Happy Boxing Day! I KNOW You're Wondering....

Fox hunting is now illegal in the UK, but Boxing Day is still the country's biggest hunting day, with the hounds searching for a "dragged scent" instead of a real animal.

Happy Boxing Day!  I know for Americans, this is the day we get in lines to return gifts, and hit the mobs of shoppers grabbing wrapping paper, Christmas trees and strings of lights at at least 50% of off!  The retail industry has even termed the day "Mega Monday".  For most nations in the Commonwealth of Nations, the day AFTER Christmas is also a holiday: Boxing Day.

Have you ever wondered what exactly Boxing Day is?  Is it a day where everyone watches boxing?

According to Wikipedia, the origins of Boxing Day seem to come from a tradition where wealthier citizens would give gifts -- boxed gifts -- to their servants or other trademen in service to them (such as their cobbler or ice delivery man) on the first weekday AFTER Christmas...this is when servants would usually get an extra day off, also.

Check out the Wiki for more information.

The Santa Train and Zoo Lights!

We had a fun couple days sightseeing and enjoying some of the local holiday traditions.  Dave's finally getting his "travel legs" back after his surgery and on Friday withstood about 4 hours in the car, to and from the Foley, Alabama area.

We live about 1 1/2 hours from the Wales West RV Park...and Tourist Railroad.  Yes, if you can imagine the two businesses coexisting, that's what we have.  It's tucked deep in a rural town in Alabama, east of Mobile....

Okay, an aside here: I'm not sure what you officially call that part of Alabama that's due west of the Florida Panhandle and has the Gulf of Mexico as its southern border.  I always thought of it as a "stem".  I did some cursory research and determined it could be either "South Alabama" or "Lower Alabama".  Wikipedia didn't offer too much help.

...anyway, this RV Park offers Welsh Narrow Gauge train rides on weekends, and in December they had an adorable Santa Train experience.


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