Hurricane Ida provided us a good reason to hole up in Super 8 motel in Pascagoula, MS, almost to the Alabama line. Fortunately Hurricane Ida had decreased to a tropical storm when it hit MS and AL. Nov. 9 the rain began early afternoon and the wind and rain intensified by late afternoon and was heavy all night long. By Tues. no rain, just wind, but not real high winds.
Mon. we drove to Mobile, AL and went to Battleship Memorial Park where we toured the WWII battleship USS Alabama and the submarine Drum.
The battleship would have 2500 troops aboard to man all the battle stations. When the danger signal sounded the sailors had 3 min. to get to their battle stations. A volunteer told us one sailor had just stepped out of the shower and grabbed his helmet and a towel as he ran up the ladder to his battle station, he lost his towel, and only had his helmet on. The ship could have been in the North Atlantic with temp -10 degrees and he have been out there for a battle that might last 1 1/2 hrs. It would take 140 troops to man one rotating turret that guided the guns.
We saw one of the many mess kitchens for the enlisted men. I was especially interested in the gigantic ten kettles for cooking, 2 huge coffee pots, one at each end of the 10 kettles, several ovens and grills. The bakery wasn't all that large. They made all the bread, rolls, muffins, and desserts for 2500. The volunteer understood my surprise at how small it was, but the bakery was manned 24 hres a day.
Their bunks were 4 tiers high. The officers were 1-2 in a room-tiny-with a small desk, but much better than the enlisted men had.
We toured the air museum of fighter planes. Hurrican Katrina flooded the museum with 10 ft. of water and smashed the planes against the far well and did a great deal of damage that isn't all repaired yet.
Tues. we went to Biloxi, MS to visit "Beauvoir", the home of Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy. Hurricane Katrina did considerable damage as it had 1 ft of water even though it was 10 ft. off the ground. They did alot to restore and repair the damage done. The original furniture is still there. The kitchen which was separate from the house no longer stands, but the pantry, children's dining room and adult dining room are still there. The home overlooks the gulf and has massive live oaks shading it and 2 identical guest houses, one on either side of the main house.
Jefferson Davis was quite poor after the war, for one reason because he put his money into confederate dollars and lost them all after the war. Not too long after his death, his wife and daughter sold Beauvoir for $10,000 to the MS division, United Sons of the Confederate Veterans, and terms of the sale required the home be maintained as a memorial to Jefferson Davis. The 51 acres soon became a confederate veteran soldier's home and during its 54 yr. existence the facility cared for close to 1800 individuals--wives included.
Jefferson Davis wrote his memoirs at Beauvoir. He loved its serenity and beauty and loved to read his Bible under the beautiful live oaks. In addition he also took a great interest in the raising of citrus and grapes on the property. As you can tell we enjoyed our visit to Beauvoir.
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