AL, LA, TX – Apr 2023

Well, I’m working my way west.  I said goodbye to Florida as I stopped in Alabama, then through Mississippi (didn’t stop there) and into Louisiana for my next stop, then into the great vast state of Texas.  So far, travel days have been smooth sailing and uneventful – just the way I like them.  It’s great being back to playing tourist and exploring cities and towns I’ve not been to before.  As I’ve often said, there is so much to see in this country that I could do this for the rest of my life, and still not see it all.  So, onward I go pursuing this lifelong dream of the nomadic lifestyle.  Here’s what I’ve been up to these past couple of weeks.

Alabama

My first stop out of FL would take me to the neighborhood of  Mobile, AL.  I’m not a huge fan of big cities, so I opted to skip downtown Mobile and instead focus on exploring some of the smaller towns in the area – including Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope, to name a few.  All had lots of offerings in terms of interesting Roadside America things to see and places to visit.  First up in Spanish Fort were a couple of interesting art pieces.  This giant 14 foot blue paper clip was interesting and sits at the main intersection of town and is holding a piece of paper with the city of Spanish Fort emblem.  It is said it symbolizes a town that is “open for business”.  Then just down the parking lot were these giant dentist instruments.  Titled Piknmera, this 16-foot all stainless steel art piece was commissioned by dentist Barry Booth who happens to have a practice here in this small business park.  He also happens to be the person who commissioned the paper clip as well.   My next stop takes me to Daphne, AL for a visit to this junk art piece of Frank, and his dog Stein (Frank and Stein).  Made of various machines and metal parts and holding the international symbol of a pawn shop, they sit in a grassy area in front of, what else, a pawn shop.  This piece was just recently unveiled in the summer of 2022 and it is speculated that the parts used to build it were perhaps unclaimed and unsold pawn items.  Who knows!

Also in Daphne was another collection of junk art.  This time, all sports figures located on the campus of the Unites States Sports Academy.  Bruce Larsen was an airbrush painter in the 1980s at the Jersey Shore.  He later moved to Alabama and garnered fame as a respected professional sculptor of junk art.  Many of his pieces are located at the Sports Academy, and are composed of outboard motors, rusted motorcycle and tractor parts, drainage pipes, propane tanks, grates, gears, and scrap metal from numerous sources. Each piece depicts a different sport, many of which are tributes to specific individuals such as “Arnold the Weightlifter, “Nastia the Gymnast”, Jordon the Basketball Player”, and the like.  These pieces were really incredible and the flow and form of each suggested movement and grace.  The swimmer however, coming up out of the grass doing the butterfly, was a bit creepy looking though.  As for the academy, I had never heard of it before.  But USSA.edu is an independent, non-profit, accredited university dedicated to preparing students for careers in the field of sports.  It was founded in 1972 after a poor performance of the US Olympic team in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and has developed programs to address the lack of quality coaching and training of our talented athletes.  Very interesting!

Next, I took a drive out to Summerdale, AL to visit the Spear Hunting Museum.  This museum showcases the sport of spear hunting by a man who calls himself the “greatest living spear hunter in the world” – well he did at least call himself that until a heart attack took his life in 2012 while on a hunting expedition.  Gene Morris was a retired Air Force colonel, and an avid hunter.  He grew tired of what seemed to him to be a too easy sport when using guns, and in 1968 stopped using them.  He did bow hunting for a while, then transition to hand thrown spears.  This museum showcases the many animal kills he accomplished during his life, which was believed to be close to 400.  There is also an expansive collection of spears that he gathered while traveling through Africa and other foreign lands. In fact, after his death in 2013, a box containing his cremated ashes are also on display in the museum.  What I found particularly interesting were many photos of him with rows of alligater kills, all having been labeled as taking place  in Lakeland, FL, which is just a stones throw away from where I reside in Lake Wales.  It would appear he made several trips to Lakeland over the years, and bagged many a gator in the process.  An interesting visit to an interesting museum that you are not likely to find anywhere else in the country.

