Turduckens and Thanksgiving

Gulf Shores, AL     High:  71    Low:  52

Turducken leftovers anyone? Hunh? What's a turducken, you ask? It's a de-boned chicken stuffed inside a de-boned duck, stuffed inside a de-boned turkey. Any gaps in the layers are stuffed with sage dressing or stuffing.  It looks something like this:

There are varieties on this....a gooducken is a goose stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. And for vegans, there's always the meat substitute "turkey" with tofu called a turfucken. Seriously, I did not make that up, it's really out there. Sounds obscene, doesn't it?  :-) Sparky will wisely not make any comments on how that one probably tastes. :-)

Did we have a turducken for Thanksgiving? Naw, too expensive, around 75-85 dollars.....but bet some people did.

In the morning, Eldy and I watched a little of Macy's parade, kind of a tradition in both of our families and a tradition in our country, 86 years and running. Pretty amazing the details about the parade balloons.....Sparky loved the "Jolly Polly Pirate Ship", an elaborate 40 foot tall float with Whoopi Goldberg and the Kool-Aid Man piloted as a "balloonicle". When a new balloon is added, it's guaranteed a run of three years. There have been 6 versions of Snoopy over 36 years, making him the longest participating balloon. No Snoopy this year, Charlie Brown was standing in. Some more interesting facts about the parade...The longest balloon is 78 feet! Pikachu is the first special effects balloon, his cheeks light up. SpongeBob Squarepants was the first square balloon, showing up two years ago. It takes 600 (!) internal tie lines to keep his shape. The first Macy's parade started in 1924, and the first balloons started in 1927.

We didn't plan our Thanksgiving dinner very well, Sparky had convinced Eldo to try Cracker Barrel's offerings for 9.99 a person, easily the best deal in town. We arrived shortly after the beginning turkey day dinner serving time of 11:00 AM, and found the wait to be an hour. We didn't want to wait, and thought there might be some better food offerings out there if we looked some more. We decided to peruse the Mullet Wrapper, a local happenings paper that has just about everything going on in the Gulf Shores and surrounding area. There was only one restaurant left that hadn't filled up on reservations, Ginny Lane's Bar and Grill in nearby Orange Beach.

You wouldn't think a bar and grill would have a very good Thanksgiving dinner, would you? But the grill delivered...we had a great meal at a reasonable price--17.00--salad choices, then turkey-- both light and dark served with giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, sweet potato casserole which was excellent, green bean casserole, and the standard pumpkin pie. Sparky sweet talked the waiter (she's pretty good at that, explains Eldy) into swapping the pumpkin pie out for a wonderful key lime pie instead. Everything was absolutely wonderful from the salad with terrific blue cheese dressing to the dessert. Normal prices are in the moderate range...We'd definitely go back to try it again. Everything was fresh and tasty, and portions were just right.

Back home...Eldy watched football, Sparky read......It cools down FAST in the late afternoon with the sun setting, so Sparky bundled up....

and dozed....(And I just had to document Sparky actually slowing down for a minute and not going a million miles an hour! explains E.)

Now THAT'S the way to spend Turkey Day! Just wished family was closer to have had them there with us, too.

Bye for now.........

The Attitude of Gratitude

Gulf Shores, AL     High:  70    Low:   50

Did you know Abraham Lincoln was the person responsible for setting aside a day back in 1863 called Thanksgiving for gratitude and appreciation of one's blessings? Kind of fitting that the movie "Lincoln" is out and about in theaters this season. We're going to go see it tomorrow...So-o-o-o....Being that it's Thanksgiving, Sparky asked Eldy what he's thankful for....

"The #1 thing I'm thankful for is my health, my family and you..."  Aw-w-w-w... He's not done yet...."and I'm thankful for my family who understands and supports my dream of traveling full time." Eldo didn't add that he's thankful Notre Dame is having its best season ever, but Sparky is throwing that one in! He has lots more things he is thankful for, but when Sparky puts him on the spot, he clams up!

Sparky's hand knit sox

Sparky is thankful for all those things, too...For having a brain that still works pretty well, for excellent eyesight when other family members are struggling with theirs...For not having been stricken with breast cancer yet which so many women have, including my sister who is battling it for the third time..(She's doing well, almost done with chemo and her spirits are great.) Sparky is thankful for the talented hands that God gave her to create and make pretty things....

