{Spring Break} Island Exploration

This morning we headed out early in order to catch the ferry over to West Ship Island, one of the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands and part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, where we planned to spend most of the day...

{oh, how I love these sweet littles so very much}

 

 

When we arrived on the island...

we watched a brief reenactment on the island...

including the raising of the flag over Fort Massachusetts...

We then caught a tour of the fort...

 

learned more about its Rodman cannon...

 

 

and secured our passport stamps...

before taking a few more photos on top of the "D-shaped" fort...

{we are really "in" to the silly shots right now!}

 

and making the short trek along the pier to the south side of the island to change clothes, eat lunch and enjoy a little beach time...

 

before boarding the ferry back to the Mississippi mainland...

and reuniting with my mother to go have dinner with my grandmother, aunt and uncle...



{my Mississippi grandmother with her namesake, sweet M}

My very talented aunt showed L her art studio and gifted her with one of her paintings...  L was so excited.  She had been waiting for a tour of Aunt S's art studio for a long time since her "teacher told her that she is an artist", too...  Such a sweet, sweet girl...  She is a little artist, that is for sure...

 

and the gifted painting from Aunt S couldn't be more perfect...

{Spring Break} Cool Times in Warm Springs

Spring Break started at approximately 2:45 yesterday afternoon, and we were off early this morning...  The final destination being my daddy's old stomping grounds on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we stopped in Warm Springs, GA on the trip down for a very special ceremony.

With my mom as my travelling buddy (Hubby had to stay behind and work), we made it to Warm Springs in time to stop at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park to have a quick breakfast picnic at FDR's favorite picnic spot, Dowdell's Knob...

It really was a beautiful view, and I can now understand why FDR had a grill constructed on the site.   

The grill has since been filled in for preservation, but it was pretty neat to see such a concrete (literally) piece of history right there that FDR visited, used, sat around and enjoyed with family and friends...

From there, we headed over to Roosevelt's Little White House to tour the site and enjoy a very special program, with today being the anniversary of FDR's death right there at the Little White House...

We toured the home...

{the living room, left very much untouched, where FDR was sitting for his portrait (in the chair) when he experienced pain in the back of his head and slumped forward, never to regain consciousness}

explored the museum...

and found South Carolina along the Flag Walk & State Stones path...

 

Lastly, we attended a special ceremony with one of FDR's granddaughters, Nina Roosevelt Gibson, as the special guest and speaker...

She was just delightful and was kind enough to pose for a photo with the littles and sign B's program as well...

I think that she favors her grandfather quite a bit!

On the way out, we stopped by to see the famous "unfinished portrait"...

From there, we enjoyed a late lunch off the beaten path at Oskar's Café...

before stopping at the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery...

and, again, finding our beloved South Carolina represented on the grounds...

We arrived in Mississippi a little after dinner...  

and stopped in to visit with my sweet grandmother briefly before retiring to our hotel...

Another adventure on tap for tomorrow!

More FDR sites that we have visited...

 FDR's Springwood in Hyde Park, NY

 FDR's Cottage on Campobello Island in New Brunswick