Stars and shot down 22 enemy airplanes during World War II.

The self-guided tour is very extensive, and divided into 3 parts. We went up on deck first to see the big guns.

I thought that was as high as you could go, but I was wrong. You can go up several more decks.

If you are really daring, you can climb into some other areas.

This guy didn't do much talking -

I guess he was too busy remembering what all these buttons are for...

Looks like they were getting ready for lunch, but we weren't invited.

Outside on the grounds were lots of airplanes from the era.

This one was huge!

You can also tour the submarine USS Drum, right next door.

And I got to drive!

Also on the grounds were these Canada Geese. I've never seen one that light before.

We also went to the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Construction of the present cathedral was begun in 1835, and added to over the years.

The big attraction here is the stained glass windows, which portray the story of the role of Mary in the life of Jesus.

The detail is just incredible.

We also went to historic Fort Conde, which is a replica built in 1976, so not very interesting to me.

And last but not least, we celebrated my birthday here with a spaghetti dinner made by my birthday-twin, Brian. Actually, he's much younger that me - several hours at least!