Rocket City!

October 31 – November 7, 2022

It was Halloween Day when we arrived in the Huntsville, Alabama area.  The end of the growing season, right?  Well, when visiting the US Space and Rocket Museum (USSRM), I was taken aback by the gardeners who were busy PLANTING pansies!  This Iowa girl was shocked!  I’m accustomed to having the flower and vegetable gardens pulled and cleaned up for the winter well before November appears on the calendar!  Apparently, pansies are the flower of choice for winter gardens here.  We’ve made it far enough south that we found flowers in bloom almost everywhere we went!

If it's November, it must be time to plant pansies!

The USSRM was so interesting and educational!  We learned that, following the end of WWII, Redstone Arsenal was established in Huntsville.  It was at Redstone Arsenal, under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun, that the Saturn V rocket was developed and tested, enabling the US to make it to the moon and return safely to Earth.  Huntsville thus earned its nickname, “Rocket City”.  In 1970, this museum was built near Redstone Arsenal that continues to be a major draw to the area for all of the space junkies out there, including my hubby!

 

Space Shuttle fuel tanks

In the museum, we were able to see a Saturn V.  This was the second Saturn V we have seen, as there is also one located in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  The third and final existing Saturn V is at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL.  So, who knows, maybe we will see that one this winter!

Captain James Lovell, some big shoes to fill!

Those are some big engines!

The Saturn V in Huntsville was never intended to go into space.  We learned from Luke Talley that this rocket was used for structural testing.  Luke is a retired engineer who is now a volunteer docent at the museum.  Luke’s knowledge was impressive and we later learned why he knew so much!  He actually worked on this stuff!

Luke Talley knew all the details of this project!

This museum was filled with all kinds of interesting artifacts!  The things that most grabbed our attention (in addition to the Saturn V) were the Mobile Quarantine Facility, the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) simulator and the Apollo 16 Command Module (CM).  

Command Module Simulator

Airstream campers were used to quarantine astronauts when they returned to earth from Apollo missions.  Apparently, three of the campers were sold as surplus at one point and their whereabouts became a bit of a mystery. That is, until one was found at a fish hatchery!  It turns out that this Airstream, that was being used for research at a fish hatchery, was the exact airstream that quarantined Alan Bean, “Pete” Conrad, and Dick Gordon when they returned from their trip to the moon on Apollo 12!  It wasn’t known whether moon germs existed and if possibly the astronauts could have carried any back to earth.  It has been refurbished back to the condition it was when used as the Mobile Quarantine Facility.

Nope, no moon germs here!

The Lunar Excursion Module simulator is the simulator used at NASA when Apollo 13 suffered an explosion and NASA needed to figure out a way to bring Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert safely back to earth.

The Lunar Module Simulator, where they figured out how to bring Apollo 13 astronauts home!

Needless to say, it was fascinating to see the actual Apollo 16 capsule that carried John Young, Charles Duke, and Ken Mattingly to the moon in April of 1972.  

A moon rock (germ free) and the Apollo 16 capsule

Apollo 16!

During our time in Huntsville, we stayed at Monte Sano State Park.  Monte Sano translates to “Mountain of Health” in Spanish and we completely agree this is a healthy place to stay!  In the late 1800’s, it was believed the fresh air, spectacular views and mineral springs at the top of this mountain helped improve illness and visitors from across the nation came here.  Monte Sano State Park is filled with interesting things to see and do.  Among the favorite things we did in the park was hiking a few of the trails there.  The North Plateau Trail takes you past a beautiful view of the valley from the lookoff, past their planetarium and behind the historic lodge (where they were decorating for an afternoon wedding!).  It’s hard to imagine an outdoor wedding in early November, but in Alabama, it’s a perfect time of the year for outdoors!

Alabama -- the 44th state on our adventure!

North Alabama Japanese Garden Trail's tea house

An evening at the planetarium was super interesting and another of our favorite things we did in the park.  It was built in 1970, with the dome having been constructed from a Saturn V fuel tank!  Probably not a surprise that Dr. von Braun was instrumental in building this planetarium.  The program presented the night we were there was “Radio Astronomy”.   We learned how scientists are using radio astronomy to detect emissions from natural phenomena.  One branch of this science is in the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).  Darn it, we didn’t find any the night we were there. 

                   

We have run into so many friendly people in each state we have visited, but we honestly believe Alabama takes the cake!  We weren’t in the park long before a group of four couples added us to their little clan!  Walks with Janie, playing with Suzie’s boxer puppies, chats with Barb and Tina, and an evening around the campfire with the entire group had us feeling as though we had been friends for more than a few days! 

Who wants a S'more?

On the drive up to Monte Sano, you pass the entrance to Burritt on the Mountain.   In 1936, Dr. Burritt built his mansion on this Mountain of Health.  It makes a lot of sense as Dr. Burritt was a homeopathic physician!  He lived there until his death in 1955, at which time he willed the estate to the city of Huntsville.  The weekend we called this healthy mountain our “home”, Burritt on the Mountain happened to be hosting the “Round Top Folk Festival”.  There, we enjoyed a charcuterie tray while listening to bluegrass music and sipping on hot apple cider with a shot of Jack added to it!  We thoroughly enjoyed touring the historic buildings that have been relocated to this property!  For the festival, local artisans and craftsmen filled these buildings.  We saw a blacksmith forging nails, pottery being thrown, a woodworker making dovetail joints with hand tools, flintknapping, open hearth cooking, leatherwork, jewelry, quilling and…  hang on…. a modern QUILTER!  I completely fell in love with Tiavalya’s art!  Tiavalya can use a photo as inspiration and create quilted wall hangings that look just like the photo!  “Hidden Figures” is a perfect example of her amazing talent!

Azaleas in bloom!

Charcuterie tray and S'mores kit!

Flute maker!  He used the fire to heat tools to burn the holes for the river cane flutes.

There were even games for us to play!

Such talent!

When Huntsville was first settled, it was called Twickenham after a town in England.  That only lasted for one year before anti-British sentiment leading up to the War of 1812 motivated a name change to Huntsville, honoring the first settler, John Hunt.  Today, the original neighborhood has reclaimed its Twickenham identity.  The British have long been forgiven!  We enjoyed spending a morning walking around the historic area taking advantage of a self-guided walking tour Huntsville offers.  The area has a huge number of antebellum homes that are beautifully maintained.  We especially enjoyed stopping at Harrison Brother’s Hardware, which has been in business since 1879!  It’s now a gift shop run by the Historic Huntsville Foundation and contains the original safe and cash register!  I couldn’t resist purchasing a jar of pickled peaches and sharing them with some of the other visitors to the hardware shop!  I’m looking for suggestions on how to use pickled peaches.  We did find they make a tasty salsa for grilled pork chops!

Harrison Brothers Hardware!

We also enjoying walking the “Water Trail” located near the Twickenham neighborhood.  This spring-fed canal was built in 1812 for transporting bales of cotton to the Tennessee River in order to get it to market.

Between the fresh air, making new friends, fun hikes, live music, and new rocket knowledge, we are bound to have left Huntsville with lower stress and stronger lungs and legs!  What a wonderful city!

Next up:  Birmingham, Alabama!