Fort Morgan

We spent an afternoon touring historic Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores, AL, approximately 40 minutes from Orange Beach.

Fort Morgan is a historic masonry fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay, AL.  The sands of Fort Morgan State Historic Site have witnessed sieges during the War of 1812 and the Civil War and also served as a coast defense post in the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII.

On the grounds outside the fort:

John likes cannons

Oh boy! A flag!
 

Entrance to the Fort



Faces in the wall?

Steps had 12" risers!

The Fort's Acequia

All of the rooms and hallways were built with arched ceilings and doors for strength.

 

 

Many rooms had algae and mineral deposits on the walls and ceilings due to water seeping down through the masonry. Some rooms even had stalactites!

Many hallways led to pitch black rooms.

 

Biking Around Orange Beach

Orange Beach has seven trails totaling more than 14 miles of paved paths. We biked 10 miles on the Gulf Oak Ridge path and look forward to biking the other six trails while we're here.  Here are some memories from our first ride.

Resting spot along the trail

Moss-draped trees on the trail

Taking a little break

Gator viewing deck--didn't see one!

For dinner that day we decided to go out to eat seafood.  We chose a place that was having all you can eat steamed shrimp.  It was delicious!

First plate all gone!

 

2nd serving of shrimp!  Mmmm!

Orange Beach, We Have Arrived!

We arrived at Pandion Ridge RV park around 2:30 pm.  It's only a couple of months old so the club house and laundry rooms still have that fresh paint smell.  There are 2 trees to each site but because they're still small there's not much shade. That's ok for now because the daytime temperatures are supposed to average in the 60's so some sunshine will feel nice.   The sites are large, paved, and level.  The park is within walking distance to The Wharf, a shopping and entertainment complex, and to biking trailheads.  These will help keep us busy while we're here.  It was almost dark by the time we got settled so we did most of our walking around the park in the morning.

The clubhouse is very nice.  It has a large meeting room, kitchen, gym, business center, pool, hot tub, and fire ring.

There is also a pond with a paddleboat and there are a lot of planned activities for snowbirds.

These signs are posted all around the property:

The management said 1 alligator was found when the RV park was being built.  Every morning the maintenance man walks around the pond looking for slide marks that alligators leave when they enter the water.  He has not found signs of alligators. I'd like to see an alligator but not up close!

We also took some time to visit The Wharf.  It has condos, lots of shops and restaurants, a movie theater complex, a large ferris wheel, and a concert venue.  Definitely going back to do some shopping!

On the Road Again!

Goodbye San Antonio!

We left San Antonio for Orange Beach, Alabama on Saturday, January 21.  Fortunately we were behind the bad storms that spawned deadly tornados in Mississippi.  We had beautiful sunny weather the whole trip.

Driving through Houston we noticed many flags.  You know I like flags! Here's a small sampling of some of the flags we saw.

After driving what seemed like hours and hours, we finally made it to Louisiana!  We saw a lot of marshes and water in Louisiana.

Crossing Lake Charles

We stayed overnight at a KOA in Lafayette.  It's a really pretty park with lots of trees and a small lake. 

Settling in for the night

Next door to the park is Billy's which sells homemade boudin (boo-dan) and cracklins.  Didn't know what that was but had to have some!  Found out that boudin is a white pork sausage made with spicy seasonings and rice.  It is sold as sausage links and as boudin balls which are breaded fried balls of the sausage.  Cracklins are pork skin cut into cubes and fried.  They are similar to packaged pork rinds (which I like) but they're thicker and greasier.  Everything was spicy and delicious!

 

On the 2nd day we drove on a long bridge for about 25 minutes as we crossed the Atchafalaya Basin.  Parts of it looked like river and parts were swamp. 

We drove a short distance across Mississippi...

Then we were in Alabama--home for the next month!

We drove through Mobile, which is about 60 miles from Orange Beach.  We plan on spending a day exploring it.

Drove through a tunnel

We drove by the USS Alabama docked in Mobile Bay.

Mobile Bay

USS Alabama

Who remembers these grocery stores and the S&H green stamps we saved in books to redeem for merchandise?

Just a few miles from RV park we drove next to Portage Creek, an inland waterway that runs from Boston, MA to Brownsville, TX.  Tugboats and barges are used to transport goods on the waterway.

Next stop the RV park!