2021 quick trips

Our second “quick trip” of 2021 took us to southern Alabama to get warm(er). We camped close to the town of Blakeley that no longer exists (more about that in the next post) and saw some highlights of modern day Spanish Fort and Daphne, 2 cities on the northeast side of Mobile Bay.

Statues out of recycled metal honoring sports great—what a find! We’ll see more later in this post.

Here’s a map to show you where we are for this post. At our next campground, We’ll be further south to explore Fairhope and east to toward Foley.

We’re staying at an historic site that goes back to the Civil War. We’ll show you more about this history in the next post.

The park has over 2000 acres of land and more than 20 miles of trails for walkers, cyclists, and horses.

Campsites in this park were spread out underneath the pine trees. Our biggest challenge here was to keep the sand outside. So different from our red Georgia clay!

Nice weather and a wide open space encouraged us to get a couple of workouts in. This picture also shows you how “open” this campground is.

So Blakeley is no longer a town, buy why does a city in the South have the name “Spanish Fort”? We wondered too so started doing some reading. Interesting story.

The beginnings of what became known as Spanish Fort dates back to 1712 when the French founded Mobile. It was the site of one of the trading posts that French-occupied Mobile had established. Following the war between the French and English (1754–1763), known in America as the French and Indian War, a large area on the Gulf Coast, including the trading post, was ceded in 1763 to the British.

During our Revolutionary War after the Spanish took Mobile and surrounding areas, a presidio or military fort was built on the site of the old trading post. This “Spanish Fort” was the site of a counterattack by British forces from Spanish-held Pensacola in 1781. The British were driven back and were never able to recapture the area. Following our War of 1812 with the English, Spanish Fort, as it was now commonly referred to, officially became property of the United States.

sculptures in Spanish Fort

When we looked up what to do in Spanish Fort (the closest town to where we were staying), we read about the largest paperclip ever, so of course we had to find it.

Then we wanted to know “why,” “who,” and “any more”? Here’s what we found. Barry Booth, a local dentist, has given 10 amazing statues to the state. We found a couple of them in Spanish Fort.

But back to the paperclip, Dr. Booth said he designed the painted, carbon steel sculpture as a way to commemorate the incorporation of the town in 1993. The sculpture was fabricated by artist Casey Downing Jr. It is located on Spanish Fort Boulevard/U.S. Highway 31 at Old Spanish Trail/U.S. Highway 98—right next to his dental office and another sculpture that’s in the next picture.

This giant dental pick and mirror statue was to honor the faculty and staff of the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. The 16-foot-long by 8-foot-high stainless-steel sculpture called “Piknmera” is adjacent to Booth’s dental office in Spanish Fort.

Close by is a large yellow ribbon, but we couldn’t find who was responsible for it or what it honors.

We’re guessing it’s to honor the soldiers who made it home after serving our country.

Across the street was a coffee shop that had really good coffee, and it was warm enough outside that we could sit on the patio. A slice of heaven for me.

alligators in Daphne

South of Spanish Fort is the city of Daphne on the east side of Mobile Bay. If you ever watched Hart of Dixie, it supposedly took place just south of here, but I never found anywhere that looked like the movie set.

We just read a blog post on the 10 best places for seniors to retire, and Daphne was on the list.

Our draw to Daphne was this Gator Boardwalk.

The state of Alabama is actually a watershed for 5 major rivers as they flow to the Gulf of Mexico.

Waterways from over 65% of the state of Alabama and parts of Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee flow into Mobile Bay through the Delta at the north end of the bay and meet the saltwater pushed in by tides and wind from the Gulf of Mexico.

Mobile Bay Watershed is the 6th largest in area and the 4th largest by freshwater flow volume in the continental U.S. The saline levels or “saltiness” of the water varies constantly because of changing weather conditions and the shallowness of the bay itself.

The 5 major rivers that flow into the bay are the Mobile, Spanish, Tensaw, Apalachee, and Blakeley.

the bay’s length is 32 miles, depth is 10 feet (except for where it’s been dredged for large ships), widest point is 23 miles, and width at Mobile is 10 miles

And where there’s freshwater, there are alligators!

alligator stats:

male size: 13-14 feet, female size: 10 feet
length: each inch in length from front of eye to nostrils = 1 foot of body length
life span in the wild: 35-50 years; only 2 out of 10 gators live to maturity (80% mortality)
body: protected by hard bony body plates called scutes
tail: usually half the length of the body and used to propel it through the water
jaws: 80 total teeth
breathing: can stay underwater for 45-60 minutes
diet: birds, fish, small mammals, turtles, and snakes
feeding times: usually at night; summer can eat 20 lbs. of meat a week, winter can go weeks without food

sexual maturity is 10-12 years of age; mating season is in early May; lay 30-70 eggs at a time in late June to early July; incubation is 65 days

The American alligator lives in fresh and brackish waters from the East Coast of North Carolina to the coast of Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. This area includes all of Louisiana and Florida! No feeding, harassing, or capturing gators. And don’t swim where they like to be, especially at dusk or in the evening. With all of this information we should be safe.

a rocky waterfall in the gator territory

And this is where they like to hang out when it’s warmer.

lunch outside of Daphne

We decided to have lunch out one of the days we were exploring and read about Felix’s Fish Camp just outside of Daphne going to Mobile. The reviews sounded good.

Kind of a funky looking place, but the parking lot was full. Good sign.

We decided to try the Crawdaddy Paddy appetizer. If I had known it was going to be so good, I would have taken the picture before taking a bite. Everything was so good!

Abi did a good job of taking care of us while eating. We actually sat in the bar because the dining room had a 20-minute wait for lunch—on a weekday. That tells you how good the restaurant is.

All of Alabama’s important places and people in the shape of the state.

On our last night in the area, we found out that our our daughter-in-law from California, Peggy, was going to be flying into Mobile with her sister, since Paula and her family were going to relocate here. So we met them at Felix’s for a delicious dinner. Yes, we had the Crawdaddy Paddy again. Can’t believe we forgot to take a picture of the 4 of us!

Buc-ee’s

A couple of years ago on our Gulf Coast swing traveling west, we were told to stop at Buc-ee’s for the experience of a lifetime. We stopped, and it was an experience; so we stopped again on this trip.

First view is of the 100 gas pumps outside.

We were impressed with these steel firewood holders lined up outside.

Then inside is every type of food you’d want and every variety of food. The beef jerky option covers a whole wall.

Pretty good salaries and benefits, and the employees seem to appreciate it since they were all so friendly and helpful.

crawfish supplies

You know you’re along the Gulf Coast when you see supplies for catching and cooking crawfish in the local Lowe’s.

sports academy in Daphne

Have you ever heard of the U.S. Sports Academy in Alabama? We hadn’t

It is a private university focusing on sports, offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs, as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its sports programs to more than 60 countries around the world.

Its emphasis isn’t on the players but rather on those who help make sports work. For example, its bachelor degrees are in sports management, coaching, and strength & conditioning. Master degrees add the disciplines of exercise science and recreation management. Doctoral degree is in sports management.

On the grounds of the academy are metal statues by artist Bruce Larson that he made out of recycled parts.