This morning we woke early, because breakfast was cooked and ready for us at 7 AM! We ate well, had brief devotions, took a group picture in front of the church sign, and went to a wonderful worship service at the United Methodist Church in Mount Pleasant. (Photo by Sandy Hall) You will notice she is in the picture and used the timing device on her camera to take the picture. Very clever.
After that our group headed to the Battleship Memorial Park at Mobile Bay, Mobile, Alabama. It was quite foggy. As we entered the driveway, there were several old military planes, jets, helicopters that we couldn’t see until we were quite close to them. After we parked and got out of the vehicles, we were aware of an eerie outline of something. Behind the building we were facing was the Battleship USS Alabama.A group of us headed up the ramp to the
ship in the fog. (Photo by Judy Bezon)
We couldn’t see the whole ship because the fog was so thick. We got to tour several decks of this ship which served in WWII. We got to see a lot of where the crew of 2,500 lived and worked. It was very interesting. Also at Battleship Park is the submarine USS Drum in dry dock. We were able to tour one level inside. We really had to watch our heads going through all the hatches.
Of course the gift shop was a popular place. We enjoyed the Battleship Memorial Park a lot. (written by Terri Persons)
Of course the gift shop was a popular place. We enjoyed the Battleship Memorial Park a lot. (written by Terri Persons)Mort Gridley Jr. and Ashley Dann in the brigg on the USS Alabama.
(Photo by Patti Gridley)
The ship's doctor's office and the chapel. (Photos by Colleen Saxton)
For more information About the Battleship Park go to: http://www.ussalabama.com/
Late this afternoon, we had a wonderful introduction to the flora and fauna of the Gulf area with a visit to the Estuarium on Dauphin Island, Alabama. We came face to face (thru the aquarium glass) with many intriguing native animals ranging from alligators to zebra fish. There were turtles of varying shapes and sizes, some of which looked like the big brothers of our pets at home. In addition, there were fish of almost every size, shape and color – sand sharks, puffer fish with iridescent blue eyes, translucent jelly fish, tiny pipe fish and huge moray eels. Have you ever seen soft shelled turtles that look like they would bounce if you dropped them? If not, plan a visit to the Estuarium on your next visit to Alabama. (For a virtual visit go to: http://estuarium.disl.org/)
(Turtle photos by Ashley Dann) 
(Photo by Diane Walker)The star fish in the Estuarium reminded Kim Dungey of the story of the man walking along the beach throwing stranded starfish back into the sea. When the man was asked why he was undertaking such a seemingly useless task, he replied, “It makes a difference to this one.”
As we think about the immensity of the task of helping people in the gulf area to recover from the damage (both physical and emotional) inflicted by hurricane Katrina, it may seem that our efforts are only a drop in the bucket. But we need to remember that each act of kindness, each nail we pound makes a huge difference to the owner of the home we are working on. (written by Diane Walker)
Tomorrow we begin our rebuilding work. Come back tomorrow to see where we've been assigned and what our 6 teams are doing.