For two lovely daughters who have turned out well in spite of their mother's many, many BIG mistakes and emotional struggles as a single parent.....Sparky is thankful that Eldy puts up with her single minded and narrow viewpoints at times, (add stubborn to that list too) making couples decision making a challenge. (I just let her have her way most of the time, E. explains.) She is thankful he has the patience of Job with her, anyway, not with the rig! :-)  Sparky is thankful for having met Eldy, the best man to have ever entered her life and is staying for the long haul...As he always says, "I'm not going anywhere but somewhere with you."   Aw-w-w-w-w......She is thankful that he loves her, warts and all...And Sparky absolutely loves Eldy....

And Sparky just HAS to add how thankful she is to have a healthy, VERY smart new little grandson whom she gets to see in a month. He's 5 1/2 months, sitting up already and starting to crawl. Can't wait to smooch his little cheeks and get some new pictures! Sorry for the repeat....

We are thankful for this big, beautiful country of ours...and all the magnificence it holds...

resident cranes at Port St. Lucie RV Park

We have seen the most incredible views of Mother Nature-- beautiful creatures, light shows, ocean tempests, spectacular sunsets and sunrises, and gorgeous landscapes. And the show just goes on and on and on....

sunset in the Keys

Sparky's favorite heron photo at Vero Beach, FL

We are thankful to find out that the full timing lifestyle is full of comradeship and helpful neighbors wherever we go....That making new friends is easy despite traveling around full time in an RV, that keeping them is a little harder but doable....We are thankful for the technology that makes this all possible, to stay in touch with new friends and to keep family bonds strong even if we can't be there in person.

We are thankful for our readers who are interested enough to sign up to follow us, and for those readers who stumble upon the blog and read us occasionally.

We are thankful to be in the here and now and for ALL our blessings...Hope your Thanksgiving is a peaceful day and full of good things to eat!  Peace be with you....

scrapbook page from katiescrapbooklady--internet

                                               Jeannie and Eldy, a.k.a. "Sparky and Eldo"

Eldo Needs a Hobby

Gulf Shores, AL      High:    76    Low:  50

Sparky thinks Eldo needs a hobby....Eldy says, "I have a hobby---YOU!" No, no, no...That's not going to work. :-)  So every once in awhile, Sparky sees something that might interest Eldy.   Like when something started buzzing overhead today....It sounded like GINORMOUS mosquitoes. Sparky looked for the source of the buzzing. It was a LARGE remote controlled airplane...It was being controlled by a guy a couple of doors down. He had two planes that he was flying today. They were all battery powered, no fuel needed.

One model was shaped like an air force jet, and one was like a Cessna. They were interesting and did some very cool maneuvers. The jet did barrel rolls and all kinds of fancy moves right down the large grassy field just outside our site. It was the perfect place to fly model planes and land them.  Eldo was intrigued, but not intrigued enough to go talk to the guy. Sparky was, and did. (Yep, Sparky will go talk to anybody in a heartbeat.)

Landing at dusk

Here's a little of the scoop for now...The planes the guy was flying were close to 200.00 a piece. The controller was about 150.00, and the guy (didn't catch his name but maybe we will be able to later) is in a club and he trains people how to fly these planes. There's a whole lot more to it than just moving a switch one way or another.  It's actually quite tricky. You should learn on a simulator first, and with an experienced "pilot" he recommends. He talked about certain models will stand up to crashes and be repairable as opposed to other more expensive models that aren't. Sparky asked how many planes he had, and he replied, "Over a hundred." WOW...a serious hobbyist with a lot of money to spend! Is Eldo interested? The verdict is still out on that one. But he's definitely interested in watching. So was Sparky, it looked like fun! He's out there just about every night flying his planes and he is an EXCELLENT pilot with all the aerobatics the planes are doing. And ZERO crashes!

He did a photo op fly by for me :-)

Here's a link to how to learn about flying and what's needed to get into the hobby...It's just one of many, many links to this sport. Flying remote controlled planes

On such a warm day as today, other hobbyists were out in the park. Sparky met a REALLY nice couple making PVC pipe birds as lawn ornaments. Annette and Walt Davis are from Seattle, and they spend their winter months down here in the south making these, then selling them back in Seattle.... We had a great talk about our RVing lives....We even exchanged snake stories! They told me about somebody they knew that went back and forth between Yuma, AZ and Seattle, traveling, and on one occasion, after returning from Yuma, went to have work done on their RV. The tech guys opened up one of the bay doors and were greeted by a lethargic, skinny rattlesnake! Guess he was half dead. That's the only kind of rattlesnake anybody really wants to see, a dead one! Right?  Right!