I think I’ve mentioned it in the past that I try to take a special interest in those Roadside America items for which they do not have any pictures.  That way, I can go there, take the pictures, then submit them to help improve Roadside.  Since I started using Roadside, I’ve submitted pictures to 107 entries.  Most of these would be for those without pictures, but there were some too that I simply submitted updated, or in some cases, better pictures than what had already been present.  Anyway, these next two visits were to places for which there were no pictures.  First up was a visit to the stump located in Inspiration Oak Park.  The story goes that the once owner of the land cut down this magnificent presumed 500-year old tree to keep the property from being made into a park.  Well, that didn’t happen and it became a park anyway,  And turns out, the tree was actually only about 90 years old.  Still, from the size of the stump (see the picture of my feet standing on it) would have suggested it to have been a really nice tree.  The other Roadside I attempted to visit to get pictures of was way out in Semmes, AL, and was listed as being the smallest chapel on earth.  I was suspicious of this one as I had already been to the smallest chapel in America which was located in Townsend, GA.  That one was built in 1950, is 10×15 in size, and seats approximately 12 people.  This new one in AL was built in 2020 and is the size of an outhouse, and can hold two people when standing – if they are skinny.  At 40 inches x 52 inches, it’s a whopping 14 square feet, but stand 18 feet tall.  Anyway, the Chapel of the Fields was supposed to be open to the public when the Loblolly Farm was within operating hours.  I arrived within the published hours of operation, but found the gate closed and trespassing prohibited.  I could see the tiny shack off in the distance, so I snapped a few pictures, and off I went.  So, someone else is going to have to get the inside pics.  Oh well, I tried!

My next Roadside was a quick visit to see a safe on a stick.  Home to the Mike Ward’s Safe Outlet Superstore, this marketing oddity would certainly capture your attention as you drove on by.  It marks the location of a gun safe outlet store.  Too funny!

My next visit did not come from Roadside, but rather another app I use called Atlas Obscura.  It pointed me to the campus of Spring Hill College on the outskirts of Mobile for an ultimate baseball pilgrimage to visit their baseball complex called Stan Galle Field.  According to Atlas Obscura, it is believed to be the oldest active college baseball field in America.  Intercollegiate baseball was first played on this site in 1889, but games were played on this field much earlier than that.  It is also the birthplace of Cuban baseball.  Then, there was the time in 1924 when Babe Ruth and a few of his teammates visited the field and took batting practice with the team.  So besides being one of the oldest, you can also have the chance to stand in the same batters box as the Great Bambino.  Now that’s baseball history!

Next I visited the quaint little town of Fairhope, AL.  There, I would find a couple interesting Roadside attractions.  First up was this little hermit house.  It was the subject of The Poet of Tolstoy Park, and the house is now labeled as simply Tolstoy Park.  This hurricane proof hut was built by Henry Stuart back in 1925.  At the time he was told he had a year left to live, so he built this little one room hut to spend his final days as a hermit.  18 years later, he finally passed away a the age of 88.  At the time, the land upon which it was built was considered wasteland.  Fast forward to today, and the hut sits along the edge of a parking lot surrounded by a modern day business park.  Who knew?

Also in Fairhope are the Mosher and Fairhope Story Book Castles.  A collection of privately owned eclectic homes built in fairyland style.  Inside tours require advanced reservations which I had no time to schedule.  But they were certainly interesting to look at just from the outside.  I believe at least one of them is used as an Airbnb type rental.  Who wouldn’t want to spend some time in a fairyland castle?  Way too cool!

