Guest Post: Ft. Rucker Army Post

Hi guys!  I am in California for vacation and wanted to have a few guest posts share with you about where they call home at the moment!  If you would like to guest post about your duty station or location, please email me at soldierswifecrazylife (at) gmail (dot) com 

Chantal blogs over at Scattered Seashells.  She is an Army Wife stationed at Ft. Rucker with sweet little baby girl.

I wasn’t so excited to go back to the South. We had been living in Hawaii for two and a half years, and well, what can I complain about? It was the perfect amount of sunny, there were beaches, there was delicious food, and plenty of stuff to do. Though by the time we were supposed to move, we were ready to leave. It was time to go somewhere else.

But the South?

My husband got accepted into flight school shortly after returning from deployment, so we were headed to southern Alabama – Fort Rucker, to be exact. While we were excited over his new career path, our only experience of the South had been Fort Benning, Georgia, and we hadn’t liked it there much. That was all we could think about! Would Alabama be the same?

I changed my views about Alabama (http://cshels.blogspot.com/2012/04/alabama.html) shortly after we arrived. Goodness, it was so different! Sure, it’s still as hot (probably even hotter…) and crazy humid, but I can’t help but love the scenery. It’s so green. We come from Colorado, where it’s brown, so seeing green everywhere is so refreshing.

There isn’t much to do here unless you look. A lot of people head down to Panama City Beach or Destin on the weekend since it’s a nearly two hour drive, but to us, spoiled by the Hawaii beaches, it doesn’t compare! Also, we have a baby, so it makes it a bit more difficult to head down there for the day. However, it’s the place to be for a lot of people.

If you’re not beach goers or don’t want to do the drive, what can you do around the area? There’s Dothan, the biggest city, about thirty minutes away. There you’ll find your chain restaurants and shopping – Target, Kohl’s, Old Navy, etc. Closer to home are three cities bordering the post: Enterprise, Daleville and Ozark. Not much to do except Wal-Mart!

But the area has its charms. There are some local farmer’s markets and farms where you can get some fresh produce. There are events on post for kids. There’s even a lake on post to check out!

We like it here and are even considering coming back at some point. It’s quiet and the people are so friendly. Fort Rucker has definitely changed my views of the South!