Dog River Marina was our home for one night in Mobile. The marina was more of a working boat yard rather than the resort style marina I was expecting. This would have been an excellent choice for any repair work which we were thankful we didn't need. We dinghied across the river to a seafood restaurant for dinner.
Always watching the weather and especially the wind, we moved east to Fairhope, Alabama for the next night. Eastern Shore Marina was an unexpected bargain. After checking in we used their courtesy car to check out the local area and re-provision at the grocery store. While there the local harbor host provided us with a friendly and very informative briefing about our travels east and eventually the gulf crossing.
With a forecast for high wind, we only stayed one night in Fairhope. We felt a bit cheap and embarrassed since the first night was free. I think they need to reconsider that policy; it is too generous. However the forecast was for high winds and we needed to move on as we would be traveling through some open areas on our way east.
On the way to The Wharf Marina near Orange Beach, Alabama, we stopped for lunch at Lulu's Restaurant. Lulu is Jimmy Buffet's sister and has quite a nice place with fun atmosphere.. She is cashing in on her brothers popularity - lucky her! We enjoyed our stop and food there.
We enjoyed The Wharf Marina for four nights with high wind warning preventing our further travels east. This area was very quiet during our visit but is quite a popular attraction in the summer. They have several restaurants, a large theater, Ferris wheel, etc. Halloween was a large celebration. We enjoyed dinner at Toby Keith's I love this Bar and Grill Restaurant where they had a Halloween costume contest. The five pregnant nuns should have won but were beat out by some locals. Trunk or Treat was new to us but popular in the south.
Frank, from Double Time invited Mark and I to join him for a day at the Navel Air Museum in Pensacola by car. It was very interesting and well done as the pictures below will show.
Fairhope's claim to fame is this clock made of flowers.
After taking the picture above I realized that I drove off with my sunglasses
still on top of the car. Another "Mertz luck" as they stayed on the car and didn't fall onto the road and get driven over by another vehicle.
An appropriate sign for this store in Fairhope.
This is some smooth water for boating.
It's hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins here in Mobile Bay.
We had two gold loopers following us.
Lucy B Goode at Lulu's
More of Lulu's
Sunrise or sunset - it doesn't matter!
Both are beautiful.
The Ferris wheel at the Wharf Marina
Main street at the Wharf Marina
Nicely lit at night.
Below are all displays at the Naval Air Museum.
Almost all of the planes are real, not models.
It must have been a trick getting all these planes in here.
This plane was on display but actually still in use also.
Mark and Frank are standing alongside a propeller from and aircraft carrier.
Many people parked in the main street, decorated their cars
and handed out Halloween candy from their trunk - hence the name"trunk or treat".
Even some of the stores got into the theme.
There must be thirty or forty cars participating.This view is from the ferris wheel.
Don't you think the five pregnant nuns should have won the costume contest?
There weren't any other costumes that came close.
Win or lose they had a lot of fun.
Navigator sure looks small here next to the big boys.
Another beautiful sunset.
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