Dauphin Island AL

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Here we are, still in Mobile!  Unfortunately, the boat work is STILL not finished.  Fortunately, we were safely away from any impact from Hurricane Hermine.  We hope to be on our way by mid to late week.

Meanwhile, we have made the best of the situation, playing tourist as much as time permits.  Here we are having dinner at a restaurant across Dog River from our marina.

Twilight view of the entrance to Dog River Marina, below.

Our boat was hauled out of the water two weeks ago as repairs continued.  We rented a car and drove to Pensacola Beach for a day.  Had lunch and took Boka to a dog-friendly beach.  We also toured the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, visiting Fairhope, with it's nice waterfront and quaint shops and restaurants. Dinner at the Wash House in Point Clear topped off a long day.

 
Saturday, August 27, 2016

With another weekend looming and still out of the water (and camped out in a motel), we found a vacation rental on Dauphin Island and moved there for what turned out to be almost a week.

Here we are visiting Fort Gaines that once protected Mobile at the entrance to the bay.

Blacksmith demos three days a week - nicely done!

Dauphin Island is the barrier island closest to Mobile; very interesting to compare to Port Aransas, where we lived for 21 years. 

Sunday, August 28, 2016

The island is densely forested, unlike most of the Gulf barrier islands, which are flat and support only grasses and small shrubs.  This ancient live oak was in Indian Shell Mound Park, a hill created by burial of oyster shells discarded by Indian tribes occupying this area seasonally in the past.

Here's a typical street scene.  Some development but lots of undeveloped and forested land.  Town feels more like Port Aransas in the 1960s - early 1980s, except for the trees.

Woods contain lots of slash pine with live oak, magnolia, yaupon holly and palmetto understory.  Beautiful!  And providing good protection from hurricane winds, we are told.








Here we are walking along a trail in the Audubon Bird Sanctuary.

The city "fishing pier" was left high and dry from sand deposited by Hurricane Katrina.

Boka loves going to the beach so she had ample opportunity here.  Below is a link to a video of her chasing bait fish at the beach.  It's overly
long (I don't know how to edit it - sorry.)  But if you are interested in watching it, watch her stub of a tail - it never stops wagging.