Sparky's current hobby is TRYING to make pine needle baskets...Not as easy as it looks, but I've got one started. Yay! (Dare I say she's got LOTS of things started?) Yes, honey, you can say that. That's a sign of a true crafter, LOTS of projects going at one time. I do finish one now and then! :-)  But it makes me happy to be creating, even if not everything gets done.

Sparky is also having fun downloading FREE digital books from the Orange Beach Public Library. It's really easy on the Kindle Fire and Sparky is now reading more books in the past week than she has read in the past five years! You just open the Camellia Net website, type in the book you want, if it's available, you click on "Get for Kindle", which takes you to the Amazon website, then you click on "download for Sparks's Kindle" or iphone, or iPad, or whatever you have, and there it is, seconds later on my Kindle. So cool! Good thing it doesn't cost money, it's just too dang easy to get stuff online these days, you know, like that "one click" buying option on Amazon? BAD idea for impulsive shoppers! Not that Sparky is an impulsive shopper, naw........Well, maybe.......She's working on NOT being an impulsive shopper. She hasn't stepped foot in a Michael's or a Hobby Lobby for a month! (That's because there isn't one close by, explains E.)  Sigh.........

We leave December 1 for Sarasota, FL...The days are passing by quickly!  See you tomorrow!

A Little Bit of Everything Lately

Gulf Shores, AL      High:  66    Low:   41

Dinner with Laurie and George Owens (Owens on the Road) at The Oar House in Pensacola...Lovely time...So much fun hearing about what they have learned so far in the first month of full timing...Don't drive after dark! Everybody gets crabby and it's tough to park...Yep! We can vouch for that! :-) The food was VERY good and very reasonable.....

More bike riding around the park and on the trails... This is an observation deck for gator habitat at Gulf State Park, but Sparky has yet to spot one. Phooey!

Sparky is now on a mission to look for L-O-O-N-G pine needles to practice making baskets...(Uh, boy, I'm gonna start seeing mysterious Walmart bags all over the place, I'm sure! says E.)   Yep! :-)

Here's a sample....Sparky thinks they look cool! The long leaf pines can have needles from 7-18" long, the longer the better for baskets.

More visiting different parts of town....We visited Buena Vista, an up and coming upscale RV resort just across the beach in Gulf Shores. The coach houses were absolutely gorgeous and very different from the standard coach houses you see in so many RV resorts. What's cool about the phases coming in Buena Vista, is they are going to have one entire section devoted totally to full time RVers who are in need of rehabilitation services. They will transport people to needed medical services and they are going to have a physical therapist on staff. Sounds like a fabulous plan along with everything else they are building......The park is going to have 111 sites when completed.

Watching the skid car..Hunh? Yeah, a skid car..A skid car is an ordinary car outfitted with a set of "training wheels" that are controlled with a hydraulic system controlled inside the car. The attached wheels lift the car just enough to simulate driving on ice, wet pavement, snow, or oil slicks.  A retired state police officer demonstrates the skid car all over the state of Alabama, training officers and members of different police departments how to control skids. The skid car was going through its paces in front of the pavilion at Gulf State Park. Sparky, always looking for blog fodder, stopped to take a photo and ask questions. An insurance company sponsors the demonstrations and it's only offered to the police departments that are covered by this insurance and this particular car is only demonstrating in the state of Alabama. Which is too bad, because wouldn't this be a terrific thing to have for driver's ed for teens all over the country? THEY need it more than the police department does, in Sparky's humble opinion. Maybe some high schools with a lot of money do use this system, Sparky hopes so! It doesn't look that expensive to outfit the car, but like anything else, it probably is. However, what a great concept! Sparky would to love to try that out! She needs all the help she can get on wet, slick and icy roads...But now that we are not in northern Indiana any more, it's not so much of a worry.

And other stuff....Sparky went to a craft group meeting for the first time at Gulf Shores State Park. The ladies were doing all kinds of crafts. Some were making jewelry with pop can pop tops. The group was fun! Later in the day, Sparky saw a lady on Gator Street in the park making pine needle baskets. Sparky stopped by and Carol Moore, the lady making baskets in her "front yard", offered to teach her how to make a basket...Carol makes BEAUTIFUL baskets and is working on some now. She sells them at a shop in Foley. These have either hickory nuts or walnuts in them. Sparky hopes she can figure this out and make one similar some day. Carol has been making them for about 15 years so Sparky has a long way to go.

