After spending 6 hours cleaning off the river grunge from the boat on 11-11, it was time to see the town. We are staying at Dog River Marina but it is only a dinghy ride over to Grand Mariner Marina to their restaurant which serves pretty good seafood.
Here’s a picture of the shrimp boat which provided the fare for the Shrimp Boil at Dog River Marina on 11-12. Lots of Loopers were here for the feast. It was fun to meet up again and share stories of our adventures. Many Loopers are leaving their boats here for 1-2 months to return home for the holiday but we “homeless” Loopers will stay on.
Bellingrath Gardens and Home is a definite must for your tour of the Mobile area. It is located about 20 minutes from the marina and is doable in the marina courtesy car. The Bellingraths’ built their exquisite antique-filled home in 1935 and surrounded it with acres of gardens, lakes and lighted trails. They made their fortune by bottling Coca Cola in this area—Mobile must drink a lot of Coke!
We had a rental car for 2 days and toured Battleship Memorial Park which houses the “USS Alabama”, the submarine, “USS Drum” and an aircraft pavilion of vintage planes. Allow 6 hours for all of this but it is only fair as Bob had to do all the garden and plantation tours with me. However, the Admiral did use the opportunity to put Captain Bob in the brig. We made a full day of it by going into Mobile, taking their trolley bus around the city, touring the replica of the French fort at Fort Conte which contrasts with modern Mobile, going to the top of the Holiday Inn for a dramatic view of the harbor at night, and eating at Wintzell’s Oyster House where they proudly serve oysters—“fried, stewed or nude.”
We took the rental car for a 2nd day to get down to Dauphin Island and see the beach. It was great to finally smell the salt air and feel the warm sand in our toes. We toured the Estuarium which highlights the special relationship amongst the barrier islands, Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Civil War Trail continues here and you can tour Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. We took the ferry across Mobile Bay to Mobile Point and continued on the peninsula stopping to hike along various trails and birding areas along the way to Gulf State Park. We probably will not get to Fairhope by boat as the wind and seas are high but we did tour this charming shop-filled town by car.
Here’s a picture of the shrimp boat which provided the fare for the Shrimp Boil at Dog River Marina on 11-12. Lots of Loopers were here for the feast. It was fun to meet up again and share stories of our adventures. Many Loopers are leaving their boats here for 1-2 months to return home for the holiday but we “homeless” Loopers will stay on.
Bellingrath Gardens and Home is a definite must for your tour of the Mobile area. It is located about 20 minutes from the marina and is doable in the marina courtesy car. The Bellingraths’ built their exquisite antique-filled home in 1935 and surrounded it with acres of gardens, lakes and lighted trails. They made their fortune by bottling Coca Cola in this area—Mobile must drink a lot of Coke!
We had a rental car for 2 days and toured Battleship Memorial Park which houses the “USS Alabama”, the submarine, “USS Drum” and an aircraft pavilion of vintage planes. Allow 6 hours for all of this but it is only fair as Bob had to do all the garden and plantation tours with me. However, the Admiral did use the opportunity to put Captain Bob in the brig. We made a full day of it by going into Mobile, taking their trolley bus around the city, touring the replica of the French fort at Fort Conte which contrasts with modern Mobile, going to the top of the Holiday Inn for a dramatic view of the harbor at night, and eating at Wintzell’s Oyster House where they proudly serve oysters—“fried, stewed or nude.”
We took the rental car for a 2nd day to get down to Dauphin Island and see the beach. It was great to finally smell the salt air and feel the warm sand in our toes. We toured the Estuarium which highlights the special relationship amongst the barrier islands, Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Civil War Trail continues here and you can tour Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. We took the ferry across Mobile Bay to Mobile Point and continued on the peninsula stopping to hike along various trails and birding areas along the way to Gulf State Park. We probably will not get to Fairhope by boat as the wind and seas are high but we did tour this charming shop-filled town by car.
