Adventures of Tin Can Lulu

First stop on the journey was in Mobile Alabama. We have driven by the retired USS Alabama many times on other trips and this time we stopped to visit and explore this battleship from WWII.  The ship first set sail in 1942 in the Atlantic and in 1943 made its way to the South Pacific. The crew was comprised of 2500 sailors and the ship was a 45,000-ton war machine with a top speed of 27.5 knots (31.6 mph).

The armament on the battleship consisted of 9 – 16 inch guns, 20 – 5 inch DP guns, 6 – 40mm quadruple AA guns and 35 – single 20mm AA guns. They were huge!

The USS Drum a WWII submarine is located in the same national historic landmark as the USS Alabama. How the 72-man crew survived in the 311-foot submarine is amazing. Every square inch of the sub was used efficiently for the crew… sleeping, eating and running this submarine.

The gauges used to run the various parts of the sub were complicated. Wonder how many of the crew had advance training in engineering and science. Crazy to see and imagine that it was how the sub was run.

We did find time to get a bike ride in leaving from our campground. Surprising how quiet the roads were and rolling terrain we encountered. We were chasing rain clouds, missed the rain but had wet roads! UGH nothing like having to clean the bike at the beginning of the trip!

Where do you go when it is a wet Sunday afternoon… Buc-ees of course. What a zoo everyone in the local area goes there! First time for us and probably the last time too!