Picture 32 miles of sugar-white sand beaches, oatgrass covered sand dunes, and sparkling blue-green water. Get a whiff of the pungent aromas of shrimp creole and gumbo from beachside restaurants. Listen to the whistle signals of tugboats on the Intracoastal Waterway, the cacophony of gulls following a fishing boat, waves lapping at the beach. This is Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

Settle into one of Gulf State Park’s 468 campsites, nestled in the pine/oak woodlands within walking distance of Gulf Shores’ beaches, for a convenient base camp from which to explore the historical, ecological, and outdoor activities of the Gulf Coast.

Watch for wildlife, especially alligators and armadillos. Alligators make their home in brackish bays and inlets, inland waterways, bayous, and freshwater lakes, though you may not see them swimming or sunning within feet of your campsite. Alligators are shy, have a well-deserved fear of man, and prefer to do their socializing away from the eyes of gawking tourists.

Locals swear that an errant gene in the armadillo gives it suicidal tendencies. Proof is in the far too prevalent road kill. So drive defensively, slow down, and don’t try to straddle one that happens to be crossing the road in front of you. They will leap vertically into the undercarriage, accomplishing what you tried to avoid. The best time to spot armadillos is along a wooded trail at dawn or dusk. Look for them digging up roots of plants or scuffling in the duff of the forest.

From the island town of Orange Beach, homeport to one of the Gulf’s largest charter fishing fleets, locally savvy licensed skippers will lead you to whatever you want as long as it swims. Miles of inland waterways provide the freshwater angler with abundant fishing holes.

The Gulf Coast’s mild year round climate has sparked the popularity of golf. Thirteen championship courses, including three designed by Arnold Palmer, offer the golfer a variety of challenges—bending fairways, uphill greens, and lots of bunkers, dunes, and lakes. The natural beauty and tranquillity of greens lined with old live oaks and expansive fairways along sandy dunes make Gulf golfing a memorable experience.

Perched at the entrance to Mobile Bay, Fort Morgan, completed in 1834, served as Mobile Bay’s first line of defense. The massive brick structure saw service in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II.

The flatness of the coast invites walking and bicycling. Gulf Shores has taken the guesswork out of finding your way around with their Bikeway and Sidewalk Map detailing miles of paved paths free of vehicular traffic.

The cooperative efforts of several government agencies have resulted in the new Alabama Coastal Birding Trail booklet, an indispensable guide for birders of every skill level. Organized in a series of loops, the booklet describes Alabama’s best birding areas, what to expect on each loop, and covers the entire Mobile Bay area.

If you can tear yourself away from this semi-tropical paradise, head up scenic US 98 for a visit to the Azalea City--Mobile. On the way, the 150 store Factory Outlet Mall in Foley is a shoppers’ magnet. For a touch of nature, just across the Fish River bridge stop at Weeks Bay, Alabama’s only Natural Estuarine Research Reserve. The interpretive center will provide maps and information on the various nature trails, handicapped accessible boardwalk, native pitcher plant bog, hummingbird and butterfly gardens, and a bird list.

At postcard picturesque Fairhope take note of the immaculately painted and landscaped homes, the quaint downtown boutiques and restaurants with hanging flowers and flower boxes, and an award winning rose garden setting off the pier and harbor area.

Mobile

The first European settlement in Mobile, a French colony established in 1711, served as the capital of French Louisiana until 1719. In succeeding years various flags went up and down the flagpole as the territory first passed to the British, then the Spanish. The United States captured the city during the War of 1812 but the Confederacy controlled the city until the Federals regained the advantage at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Mobile made the best of its multi-cultural past and blossomed into a Southern French Grand Dame of character, known for Mardi Gras, old houses with elaborate wrought-iron work, and lush gardens and fountains.

Explore Mobile, just 15 minutes south via US 65, from Chickasabogue Park, campground, and wildlife refuge. The park, created to provide outdoor activities in a natural setting while protecting and preserving the plants and wildlife, provides 11 miles of woodland trails on its 1100 acres, canoe rentals on Chickasaw Creek, swimming, fishing, full hook-ups in natural settings, and a Good Sam discount.