Louisiana

Well, I had good intentions here, but alas things did not work out too well.  I had planned to spend the better part of my only tourist day visiting Baton Rouge.  I hadn’t been there before so I was anxious to visit the state’s capital buildings (both new/current as well as the former historical one), as well as several Roadside attractions.  So I hit the road mid morning with GPS in hand and a number of stops pegged on Google Maps.  The city center has a population of over 450,000, while the greater Baton Rogue area has a population exceeding 870,000.  So, not exactly a small town.  That, coupled with the fact that the state legislature was in session at the time (I was there on a Tue), made for an absolutely impossible parking situation for me and my big boy truck.  I literally drove around for upwards of 45 minutes looking at filled surface parking lots, and filled street side parking.  Most parking garages don’t cater well to overly large and especially tall trucks like mine, so those too are not usually a good option.  Anyway, after driving around with seemingly no option to park, I opted to call it a day and headed back to the campground empty handed.  This is why I usually avoid large cities as I hate playing the parking game.  I much prefer visiting small town America  that has lots of open surface level parking.  So, alas I won’t be doing any journaling of my travels through Baton Rogue.  At least not from this trip.

Texas

My next stop would take me into Texas, to the boarder town of Orange.  One of this 19k population town’s claim to fame is that in the late 1800s, this was home to the first steam powered sawmill, which led to 16 more, making Orange the center of the Texas lumber industry.  Otherwise, my tourist time would take me to nearby Beaumont and Port Arthur where there was lots of interesting things to see.

Beaumont began life as a timber town, leveraging its local close to the Gulf to move lots of lumber.  in Jan 1901 in nearby Spindletop, an oil gusher appeared making it the first major oil field and one of the largest in American history.  Overnight, Beaumont became an oil town with refineries and other oil industries which remain a large portion of its economy.  I visited the Texas Energy Museum which did a terrific job presenting the many aspects of oil production and processing.  Everything from finding the oil, to drilling and collecting the crude, to post processing in the refineries producing gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, kerosene, and the many other byproducts.  It was a very interesting place.  The 2nd floor had lots of old oil memorabilia from antique gas pumps and service station signs, to old transport vehicles that were used to move the finished products around.  Really interesting place!

Next I visited a few interesting Roadside attractions.  Flanagan’s Junk Barn (pictures at right top and middle right).  Artist Lonnie Flanagan decided to decorate the outside of his barn with random junk.  Car parts, old bicycles, and any other pieces of junk metal have enveloped this guys barn.  In fact, it would appear he has expanded as now there is a junk wall on the adjacent street.  How would you like to be this guys neighbor?  I then payed a visit to St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica.  According to Roadside, there is a skull cap signed by Pope John Paul II, as well as a skull cap worn by Pope John XXII.  Well, I felt a little odd just showing up there to take some pictures of some beanies, and the front door wasn’t exactly open, so instead I opted to skip the contents inside and just take a picture of the beautiful building.  I then went to see the reported to be largest working fire hydrant.  This Dalmatian-spotted hydrant is a leftover from a movie promotion for the 1999 release of 101 Dalmatians.  This was built by Disney in Anaheim, CA, and for reasons unknown, the Fire Museum of Texas in Beaumont was selected by Disney to be its permanent home.   However, its 24 foot height would not survive the tallest for long.  A 29.5 foot hydrant was unveiled in Manitoba Canada in 2001, and in the same year a 39 foot tall steel fire hydrant was built in Columbia, SC – which remains the tallest to this day.  This must be heaven to a male dog!  Next was a visit to this Alfred E. Neuman looking statue (at right, bottom right) in front of a muffler shop.  He has occupied this spot since 1971, having survived several hurricanes over the decades.  He gets an occasional paint job to keep his good looks.  For those of you who do not know who Alfred E. Neuman is, he was a character from the satirical magazine called MAD.  I still vividly remember the fold-ins that were found in most every issue, that were always fun to figure out.

My last stop in Beaumont was to visit the gravesite of The Big Bopper.  JP Richardson was an up and coming musician, with his one-hit song “Chantilly Lace”.  In early 1959, JP, along with Richie Valens and Buddy Holly, were performing together on their Winter Dance Party tour.  Their gig in Clear Lake, Iowa ended at midnight on Feb 2nd, after which they boarded a chartered plane that was to take them to Moorhead, MN for their show the next day.  They flew through a miserable winters night storm which caused the plane to crash, taking the lives of all three musical talents onboard.  It’s a simple gravesite with a historical marker that tells his story.  The other pictures included here were taken at the Museum of the Gulf Coast located in the town of Port Arthur which was to be my next stop.

