Business in Mobile. Day 8

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A day off.

Tuesday, June 8. Drive about 30 miles south of Mobile to Bellingrath Gardens and Home. Get there about 9 AM. By the time I get about two steps away from the car, I am sweating. By the time I bought my tickets, I am soaked. The 10,000 sq ft mansion was built in 1935 by one of the first US bottlers of Coca Cola. Apparently bottling was an extremely lucrative business. I stroll the gardens (there are 65 acres under cultivation out of the 900 acres that make up the property), tour the house, and take a 45-min cruise down the River of Birds, which are in short supply that day: one brown pelican, one nesting ospray, and a couple dozen gulls. The narration is interesting though. A history of the river and how brown pelicans have been brought back from extinction just in time to face the challenge of the gulf oil spill. Huge homes line the river and grasses--home to all types of tiny creatures--line the shore. Pretty flowers. Spanish moss. Fountains and lakes and a river cruise. Nice day.

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Photos

Spanish moss
is abundant on the tree next to the entrance to the gardens.

Observation tower
From Bayou boardwalk