Thursday, August 7, 2014

Dauphin Island Alabama

Today's post is about the area around Mobile Bay. If you're ever  near Mobile Alabama, be sure to take a side trip to see the areas around the Bay. Take a trip down Hwy 1 south from Daphne along the coast. Pack a lunch and enjoy it along the shore at the county park. We took a trip to Dauphin Island and were going to take the ferry back to Gulf Shores, but ran out of time. Maybe next time we are in the area. Anyway, here's some pictures we took while in the area. Enjoy.....




We started out visiting the City of Bayou La Batre, the Seafood Capital of Alabama.

The City was first settled in 1786 by a Spanish Grant. It was officially incorporated in 1955 and was aptly dubbed the Seafood Capital of Alabama due to it being a packaging port for hundreds of fishing boats.


Still in Bayou La Batre, I snapped this picture from the drawbridge. True to it's billing, hundreds of shrimp boats lined the canal waiting for tomorrow's day of fishing.

Bayou La Batre is also known for it's role in the movie industry. Among it's notables is the movie Forrest Gump. Another more recent event was the launching of a pirate ship, The Black Pearl, (Pirates of the Carribean and sequels) which was launched out of their port and much of the movie was filmed in this area.





As we traveled south on Hwy 193, the bridge leading onto Dauphin Island came into view.  This three mile long high rise bridge was opened in July, 1982 after the original draw bridge was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979.















Coming off the bridge, these homes attest to the flooding that occurs in this area. Dauphin Island was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. When the homes were rebuilt, they placed this entire tract on stilts.











Affordable housing ? Fishermen's housing ? 

Interesting as they were, we were not able to find out any information on them. I guess you can never be too tall or too thin....













Dauphin Island touts itself as America's Birdiest Coastal Town because of the large collection of sea birds found along it's borders.















After arriving on the Island, turning west takes you to the West End Beach where for $3 you can spend the entire day on the beach. This beach has some of the best sunsets in Alabama.









Leaving the West End beaches, we traveled to the East end. This is where the ferry operates. There are two ferries in operation.. The ferry costs $16 for car/driver. Each additional passenger is $4.50. The ferry operates between the Island and Fort Morgan near Gulf Shores.



Located directly across from the ferry terminal is Historic Fort Gaines. Built in 1821, it's best noted for it's role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. These cannons are actual cannons used during that conflict. On display at the fort is the anchor from the flagship,  USS Hartford, from which Admiral Farragut gave the famous command, "Damn the torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead !"
The site is considered to be one of the nation's best-preserved Civil War era masonry forts and has been nominated for listing as a National Historic Landmark.

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