So next I headed south to the town of Port Arthur.  There was a lot to see there, including this giant statue of Mary standing atop a globe.  Standing over 20 feet tall, she is located in the Ooa-Binh Area of Peace garden – across the street from the Queen of Vietnamese Martyr’s Catholic Church.  A beautifully kept garden, with many religious statues, including a complete series representing the stations of the cross.  Very peaceful indeed!  Next was a visit to the childhood home of Janis Joplin.  She was born in 1943 and raised here in this home, and attended the local high school and for a time attended college in Beaumont.  She later relocated to Austin where she got involved with the music scene there.  Soon thereafter, she moved to Northern California where her music career really took off.  Sadly, she would also get involved with the drug and alcohol scene, and died in 1970 of a heroin overdose.  Such a sad and tragic end to a very talented singer.

To see more Janis Joplin stuff, I stopped by the Museum of the Gulf Coast where, among many other things, there was a nice collection of Janis memorabilia (at left, top three pics).  Included in that was a replica of her famous bug car – complete with 60s and 70s hippie themed paint.  Lots of other stuff there too including a nice art piece featuring many of her faces, and various old photos and such.  Even included some of her art work as besides being a seasoned musician, she was also quite the accomplished painter as well.

There was also several other sections highlighting famous people from the Beaumont/Port Arthur area, many of whom I’d never heard of.  People of history, music, and even sports.  For you Patriots fans, Elandon Roberts was born in Port Arthur, and attended the local Memorial High School where he started his football career.  He went on to play college ball for Morgan State, then transferred to the University of Houston where as a senior he was team captain and had 142 total tackles which placed him fourth in the nation.  The Patriots picked him up in the sixth round of the 2016 draft.  On Feb 5, 2017, he was part of the Patriots squad to win Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons which would become one of the most famous come back from behind wins in all history.  He continued with the Patriots through the 2019/2020 season when he then moved to the Miami Dolphins.

I visited an interesting Roadside attraction in Port Arthur known to be the only conch shell wall in the U.S.  This wall made of 4,000 conch shells imported from the Cayman Islands was built in 1929 and frames the entrance to what was once the Eddingston Court apartment complex.  Built at the time of the oil boom to address housing shortages, this once beautiful complex would thrive for the next 75+ years.  Hurricane Rita in
2005 did significant damage to the complex, then in 2008, hurricane Ike came along to finish off the place.  It has remained abandoned and in mostly ruins ever since.  Despite the overgrowth, the conch walls have survived quite nicely though.

Next up on the Roadside list was a visit to another of the Little Lady Liberty statues that were distributed by the Boy Scouts back in 1950 to celebrate their 40th anniversary.  There were upwards of 200 of these statues placed all over the country, and I try my best to see as many of them as I can in my travels.  So, here is another one checked off the list.  This one sits just outside the Gates Library on the grounds of Lamar State College in Port Arthur.  She’s in pretty good shape for having sat here for over 70 years.

Final Thoughts

Well, my travels so far have been fantastic.  I’ve visited some really cool and interesting places, and the weather has been mostly ideal.  I’ve also been fortunate to sample the local cuisine through my travels.  I had my first crawfish boil (crawfish, shrimp, sausage, potatoes) in Alabama, then a terrific BBQ meal in TX.  So, in addition to all my sightseeing, I’m also eating my way through the country.  Now what can possibly be better than that?  My next few stops will continue my trek through Texas, then to my first week-long stop in Las Cruces, NM.  It will be nice to slow the pace down a bit and be in one place for a somewhat extended period of time.  I’ll likely not do too much sightseeing in Las Cruces as I did lots of that last summer.  But, I will be spending time with my former co worker Alan and his family in what I hope to be a camping style lasagna dinner and campfire out at the campground.  Looking forward to that.  Anyway, till next time, be well and safe travels.

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!