This past weekend was rather interesting. The morning to mid-afternoon of Saturday was gorgeous, with sunny skies. I drove to Talladega National Forest to take the scenic route, highway 281. Apparently, it's best to drive there during spring and fall. Unfortunately, I think I went too early because a lot of the trees were still pretty bare.
Cheaha mountain in the state park is the highest point (2,407 feet above sea level) in Alabama. It's the part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Cheaha means "high place" in Native American (they don't tell me which tribe).
The drive back via highway 9 was also picturesque. I passed a lot of open fields, houses far apart with yards and yards of grounds between. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the cows. ;)
But starting Saturday and into Sunday, we had the most miserable weather. I woke up to tornado sirens going off at 3 in the morning! On the whole, I was quite glad I got to enjoy the pretty weather before being stuck indoors the rest of the weekend.
I haven't decided whether I'm going anywhere this coming weekend, because I'm going to see a play -- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. If time permits, I'll try to get myself out and about.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Talladega Scenic Drive on Rule 281.
Along the scenic route, I had to take pictures of the sea of trees. Unfortunately, I think I took this trip too early and you can see some trees are still naked.
Another beautiful vista from Rule 281.
The scenie drive is actually through Talladega National Forest, and there were some hills.
Can you see the pretty flowers on this tree?? It's spring!
The mountains in Talladega National Forest is the souther tip of the Appalachian mountains.
And even though the road was curvy and steep, I actually saw bikers like him. I wouldn't even dare to try.
So I reached the Cheaha state park, and saw the highest point of Alabama. I also took a little "hike" down this boardwalk. It really was more of a walk.
On my drive back, I took Highway 9. It was a different view (but absolutely no cell reception) with open fields and cows meandering peacefully.
.
Along the scenic route, I had to take pictures of the sea of trees. Unfortunately, I think I took this trip too early and you can see some trees are still naked.
Another beautiful vista from Rule 281.
The scenie drive is actually through Talladega National Forest, and there were some hills.
Can you see the pretty flowers on this tree?? It's spring!
The mountains in Talladega National Forest is the souther tip of the Appalachian mountains.
And even though the road was curvy and steep, I actually saw bikers like him. I wouldn't even dare to try.
So I reached the Cheaha state park, and saw the highest point of Alabama. I also took a little "hike" down this boardwalk. It really was more of a walk.
On my drive back, I took Highway 9. It was a different view (but absolutely no cell reception) with open fields and cows meandering peacefully.
.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
South Alabama -- Bellingrath Garden and Home and Gulf Shores
My cousins, Sarah and Gene, visited me last weekend. Sarah is a college student (Wellsley) and Gene came from New York.
We kicked off the visit with a bbq dinner at Dreamland. Supposedly, the original Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is the best; but we were quite impressed with what we got at the Montgomery site.
On Saturday, we headed down to Bellingrath Garden and Home, about 20 miles south of Mobile, to see the azaleas. Walter Duncan Bellgrath was a Coca Cola executive. He and his wife bought 900 acres of land and built a home. The garden and home were donated to a nonprofit organization after he died. The 65 acre garden is beautifully landscaped and apparently blooms year round. The azaleas were in full bloom when we went. But none of us knew what they looked like so we ended up asking somebody to make sure we actually did take pictures of them. =P
We only took the tour of the gardens, which took a while because they were quite pretty and because we were taking pictures non-stop. It also turns out that Azalea Trail Maiden reunion was going on, so we got to see pretty ladies all dressed up.
Afterwards, we went to Mobile for lunch. My little book told me to go to Rousso's, which unfortunately had relocated. So we popped into the visitor center, and the nice old lady recommended that we have our lunch at Spot of Tea. The food was amazing; I normally don't like sandwiches but my blackened chicken sandwich was quite delicious. The hash browns were to die for, with a little bit of a kick from the peppers. Unfortunately, the service was somewhat lackluster because they had more customers than usual. But I would visit there again, and probably get the exact same thing!
After lunch, we stopped by A&M Peanut shop, where they roasted peanuts and other nuts themselves. It was quite a quaint little shop, and we came away with pecan pralines, creole peanuts (salty, spicy & highly addicting!), and chocolate covered pretzels.
Both the lunch place and the peanut shop was located on Dauphin Street. It was rather sad walking down the street because every other shop was boarded up. We saw all these architecturally interesting but dilapidated buildings, sandwiched in between few shops that were open.
Then we jumped into my car to check out the beaches by the Gulf Shores. By the time we got there, it was late afternoon, but we still had a lot of fun. We wrote out "Happy Birthday Diane" with seashells and took pictures so Sarah could send it to her friend. But the drive there and back, we saw the destruction of Hurricane Ivan and noticed that buildings still needed repairs here and there.
It was a lot of fun. This coming weekend, I plan to take Talladega scenic drive and go climb the Cheaha Mountain -- the highest point in Alabama!