Dinner with Greg and Jan White (Our RV Adventures) at Sea 'n' Suds in Gulf Shores...We forgot to take a photo. Eldy had the best raw oysters he has ever had. Sparky had steamed shrimp that was absolutely delicious and she doesn't really like seafood! But she does like shrimp. We always love seeing Jan and Greg, they have great stories to tell, and they know the BEST places to eat! Safe travels, you two!

And if that isn't a little bit of everything lately, Sparky doesn't know what is! See you later......

The Little Zoo That Could--Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo

Gulf Shores, AL     High:  64   Low:  44

You've heard the story about "The Little Engine That Could"...a popular but old children's story about the little engine that made it up the side and over the top of a mountain, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...."? This is the story of a little zoo in Gulf Shores.....The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, star of the 2006 Animal Planet series.....

Patti Hall, courtesy of Jon Hauge/Correspondent

The zoo is currently on 17 acres of low lying land near the beach which makes it vulnerable to hurricanes and their devastating damage. In 2004, when Hurricane Ivan threatened the Gulf Shores community, Patti Hall, the zoo director, and her small staff, evacuated all 270 animals from the zoo to her private home in Elberta, Alabama, about 20 miles away. Nothing like this had ever been attempted. She and her dedicated staff pulled off the first entire zoo off site evacuation of its kind--all 270 animals were caught, crated, caged and transported through a massive volunteer effort involving semis, pickups, and every available way possible to get the animals to safety for the time being. Safety was the driveway of Patti's Hurricane 5 proof family home and acreage, although most of the animals remained inside the trucks parked on the lawn, wagon wheel circle style to weather out the storm. After the storm came the tremendous rebuilding efforts to reopen the zoo, and they did.

Once again, in 2005,  with Hurricane Dennis advancing on the Gulf Coast, Patti Hall and her staff evacuated all the animals to her home and grounds in Elberta, AL and waited out the storm...The damages from hurricanes are usually extensive and exhaustive to the zoo's human and monetary resources. Ivan and Katrina were the worst for the zoo. This little zoo depends entirely on donations, memberships and contributions to stay open, no small feat in this day and age of competition for the public's supporting dollars.

Ten months later, after trying to rebuild from Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Katrina hit.  The third time's the charm. Patti and her staff evacuated yet again, with a formal evacuation plan in place and it went much more smoothly. Unfortunately, they had to rebuild and repair from one of the country's worst hurricane storms, AGAIN.

That's a great story behind this hardworking lady, her staff and the zoo. For more information,  watch the Animal Planet videos "The Little Zoo That Could"..But here's one short link about this remarkable lady....http://blog.al.com/pr-community-news/2011/06/reality_show_turned_patti_hall.html

Sparky watched a little of the reality series on the zoo, the staff,  and the animals, and thought it was a wonderful story. Chuckie, the 15 foot alligator, was one animal that caught Sparky's interest--he had to be left behind during one of the hurricanes, and with the storm surge of about 12 feet, Chuckie floated right out of the zoo, but they found him later very close by. Chuckie USED to be in Gulf State Park. Apparently, Chuckie made lunch out of a couple of little dogs so he was removed from the park, or so the story goes. The park asked the zoo to take him and he's still there, the oldest zoo resident.

The love that Patti and her staff have for their small "animal planet" is so evident...It was a wonderful, heartwarming story. Sparky just had to go for a visit to the zoo to see how it was doing. What a great little zoo! Eight dollars for seniors 55 and older, 10.00 for adults, 5.00 for children. The animal count is now up to over 500, and for a small zoo, it's one of the cleanest, prettiest zoos Sparky has ever seen. The zoo is working on getting a new home a few miles inland so another evacuation will not have to happen. They hope to move the animals one last time some time in 2013.

The animals are well cared for, that is very evident. They have fresh food, fresh fruits and vegetables, lots and lots of toys to play with and the layout/landscaping of the zoo is just beautiful! They have several observation towers where you can get up and get a much better view looking OVER the fence.

You are closer to the fences in this little zoo than you are in major big city zoos.

There are a LOT of exotic birds here....

