A minor 'sleeper' in Northern Alabama, Russell Caves, where Paleo-Indians (like 8,000-10,000 years ago) hung out. Alabama is big on birds; these 'Birding Trail' signs appear everywhere.Below: A gouge on what those big birds soaring over your head might be...
Paleo-Indians. The girl is holding a string of turkey bones, which seem to have been some sort of toy.
The caves extend underground for miles. This is a stream coming out after entering the cave earlier. Trash left on the roads there ends up coming up out of the ground. Weird.
On to Mobile, Alabama - a fascinating place. First, a
Trivia Contest:
1. Where did the expression 'Raising Cain' come from?
a. Mardi Gras
b. The sugar industry
c. The Bible
2. What part did Spain play in the American Revolution?
a. On the American side
b. On the British side
c. Took no part
3. Where did the first Mardi Gras Parade take place?
a. New Orleans
b. Shreveport
c. Mobile
Ready? Then...
Ft Conde, at Mobile: The Spanish jumped into the Revolution in 1779, After the Americans had done most of the heavy lifting and the French were about to come in too. They captured Mobile, then all the British holdings in Florida, which they got to keep at the end of the war.
Below: Joe Cain started the Mardi Gras Parade, right after the Civil War. Calling himself Chief Old Salcabamorimico of the Chickasaws (the Chickasaw were never defeated in battle - actually, they didn't fight much - which had a certain cachet for the Confederates right after the Civil War), and to have had multiple wives (the women in the picture), he got to be a Symbol. The first parades featured a procession to the graveyard, by his admirers and all his wives, to "Raise [Joe] Cain". So there; nothing to do with Cain and Abel.
This was in 1866. The parades in New Orleans started a couple of years later, organized by several ex-Mobileans.
Mardi Gras hats...
A Store Window...
The Mobile Mardi Gras Museum:
A train worn by the King of a parade. There are several parades, maybe several in one day, over the two-week period before Lent begins. The trains can cost $100,000; they are usually used only once.
The Dragon Float, used in several parades. The guys in the float throw out handfuls of really cheap jewelry, which the spectators fight with each other to get hold of. Also Doubloons, a coin with the name of the Order (in New Orleans, they call themselves Krewes) and the year. There are a bunch of parades every year, so hey, you could collect them all.
Costumes for the Order of Myths, Order of Athena, Order of LaSHES, Order of Polka Dots, Order of Juno. There also Orders (in New Orleans they are called Krewes) of gays, blacks, at least one Jewish (For the parade before the beginning of Lent??) and the Krewe of Barkus, for dogs.
Ray and Evelyn Lalonde, friends we visited in Carencro, LA. Ray was king of his Krewe's Mardi Gras parade in Lafayette, LA; there are parades all up and down the coast.
The Mobile Art Museum: As Barbara moves a lever, the wings flap.
The McIlheney Company, manufacterers of Tobasco Sauce. Note the flag...
Oil Wells: the family originally mined and refined salt brine on the family estate; then they discovered solid rock salt. Then someone gave Mr McIlheney some Capsicum plants from Central or South America; he planted them, gave some to friends, and the enthusiastic reception led to big success. On top of that, they discovered oil here too. If you're lucky, you're lucky.
Sign says the sauce here is destined for Switzerland; They export it to dozens of countries. They do outsource the growing of most of the peppers; the seeds are grown here, and all the bottling is done here.
The Bellingrath gardens. He made his money as a Coke distributor (at 5 cents a bottle, that's a lot of Co-cola (that is how they say it)...
Below: Kale as an ornmental plant. The Great Lawn; Delphiniums in the foreground
Inside the pagoda is an 800-year-old Buddha.
In Lafayette, LA at the Blue Dog Cafe, owned by the artist George Rodrigue. He's made a big thing of Blue Dogs: The picture on the right features Mikhail Gorbachev and Jimmy Carter. Mr Rodrigue is sitting just below.
Vermillion Cajun Village. The carpenter shop has a bunch of tools, sitting on a small coffin (that was the a large part of his business). Indian hut made with cane frame, Boucillage (mud + Spanish Moss) side, Palmetto thatch roof.
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