"Life Part 2" or "Our Life Living on the Road": 2013

(Please not that I am way behind on these posts. I really need to discipline myself to do these on a regular basis. Of course I also need discipline to not over eat and enjoy all of the fabulous cuisine that we are finding all across this country. I am a growing boy. Not a good thing.)

Dec. 4th thru the 11th

After the hustle and bustle of New Orleans we really needed some time to unwind and relax, and did we find the perfect place to do that. Dauphin Island State Park on the Gulf of Mexico in AL. It is a barrier island near the mouth of Mobile Bay and historically is the site where Admiral Farragut uttered the famous words, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."

The island itself is about 161 Sq. miles with a population of about 1500 people. Of the 161 sq. miles only 6 are land the rest is water. There are several bird sanctuaries and the largest, adjacent to our campground, is 164 acres. A short walk from the campground is the Estuarium which is also an aquarium, (very nice and educational), Fort Gaines, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and the car ferry that crosses the mouth of Mobile bay which is where Fort Morgan is located.

One of the things we loved about the campground was it was about a minute walk from our trailer to the Gulf of Mexico. Cross through some dunes and there you are. A bonus was you could hear the Gulf waves rolling on the shore from our home. Especially at night. We slept with the windows open and the waves just lulled us to sleep. Another thing we liked was that the majority of the people there were from the Midwest. Kind of like old home week. We put our sign out and people just started dropping by to say hi and the usual 20 questions. What we are discovering is that a lot of the campgrounds/resorts end up having a lot of people from the same part of the country. I'm referring to the seasonal people who are staying there for 6 months. (Where we are at now is mostly Canadians). The gypsy's, like ourselves, are from all over and only stay for 2 days to a week or two at the most. We only stayed a week but we will definitely go back.

Ok time for a few history lessons. For those of you not interested you can just enjoy the pictures. (or not)

Fort Gaines was built in 1821 and was part of the harbor defense during the battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. Here Union Admiral Farragut uttered the famous words "Damn the Torpedoes full speed ahead".

Now I grew up in the 50's and 60's so a lot of the movies I grew up on were war movies. My favorite actor was, of course, "The Duke" John Wayne. To me growing up torpedoes were fired from a submarine, and it never dawned on me that that is not what Farragut was talking about. You may be of the same inclination. (if you're not, just work with me here) Now we all know that subs didn't exist in the 1800's. Well ok one did. The H L Hunley did, but sank twice before it sank its one and only enemy ship, after which it sank for the last time. It didn't fire torpedoes. It was designed to ram ships and had an explosive on a 20' long stick at the front of the sub. What torpedoes were in the Civil War were what we call mines. Floating explosives in the harbor that could have contact fuses or were detonated from the shore via a long wire. So now you know.

The fort was in use through WWII and was updated during the Spanish American War but the only conflict it saw was during the Civil War. It has a working Blacksmith shop, museum, several interior buildings, and cannon from the Civil War. They have guided tours and reenactments from time to time. It is considered one of the most complete and best preserved Civil War era masonry forts. Here are some pictures.

Here are some pictures from the Estuarium and Bird Sanctuary.

The Esturarium had an outdoor nature area that explained how the ecosystem worked in this area.

A tank of Sting Rays.

The trails in the Bird Sanctuary.

The trail moved along the dunes next to the beach.

Our trailer was just on the other side of that tree line. The beach is behind me.

Now some pictures from the ferry and Fort Morgan. A short 35 min. ferry ride from Dolphin Island.

Ft Gaines from the water

The entrance to Ft. Morgan

Tunnels and rooms below the fort walls

Just seeing if your paying attention

The underground armory

This is the restaurant that we walked to for lunch. It was called Tacky Jacks. We missed the ferry going back so had to wait an hour and a half for the next one.