And lots of cute primates--all kinds of monkeys but no gorillas...If you want to get close and personal with some of the animals like the lemurs or baby tigers, you can for a charge....No, thank you! Sparky would rather just watch the animals...like these gopher tortoises waddling across the yard. The babies only grow an inch a year and these tortoises can live up to 100 years in captivity.

These little muntjac deer were cute....

And so was this little girl feeding a goat...

"Well, if you REALLY want the rest of my food, I guess you can have it!"

There was just a wonderful atmosphere about this little zoo...There weren't a lot of BIG animals, but there was plenty to see for families with children. It's hard to explain, but it was like being in a little jungle wonderland with all the palms, extensive landscaping, water and fountains...It has a wonderful, cozy atmosphere, you just knew that this is a place where the animals are loved and cared for as soon as you walked into the zoo. The animals all look wonderfully healthy with shiny coats and lots of things to play with..If it's possible for animals to seem happy, this place certainly conveyed that. Sparky thoroughly enjoyed "The Little Zoo That Could" today and highly recommends it if you love zoos, or have small grandchildren or children. They would love it!

Maps and the Apps

Gulf Shores, AL     High:  65   Low:  45

Today was spent visiting some RV parks in the Gulf Shores area..There are quite a few, but we visited just two very upscale parks today-- Lake Osprey RV Country Club in Foley, and Bella Terra,  both in Foley, AL. We wanted to view these two parks in the area and compare notes on pricing, sites and amenities. Lake Osprey is small, right now they only have 26 sites, but the website says 188 when all sites are completed. They advertise themselves as a "country club for RVers." There is a beautiful championship golf course right next door, Soldier's Creek, that you can play for a good discount. The clubhouse is classy and gorgeous, and so is the pool.

Unfortunately, the entire view across the manmade lake is dirt. The lake view lots are HUGE, which is nice. They are wide open, and no shade except for an occasional palm. The park is relatively new, so it has a long way to go as far as landscaping and future development for certain sections of the park.

Here is another view from the side of one of the lake lots.

The lots BEHIIND the lake view ones are more developed.

Lake Osprey RV lots across from the lake

Driving to the park does feel like you are driving to the middle of nowhere, it's outside the little town of Elberta, AL. It's a good ten miles back to where the action is in Gulf Shores and to shopping. We thought the landscaping was very beautiful in and around the clubhouse, but in the year's time since we last paid a visit to check things out, development appears at a standstill on the view across the lake. They have a tiki bar which was kind of cool, and FREE laundry, top of the line machines, for additional amenities besides the pool. It was very pretty, but it just didn't quite call us home.....

We decided to go to Bella Terra RV Resort, also in Foley, AL, where we encountered a similar but different setting....Another beautiful pool, an infinity edge walk in pool with gorgeous views.

Monthly rentals range from 800-900 dollars plus $100 electric cap. If you go over 850 kw for the month, then you pay .12 a kw/h after that. During high season which is January thru March, the quoted cost depends on the amenities on the sites--from a plain concrete pad to a site with a screened in gazebo and outdoor kitchen!

Sites are HUGE....They have a special movie theater room with high backed movie chair seating. They have a 6,000 square foot clubhouse, library, free wi-fi, cable, 200 amp service at each RV lot (that's BIG, says E.) sauna, outdoor fire pit, a card/game room, putting greens, and they have Pilates exercise classes. (That's for Sparky, clarifies Eldo.)

Bella Terra living room at the clubhouse

With all the money we are saving the entire month of January, we decided to splurge a little for February. We have been doing really well staying way under budget for campground stays with our Thousand Trails and Encore specials for the past few months. We decided to commit to a month's stay in February at Bella Terra. They only ask for a dollar deposit!

Back to planning mode after visiting these two parks. We have to plan the next few months out...sort of...When you are in the south for the winter, and you are on the east coast and staying in Florida, you better have a plan for the winter months! It's almost impossible to get into Florida State parks, you have to book really far out. We don't usually do that, and we weren't sure what direction we were going to head after this winter--back out east towards Maine again, or out west....We're still not sure of that, but we are sure we need to go to Red Bay, AL to the Tiffin plant in the next few months. They were so busy and backed up this fall, we put it on the back burner.

