Mon., 18 Feb 13

A repeat of Sunday’s weather except for the stronger winds. Late afternoon saw clouds come in. This will lead to the expected rain on Tuesday.

Today, a little after 1 pm, we went to Camping World in Robertsdale, AL less than 15 minutes away. I picked up 3 short hoses. It is hard to find hoses for drinking water less than 10 feet long anywhere other than at Camping World. I also picked up hose washers. All these items are for future use.

Our lunch destination today was Manci’s Antique Club on Main St in Daphne, AL. As we approached we could see that numerous beads from the recent Mardi Gras parade were still on nearby porch roof tops.

In 1924 Frank Manci purchased an old wooden products warehouse and turned it into a gasoline station. When his son, Frank, took over in 1947. 20 years later he obtained a liquor license and started hanging bottles in the now full-fledged bar and grill. Among the items in this eclectic collection is a hockey goalie stick hanging from the ceiling above the bar. No, This is not sacrilege! The University of Alabama has 21 varsity sports teams. Both the male and female athletic teams are called the Crimson Tide. Their ice hockey team is known as the Frozen Tide! There is also the largest collection of Jim Beam decanters on display anywhere.

Another 20 years passed until Arthur’s son, Alex, took over and became known for their Seafood Po-Boys. Along with numerous local and regional awards, they were also featured on Guy Fieri’s Food Network program: Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Once again, Charlotte and I say; “Thank You, Guy!” having shared one of the show’s featured items – the Spider Sandwich which consists of Soft Shelled Crab (the whole crab) deep-fried and lovingly fitted into a French Roll along with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and tartar sauce. Too good for words! How about .....mmmmmmm!

The huge size of the Spider Sandwich meant we only ate a small portion of the Monday Special: Spaghetti. We did have enough to know the meatballs and sauce were above the ordinary and we certainly will enjoy later in the RV.

Moriah, our waitress, was the epitome of southern hospitality. She grew up in Burlington, VT and we both got nostalgic about how good Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is – especially when eaten at the factory store. Thanks to Moriah, I am now armed with a few more tourist destinations worthy of a visit.

Everything is prepared fresh which means we had a short wait time. While waiting we were startled by an extremely loud “Clang”. Folks at the next table informed us that when someone in the “Ladies Room” moves the “Fig Leaf” covering the private area (It does warn not to move) on the male artwork, a loud shocking “Buzz” goes off in the washroom and an even louder bell “Clang” echoes throughout the restaurant. When it happened again we were not so surprised and laughed with the crowd.

After the meal we continued along Scenic 98 through Daphne, Fairhope and Point Clear. It is a slow and pretty road that added to our enjoyment of riding “topless” in the sunshine.

A short time after arriving back at the RV the clouds rolled quickly in. I drove over to the Corporate Office to connect with the Wi-Fi to get the blog out for today. We have decided that we will head home by car on Wednesday (really early) and hope to get back by Thursday evening which means there may not be a blog for a few days. We will leave the RV here and go home in the Del Sol. We had thought of taking a cruise ship (grin); however, the local coverage of the Carnival Triumph, now in Mobile Harbor, changed our mind. 

We only have to be back by Feb. 25^th – leaving a few days early gives us a buffer should something unexpected occur. The car appears to be fine; yet it is 18 years old with nearly 400,000 K of experience, so anything might happen.

As I finished the blog in the car near the office it began to rain lightly so I had to put the top on before heading across the park to the RV.

Tomorrow we will make final preparations for departure.