We kicked off the visit with a bbq dinner at Dreamland. Supposedly, the original Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is the best; but we were quite impressed with what we got at the Montgomery site.
On Saturday, we headed down to Bellingrath Garden and Home, about 20 miles south of Mobile, to see the azaleas. Walter Duncan Bellgrath was a Coca Cola executive. He and his wife bought 900 acres of land and built a home. The garden and home were donated to a nonprofit organization after he died. The 65 acre garden is beautifully landscaped and apparently blooms year round. The azaleas were in full bloom when we went. But none of us knew what they looked like so we ended up asking somebody to make sure we actually did take pictures of them. =P
We only took the tour of the gardens, which took a while because they were quite pretty and because we were taking pictures non-stop. It also turns out that Azalea Trail Maiden reunion was going on, so we got to see pretty ladies all dressed up.
Afterwards, we went to Mobile for lunch. My little book told me to go to Rousso's, which unfortunately had relocated. So we popped into the visitor center, and the nice old lady recommended that we have our lunch at Spot of Tea. The food was amazing; I normally don't like sandwiches but my blackened chicken sandwich was quite delicious. The hash browns were to die for, with a little bit of a kick from the peppers. Unfortunately, the service was somewhat lackluster because they had more customers than usual. But I would visit there again, and probably get the exact same thing!
After lunch, we stopped by A&M Peanut shop, where they roasted peanuts and other nuts themselves. It was quite a quaint little shop, and we came away with pecan pralines, creole peanuts (salty, spicy & highly addicting!), and chocolate covered pretzels.
Both the lunch place and the peanut shop was located on Dauphin Street. It was rather sad walking down the street because every other shop was boarded up. We saw all these architecturally interesting but dilapidated buildings, sandwiched in between few shops that were open.
Then we jumped into my car to check out the beaches by the Gulf Shores. By the time we got there, it was late afternoon, but we still had a lot of fun. We wrote out "Happy Birthday Diane" with seashells and took pictures so Sarah could send it to her friend. But the drive there and back, we saw the destruction of Hurricane Ivan and noticed that buildings still needed repairs here and there.
It was a lot of fun. This coming weekend, I plan to take Talladega scenic drive and go climb the Cheaha Mountain -- the highest point in Alabama!
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
My cousin's visit started with dinner at Dreamland BBQ on Friday night.
We went to Bellingrath Garden and Homes on Saturday to stroll around the garden.
When we got there, we bumped into an Azalea Trail Maiden. They were having a reunion that day. That's my cousin Sarah.
My cousin, Gene, were busy taking kzillion pictures. He just bought a new camera capable of taking 1,000 pictures!
And my cousin, Sarah, was busy clicking away too.
A pond in front of the conservatory. It was quite a beautiful day.
The conservatory had lots of pretty flowers like these.
And the temperature was quite high in the conservatory (even for me) to keep these types of flowers blooming.
Red is my least favorite color but they looked so pretty!
Orchids were lovely too.
So I had to take a picture of my cousins clicking away.
And this is the picture that Sarah ended up taking.
Sarah & me by the azaleas.
We tried to jump on time...
More Azalea Trail Maidens. They were very nice, posing for pictures.
And she got many requests.
But not sure if anybody actually requested this shot.
We got a back shot of the dresses.
We went to Bellingrath Garden and Homes on Saturday to stroll around the garden.
When we got there, we bumped into an Azalea Trail Maiden. They were having a reunion that day. That's my cousin Sarah.
My cousin, Gene, were busy taking kzillion pictures. He just bought a new camera capable of taking 1,000 pictures!
And my cousin, Sarah, was busy clicking away too.
A pond in front of the conservatory. It was quite a beautiful day.
The conservatory had lots of pretty flowers like these.
And the temperature was quite high in the conservatory (even for me) to keep these types of flowers blooming.
Red is my least favorite color but they looked so pretty!
Orchids were lovely too.
So I had to take a picture of my cousins clicking away.
And this is the picture that Sarah ended up taking.
Sarah & me by the azaleas.
We tried to jump on time...
More Azalea Trail Maidens. They were very nice, posing for pictures.
And she got many requests.
But not sure if anybody actually requested this shot.
We got a back shot of the dresses.
The daffodils were in full bloom.
The tree was too cool. This was by the river?
The fountain with azaleas surrounding.
That's Bellingrath's home. We didn't go inside though.
Gene was so busy taking pictures he didn't even notice who was passing by.
Us!
There was a river by Bellingrath's house.
Sarah and me by the fountain.
All three of us.
Picture of us reflected in the lake.
Gene was educating Sarah about Roth IRA's, walking down this boardwalk.
On our way to the next garden.
The tree was too cool. This was by the river?
The fountain with azaleas surrounding.
