East Coast Trip: Day 3

Today we woke up at 6:00 and drove the short distance to Fort Gains, an old fort used in the Civil War. It was so cool walking in the same place where you knew that hundreds of men walked and fought for our freedom.  I’ll admit parts of it were a little creepy, since some places weren’t very well lit, but it was fun to go exploring.

After that, we hopped on the fairy to ride across to the other side of Alabama and to see Fort Morgan.  Upon arriving the lady at the front told us that there were some people bird banding, and we could go check it out.  We went to go see exactly what bird banding was. We soon found out that it was when people catch wild birds and put government issued metal bands on their legs. This band has a serial number engraved on it, equivalent to our Social Security number, that they log to help them keep track of the history of the bird. With that log they record the bird’s sex, wing span, tail span, beak size, weight and how much fat it has.  When we arrived, they had just finished banding a Yellow Warbler.  When we told them about our volunteer work at the zoo they offered to let one of us release it. Krystin was very kind and said I could do it and it was an amazing experience. While we were standing around talking, we heard someone yelling for help over their short wave radios. A few minutes later, a lady came back holding an absolutely gorgeous female hawk. It was so amazing to see such a unique creature so close. The thing that amazed me the most was the power that the seemingly frail creature had. God’s creation is truly amazing. It reminds me of the verse that reads, “Marvelous are your works Oh Lord, and that, my soul knows very well.”

After that thrilling experience we went to the actual fort, For Morgan. It was used from the Civil War all the way up to World War 1. It was set up very different than Fort Gains.  It didn’t have many lights at all, and rarely had any plaques describing what you are looking. The most amazing thing there was that there where tiny stalagmites and stalactites growing on the brick cave like rooms where the water and moister had built up over the years. And people say it takes millions of years to form those.  J

After self-touring Fort Morgan we drove to Pensacola, Florida where we were amazed at how white the sand was. The sand in the Texas gulf is like khaki colored and not very clean, but the beaches in the Florida gulf are clean and white like sugar.  They were so pretty.

We got to Montgomery around 10:00pm, totally exhausted! Being on vacation is hard work! J We will be sleeping well tonight. Thank you Lord for the abundance of hotels and the kind people that run them.