The Beautiful Gulf Shores Beaches!

Gulf Shores State Park in Alabama is pretty top notch in our books!  You’ve got full hook-ups, sites are nicely placed with room in between.  There are lots of bike and hike trails and you’re very close to the beaches.  We got settled in next door to Donna and Greg.  There’s a lot of traffic in this area so if you think you’re only traveling 15 miles, be aware it’s going to take you at least 30 minutes or more.  You can't walk to the beach from the campground, but the park has various spots on the beach you drive to, park and walk to the beach.

Ron and I started the week off slow, still giving my ankle a little rest, and he had to take the Jeep in to get the ABS sensor replaced. But on Tuesday we headed over to Pensacola to the Naval Base to see the Blue Angels practice!  How awesome!  The traffic getting there was horrible, and there were a lot of people, but WOW!  This was fun! 

 

It took a couple of hours to get here, only 20 miles from where we were.

A very large crowd!

After the air show we planned on going through the National Naval Aviation Museum, but they started limiting people getting in due to the large crowd.  We opted to just leave and come back another day.  We stopped at Big Lagoon State Park in Florida.  Wish I was up to hiking the trails.  But we met some local folks who told us where to eat dinner and how to get to the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Rosamond Johnson Beach.  It was beautiful here, and not too crowded.  One side of this hidden gem faces the Gulf of Mexico, while the other side is on the Big Lagoon.  We decided we needed to come back and spend a beach day here.  Our day ended with an early dinner at the Shrimp Basket.  It was great!

Saluting the pilots as they land!

The commander's plane

Two tourists, aka Ron and Mary

Big Lagoon State Park near Pensacola, Florida and Alabama border.

Nice beach and not crowded.

Well, I had to order a shrimp basket from The Shrimp Basket!  Delicious!

The next day we drove with our friends, using the ferry, to Dauphin Island where we toured Ft. Gaines.  Dauphin Island is located at the entrance to Mobile Bay.  Originally the island was named “Massacre” Island, but in 1707 the French renamed it to honor the heir to the French throne:  “Dauphine”.  During this period the island was capitol of the Louisiana Territory which equaled almost two thirds of the United States!  Over the next century the island  switched from France to Great Britain and to Spain in 1780.  In 1813 the US seized the territory around Mobile Bay.  In 1853 the army finally gained full title to the land. A new fort was designed and named for General Edmund Pendleton Gaines who died in 1849.  With the outbreak of the Civil War, the remainder of the building work was left to the Confederate States of America.  The Battle of Mobile Bay, one of the war’s most notable naval conflicts, happened here.  The fort also served in WW1 with a Coastal Artillery unit garrison manning the disappearing guns.  It also became an anti-aircraft gunnery school during and following the war.  WWII saw it used as a camp site for the Alabama National Guard and a base for the US Coast Guard.  In 1926 the US sold Fort Gaines to the City of Mobile.

 

Hurricane Georges washed this shipwreck up in 1998. They aren't sure of the story that surrounds it.

Looking into Mobile Bay

A little re-enactment happening. Just don't be underground and not know that a cannon is about to fire!  Geez!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the beach that evening!

The next day we decided to drive back to the Naval Base and tour the Naval Museum. But first, we put on our swim suits and headed to Johnson Beach on the National Seashore.  We enjoyed a couple of hours in the shade of our umbrella watching the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.   We also stopped at the Pensacola Lighthouse which is also located on the base.  And Ft. Barrancas which is where the National Park Service has their Visitor Center.  Unfortunately we didn’t plan well enough because they lock the fort at 4 and we arrived at 3:30.  This for was built during the mid-1800’s. The US Navy selected Pensacola Bay to become the site of its main navy yard on the Gulf Coast.  In order to protect the yard, the US Army built permanent coastal fortifications.  It was built over the remains of a 1798 Spanish Fort.   And guess what!  We ended our day back for dinner at the Shrimp Basket again.

 

Perfect spot on the beach!  Just beautiful here!

I thought this was a cool story!

Lady Jessie

Japanese plane

Don't know if you can read it, but there's a personalized inscription in Japanese on it.

Richard Nixon sitting in Marine One

They had a little bit of everything in here!

Friday morning we said good-bye to Donna and Greg as we are leaving, heading north through Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky before getting to North Carolina.  Stay tuned for those adventures!