Thursday morning we drove out to Fort Morgan, about 25 miles West of Orange Beach. It’s situated where Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico meet. The fort was completed in 1834 and served the Confederacy during the Civil War until it surrendered in 1864. The fort was occupied again for the Spanish-American War, and for the next 25 years. It was active again as an ordnance depot during WWII, and was deeded over to the state of Alabama in 1947 to use as a historical park. It’s in rough shape but it looks like it was pretty impressive back in the day! The architecture of the pentagon-shaped fort is really interesting.

There’s a pier nearby that we walked along and captured a couple photos…

From there, we stopped at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge and walked one of their trails. We didn’t actually see any wildlife, apparently they were all away for the day, but the foliage along the trail was beautiful and we enjoyed the scenery!

Next stop was another section of Gulf State Park (where we rode our bikes the day before), near the water. Again, the dunes of white sand were beautiful! It could almost be mistaken for snow, it’s so white!

Friday was a little rainy, so it was the perfect chance to tackle our latest RV project…adding backsplash around the bathroom sink. We had found the perfect peel-and-stick tile on Amazon and ordered it a few weeks ago, figuring we’d be able to get it installed during this trip. It was more than a little frustrating at times…the stuff has to be pretty sticky to stay on the wall, but that makes it really challenging to work with, since it sticks to itself and anything else that gets in its way! It definitely got easier as we went, though, since we figured out some tricks. I just love the finished product – adds just the right amount of color to the bathroom to break up all the ‘griege’ (gray-beige).

Each day, as I’ve walked around the campground, I’ve noticed that the vast majority of license plates are from the Midwest – Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio…so obviously this is a popular snowbird destination for Midwesterners. The area has the nickname “Redneck Riviera”. LOL!

On Saturday, we drove North to Mobile, Alabama. Fun fact, Mobile is where Mardi Gras originated in the US, back in 1703 when Mobile was a French Colony. There are several “mystic societies” in Mobile, each of which has its own King & Queen, and ball in November/December, and there are more than 50 parades in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. We visited the Mobile Carnival Museum which is all about the history of Mardi Gras in Mobile. I was blown away by the beautiful gowns and trains worn by the various Queens over the years – they are truly pieces of art. The work that goes into each of these is impressive, and of course, they are vibrant and colorful. There are some floats on display, as well, and it was interesting to see the sketches/concepts side-by-side with photos of the finished float. There’s a massive industry in Mobile dedicated to floats, gowns, trains, balls, etc…more than 12,000 jobs are tied directly to Mardi Gras.

Check out a video of the “hall of trains”….

From there, we headed over to the Conde-Charlotte Museum. It was the city’s first jail and courthouse, and was later a single-family home. Now, it’s a museum full of antiques and furnishings which represent Mobile’s history under five different flags – French, English, Spanish, Confederate, and American. We had an interesting tour of the home and a wonderful history lesson about Mobile!

Sunday was a quiet day…not much to report! So enjoy this photo of our campsite here in Orange Beach…

On Monday, we drove back towards Pensacola, to Big Lagoon State Park in FL; we didn’t have time to stop there last week, and it was another beautiful day, so perfect opportunity for a visit. They have a nice observation tower that offers a 360-degree view of the lagoon, Gulf, and the park.

We routed our return trip to go past a couple of kitschy roadside attractions here in southern Alabama…first stop, Bamahenge, a partial replica of Stonehenge. It is full-scale (those fiberglass ‘stones’ are 21-feet tall!) and has the same astrological alignment. The owner of a nearby marina commissioned this, and apparently the artist has also created “Foamhenge” out of Styrofoam; it’s in Virginia. See if you can tell the difference between the real Stonehenge (from our visit there in 2016) and Bamahenge…

Just down the road are the “Dinosaurs in the Woods”, done by the same artist for the marina owner. There are four in total, scattered through a wooded area. Apparently, the artist wasn’t really interested in doing this, so he quoted a ridiculously high price, but the marina owner was willing to pay it…so we have dinosaurs!

And we finished the day with a mundane trip to the grocery store…ho hum.

We spent Tuesday in Fairhope, AL, about 45 minutes North of our campground. It was founded in 1894 and has become a popular resort town and affluent suburb of Mobile. The town is really beautiful, with a wide variety of architectural styles, and flowers everywhere! Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths…spring was in the air! We enjoyed lunch at a café with yummy food and an eclectic décor, and then wandered in a few of the shops.

We walked through their history museum to learn more about the area, and then drove to a few photo-worthy sites around town. This interesting house was built by Henry Stuart, who contracted Tuberculosis and was advised to move to a warm climate. The floor is 24″ below grade which helped keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The house is 14′ in diameter and the ‘beehive’ roof makes it feel very spacious inside! Today, it is surrounded by an office park and parking lot.

Fairhope is home to three “storybook” castles built by a very creative family. Portions of these homes are rented out on AirBnB…unique, to say the least!

We finished up with a walk on their municipal pier; interestingly, it was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – so clearly the city, which lies on Mobile Bay, is susceptible to hurricanes…two years in a row is brutal. Overall, a fun day in a charming southern town!

We finished out the day with some laundry (love the laundry rooms at our campground – they take credit cards instead of quarters! And they couldn’t be any more convenient!) and a much-needed bath for RoVer Too.

Today is our last day in Alabama and we’re spending it at the campground, relaxing and enjoying the mid-60-degree temperatures and clear blue skies. We toured another area of Gulf State Park on our e-bikes, too.

We’re at the midpoint of our trip today; three weeks down, three more to go. It’s been a fun tour of “Sweet Home Alabama” – we’ve definitely seen a lot of the state, and it’s one that neither of us had ever been to before.

A few overall thoughts about The Cotton State

• There are far more pine trees here than I ever would have imagined so far south. And there are pine cones everywhere! While there are palm trees, they don’t seem to be native – many appear to have been brought in for decorative landscaping.
• It’s a state full of interesting and important history, especially related to the Civil Rights Movement.
• It’s clearly a very poor state (one of the poorest in the country) – we saw so many run-down houses and depressed neighborhoods in our travels.  Quite the contrast to our time in Fairhope.

Tomorrow we’re off to Louisiana!