That's Bellingrath's home. We didn't go inside though.
Gene was so busy taking pictures he didn't even notice who was passing by.
Us!
There was a river by Bellingrath's house.
Sarah and me by the fountain.
All three of us.
Picture of us reflected in the lake.
Gene was educating Sarah about Roth IRA's, walking down this boardwalk.
On our way to the next garden.
The boardwalk to the observation post for the lake.
Shot of bamboo trees.
And bridge across, which was full of bees so Sarah had a lot of trouble crossing.
We went to the Bellingrath Garden and Home specifically to see all the azaleas in bloom.
This is a close up of azalea.
Azaleas in different color.
Gene had to have a picture with daffodils. Tradition.
I made a little collage. hee hee.
We stopped by Mobile for lunch. We thought these street lamps were cool.
A lot of the buildings in Mobile were dilapidated. Inside one such building.
Dauphin street of Mobile.
Second shot of the Dauphin Street.
We had lunch at Spot of Tea -- recommended by the visitor center.
The food was YUMMY!
My Monterey Blackened Chicken sandwich was sooooo good.
Our lunch place.
Mobile in the old days.
We stopped by A&M Peanuts to snack on peanuts.
We headed to the Gulf Shores to see the beach. There were kids flying kites.
And we admired the white sand beach.
My cousins Sarah & Gene by the beach.
Birds were everywhere.
And lots of pictures were taken.
While I just gazed at the ocean. I missed just watching the ocean!
My cousin Gene is from New York, my cousin Sarah from New Jersey/Boston (going to Wellsely college). And me w/terrible hair.
Sea shells! We collected them for a project.
The bird wasn't afraid of me.
So Sarah's friend's birthday was coming up so we collected sea shells to write "Happy Birthday Diane"
This is the finished project, which took a long time.
Ahhh. I miss the ocean already.
And another collage.
Hurricane Ivan's destruction was still visible at the Gulf Shores.
Not everything was back in place yet.
Funny enough, my cousins wanted to eat Korean food. Gene hadn't had Korean food in a while and Sarah just came from college for spring break. Boston apparently doesn't have very good Korean restaurants. So we went to a Korean restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama.
We stopped by the old train station of Montgomery.
Where Gene was busy taking more pictures before he went back home.
Sarah loved watching my dvd's. =) She had never seen When Harry Met Sally!
We went next to my apt., to Alabama Shakespeare's Festival and walked around the Shakespeare's garden.
She's running with the kids!
I didn't realize I was next door to turtles and weird birds!
We waited a long time for the turtles to come back out so we could take more pictures. But they dunked back into the water when I tried to get closer.
Shot of bamboo trees.
And bridge across, which was full of bees so Sarah had a lot of trouble crossing.
We went to the Bellingrath Garden and Home specifically to see all the azaleas in bloom.
This is a close up of azalea.
Azaleas in different color.
Gene had to have a picture with daffodils. Tradition.
I made a little collage. hee hee.
We stopped by Mobile for lunch. We thought these street lamps were cool.
A lot of the buildings in Mobile were dilapidated. Inside one such building.
Dauphin street of Mobile.
Second shot of the Dauphin Street.
We had lunch at Spot of Tea -- recommended by the visitor center.
The food was YUMMY!
My Monterey Blackened Chicken sandwich was sooooo good.
Our lunch place.
Mobile in the old days.
We stopped by A&M Peanuts to snack on peanuts.
We headed to the Gulf Shores to see the beach. There were kids flying kites.
And we admired the white sand beach.
My cousins Sarah & Gene by the beach.
Birds were everywhere.
And lots of pictures were taken.
While I just gazed at the ocean. I missed just watching the ocean!
My cousin Gene is from New York, my cousin Sarah from New Jersey/Boston (going to Wellsely college). And me w/terrible hair.
Sea shells! We collected them for a project.
The bird wasn't afraid of me.
So Sarah's friend's birthday was coming up so we collected sea shells to write "Happy Birthday Diane"
This is the finished project, which took a long time.
Ahhh. I miss the ocean already.
And another collage.
Hurricane Ivan's destruction was still visible at the Gulf Shores.
Not everything was back in place yet.
Funny enough, my cousins wanted to eat Korean food. Gene hadn't had Korean food in a while and Sarah just came from college for spring break. Boston apparently doesn't have very good Korean restaurants. So we went to a Korean restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama.
We stopped by the old train station of Montgomery.
Where Gene was busy taking more pictures before he went back home.
Sarah loved watching my dvd's. =) She had never seen When Harry Met Sally!
We went next to my apt., to Alabama Shakespeare's Festival and walked around the Shakespeare's garden.
She's running with the kids!
I didn't realize I was next door to turtles and weird birds!
We waited a long time for the turtles to come back out so we could take more pictures. But they dunked back into the water when I tried to get closer.
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