So-o-o-o...out came the maps, the apps--Thousand Trails app, All Stays Camp and RV (Eldy's favorite), the phones, and the good old fashioned yellow legal pad...We knew we had the following pencilled in:
December--in Sarasota, FL at Sun 'n' Fun....
January--We are booked the first two weeks in the Keys...we want to hit the Tampa RV show the second week of January. We need to get a spot not too far away...we're going to shoot for the Manatee RV Park in Bradenton where we can stay for 139.00 a week on an Encore special, which is available for Thousand Trails members. Going to spend a week there...Check!

The last two weeks of January, we've decided to head over to Lake Magic to use our Florida Max Pass, which was purchased last year to enable us to stay for free or 3.00 a day if we have used up our free stays on our zone membership. The Florida Max Pass was purchased at the Tampa RV show (199.00) to give us six additional Florida parks, one of them is Lake Magic in Clermont.  We've now got January covered.

February--a month at Bella Terra RV Resort and from there, to Red Bay, AL....And that's it so far....

Sounds like a plan...Now, the next plan is to convince Eldy to go back up the east coast to Maine...heh, heh, heh...But Sparky just said that to tease Eldy. As much as she would like to head back to Bar Harbor, Maine, she really doesn't mind a trip heading west....Colorado, maybe this summer, anyone? Anyone? (Hmmmmmmm....says E.)

Buckeye butterfly spotted at Lake Osprey RV park

Chamber Pots and Windows Out on the World

Gulf Shores, AL     High: 73   Low:  47

A trip to the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum on the naval air base today, but Sparky can't resist giving a little more information about chamber pots because hey--that's probably something people DON'T know as much about...(And Sparky, they probably don't care to know?) Well, they can skip that part then.

Everybody knows the lighthouse keeper or a family member trekked up the stairs (177 of them at the Pensacola Lighthouse) daily, with a 5 gallon bucket of kerosene or mineral spirits to keep the light going...Sparky LOVES lighthouse stairs and always has to climb them. They look like giant Nautilus shells....

Everybody has probably heard about Fresnel lens--THE lens for lighthouses built in the early 1800's....or at least seen photos of them. This one at the Pensacola Lighthouse is really cool. It has 344 glass panes from France in it, and 8 bulls eye pieces. Lots of hard work required to polish the glass. The lighthouse keeper's salary was 700.00 a year for all this hard work.....

There were several windows open out to views on the ocean while climbing the stairs, and the breeze coming through them was wonderful! The lighthouse is TALL, 192 feet tall and it was quite the climb today....

The wrought iron stairs were wider than the usual lighthouse staircases until you got to the very top.

What a view! You could see the Blue Angels jets over on the tarmac at the air station from the top, and also three out of four forts built to defend the Pensacola Bay back in the day....Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas, and the third one Sparky forgets. You can also view the Blue Angels practices from the catwalk at the lighthouse during their training sessions if you buy special tickets at 15.00 a pop, except the Blue Angels are done for the year.

(Uh, Sparky, I hate to mention it, but you made a big deal out of chamber pots??) Yep, just getting to that...You know, visiting all this history in person, don't you wonder about some things that are never talked about, like how did people use the bathroom when they didn't have indoor toilets--well, yeah...they used outhouses, but how about the middle of the night? And what about these chamberpots? Everybody knows that a chamber pot was used to go to the bathroom IN the house so they didn't have to go outside. You can see them in the bedrooms at the lighthouse. The chamber pot was ceramic if you were rich and simple earthenware if you were poor. They were usually placed inside some kind of bench or cabinet with a lid. The chamber pots were emptied every morning by throwing it out the window or in the streets in town in the early days (you didn't want to be taking a morning walk then!) or dumped into slop jars which were then emptied out in the outhouse hole or out back. At the lighthouse, they didn't get indoor plumbing until 1939, so they were definitely in use. In the general population, it was a woman's job or the older children's job or a maid's if you were rich.  Chamber pots continued to be used into the 1940's and 1950's in rural areas. Kids' modern day potty training chairs are based on the old chamber pot idea. Why all the talk about chamber pots? Dunno...just a sideline....The history of chamber pots was all over the bathroom walls at the lighthouse restroom, just thought it would be nice to share.....  :-)

After Sparky came back down, it was time for a spirited game of checkers on the front porch of the lighthouse with Eldo. He is pondering his next move, because he's running out of them!

It was a great day out on the bay, at the Pensacola Lighthouse! You can tour the lighthouse for free, but to climb the 177 steps, it will cost you five dollars. You'll have to excuse Sparky right now...All this talk about chamber pots, it's time to head for the restroom! See you later......