Corinth Battlefield and Helen Keller Birthplace
DAY 5 - CORINTH MS to HUNTSVILLE, AL - 141 mi, 6 hours (sightseeing)
It rained and rained last night, making us wonder if we'd get to do much sightseeing around Corinth at all. Twice last night, the phones screeched. Once was for an Amber Alert in northern Mississippi. The other was a Flash Flood warning. We were safe above ground in a motel, technically on the first floor but not in a downhill area, so we weren't too worried.
It took us forever to decide exactly what to do about weather and our intended plans. We dressed and went to breakfast at the hotel breakfast room, which was disappointing since some of our favorite things were missing. We are definitely in the South when there are “instant grits” available in the area where instant oatmeal is located, on the hotel breakfast bar Then later, we used a break in the rain to load the truck for departure.
Our first stop was at the Corinth Battlefield Interpretive Center. It was a nice museum, a few artifacts, a decent movie about the Corinth battle of the Civil War, and a few other things. We took a driving map and headed out to see what's in the townsite of Corinth. Two things with that: first, nothing is really visible any more except Battery F (just interpretive signs and no parking for our huge pickup); second, we got lost trying to find the Contraband Camp and never did find it. The town streets were not always well-marked. Eventually we found our way back to Cass Street and decided it was time to grab lunch and leave town.
Corinth Battlefield Interpretive Center, a branch of the Shiloh Battlefield NHP:
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Outside, the walk includes bronzed war relics (probably not the real thing):
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Corinth marks its side streets with a white pole and the street names painted on them. This is all well-and-good, until the street names peel off or the pole (made of fiberglass pipe) falls down. It's no wonder we got turned around.
Hubby couldn't decide last night between Taylor's Escape and Popeye's Louisiana Chicken. Well, at lunch today he got his Popeye's, something that's hard to find in CA (our area has *one* but it is at least 20 miles round trip to get there). After that, we headed east 60 miles to Tuscumbia, AL.
There we almost got lost again trying to find our way into Tuscumbia to the destination. Turned around and went where GyPSy told us, which was not marked with a street name at all (much less the one GyPSy named) and found it perfectly. Helen Keller Birthplace was a very interesting, pretty area of Tuscumbia, the estate called Ivy Green. A docent led us through the downstairs of the main house, we could look upstairs to our heart's content and out on the property as well. I had wanted to see the water pump where Annie Sullivan made the break-through with Helen, and got to see it. Plus the rest of the house and all the gardens. It was dripping rain as we came in but we managed to get around after the tour without getting soaked.
Ivy Green:
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The room where Helen was born:
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Where Teacher Annie Sullivan made a break through with Helen, teaching her the word "water":
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The truck aimed east again, this time towards Decatur and then Huntsville. We situated ourselves just north of the US Space and Rocket Center in the La Quinta Inn Huntsville Research Park, which has an outdoor pool. The room is small, especially compared to the past two nights, and we are here for two nights. But there is a pool, and there are places to eat within walking distance, including Golden Corral (which we love).
Donna
US Space & Rocket Center Huntsville
DAY 6 - U.S. SPACE & ROCKET CENTER, HUNTSVILLE, AL
Whew, what an inspiring yet exhausting day!* Our bodies just naturally got up this morning, then we had coffee in the room, and I grabbed a bowl, spoon, and a banana at the breakfast room in the motel. (It was otherwise very disappointing breakfast.)
Off we went to the US Space & Rocket Center, which is only about 2.5 miles from where we are staying, down a parkway.* Got in, they verified our tickets to the Marshall Space Flight Center bus tour (which we had purchased by phone last month), and we were off to see the museum first. We spent about 2 hours looking at all the exhibits, not quite finishing the Saturn V center, then went back out to the truck for our "truck picnic" lunch. Then it was time for the bus tour, which for us was the reason to come to Huntsville.
That was absolutely wonderful, to see where they assist the International Space Station occupants with their science experiments in the Payload Operations building. Then we were driven out to see all the rocket test pads where history was made.* We made another couple of stops and almost 3 hours later, we were back at the Saturn V center.
Historic test site where Alan Shepherd took his flight:
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There were "blockhouses" made from old tank cars left on the base, and buried, for the rocket controllers to remain and supervise during tests.
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We knew where we'd left off before lunch, so we started there.* We've added to the Apollo Command Modules that we've actually laid eyes on, as this place had Apollo 16. We'll see two more in DC, most likely. We also needed our souvenir t-shirts, before they closed.
Apollo 16's command module, at Huntsville:
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Apollo 16's parachute:
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Our last order of business there was dinner. They were having a "Biergarten" festival there, every Thursday in summers, and you buy German food and dine right underneath one of the three remaining workable Saturn V rockets left on Earth. (We've seen the other two, at Kennedy Space Center and at Johnson Space Center in Houston.)* The food was reasonably priced, very good, but the ambiance of the location of your table just couldn't be replicated anywhere else.**
When we came back to the hotel, it was during Rush Hour, Huntsville style, but that wasn't bad at all. What wasn't so fun was that all the parking slots near to our hotel room were taken by other travelers. One spot was open, but it was a "blue" spot and we couldn't use it.*
Now we are just tired! Mostly our feet, but our bodies too since we were on the “go” all day after sitting in a pick-up truck for the better parts of five days.
Donna
And don't misss the "screaming frogs"
There's a RV park adjacent to the museum and if you take the path through the trees, you will find a pond with lots of frogs. The home of the "Screamin' Frogs" to be exact. They actually squeal if you surprise them.
Mark