Start your tour of Mobile at the Ft. Conde Welcome Center, the partially reconstructed fort built by the French in 1711. After loading up on brochures and maps, stop for lunch at Roussous next door and try their superb gumbo. The restaurant, housed in an old carriage house built in 1880, has long been a favorite of captains from globe-circling ships whose life rings now decorate the walls.

Alabama’s number one tourist attraction, the USS Alabama dominates the view from Battleship Park. The famed battleship, awarded seven battle stars for meritorious service in WWII, shares the limelight with the submarine USS Drum and 22 fighter aircraft that draw WWII fans from far and wide. Tours show what life was like where 2500 men lived and worked for months at a time on an 831 foot ship. Even more intriguing is how 65 crew and seven officers survived with their sanity on a 311-foot submarine with no windows, no basketball court, no video game arcade, and no enlisted personnel of the female persuasion. Wannabe fighter pilots can try the flight simulator for an extra charge.

One of the first things a native Mobilian will set you straight about is that Mardis Gras began in Mobile—not in New Orleans. The medieval Christian tradition of feasting prior to the deprivations of Lent has also been called Carnival and Fat Tuesday, which in French translates to Mardi Gras, and began in Mobile shortly after the French settled in 1702. It was members of Mobile’s most prominent mystic society that traveled to New Orleans in 1857 to assist in setting up a similar society, and New Orleans Mardi Gras was born.

One striking feature of Mardi Gras, other than the parades, festivities, parties, and dances, are the King and Queen’s hand made, intricately designed and lavishly decorated costumes with long trains trailing behind them. Worn only during this one Mardi Gras, they can take a year to make and cost "between $25,000 and $75,000" according to Mavis, the tour docent at Bellingrath Gardens where some of the gowns are on display. Others can be seen at the Oakleigh House, and the Museum of Mobile.

Mobile’s Mardi Gras begins in late February and lasts until the day before Ash Wednesday in March and has only PG rated parades and celebrations, unlike the more risqué atmosphere of New Orleans’ carnival.

A journey to Mobile would not be complete without a drive or bike-ride out Government Street. Giant oak trees, some planted almost 300 years ago, festooned with hanging garlands of Spanish Moss, form a canopy over the street. Mansion homes line both sides of the street in the shade of the grand old oaks. A few of these homes, such as the Bragg Mitchell mansion, Richards-DAR house, Conde-Charlotte home, and The Oakleigh House have been preserved as museums and offer tours.

Oddly in the Oakleigh House, the lower level where the family took their meals was not accessible by an inside stairway from the main living and sleeping rooms on the second floor, presumably to take advantage of a taxation loophole. A separate building housed the kitchen, separated from the main house to protect it from fire, common in kitchens at the time. The servants (it took eleven to run the house) who carried the food to the main house’s warming kitchen from which they served the family were required to whistle while in transit assuring the master that they were not sampling the meals.

At the head of Mobile Bay, the Tensaw Delta, largest inland delta in the United States, extends over 200,000 acres to the north with miles of bayous, swamps, sloughs, rivers, and brackish tidelands in an impossible inter-connected network of waterways.

Here you will find Gene Burrell, a Coast Guard licensed Master Captain and operator of Wildland Expeditions. The minute he steps aboard Gator Bait, a boat he built himself, white ponytail covered by a safari hat, wearing an alligator T-shirt, you know he is at home. As a naturalist, herpetologist, environmentalist, conservationist, and guide his stories and anecdotes teach a nature lesson on the 2 to 2 ½ hour tours into the maze of waterways he loves so much.

"The bottom of the food chain, those creatures living in the primordial ooze of the tidal mudflats, are food for the crabs, shorebirds, and small fish that prowl the rises and falls in the tidal zone," Gene explains. "The small fish and crabs are in turn eaten by larger critters and so on until man, at the top of the chain, strolls into the local fish market and nonchalantly orders a bucket of shrimp and a couple swordfish steaks."

Spring is one of the best times to take Gene’s tour. The alligators are mating and the birds are migrating. "I can almost guarantee that you will see an alligator," says Gene.

Son Tony, a triathlete, naturalist, and actor (he appeared in the movie GI Jane with Demi Moore) shares the billing with his dad. Both of them declare they have the best jobs in the world. "You never know what you will see on a trip into the backwater," declares Tony.

Bellingrath Gardens is the diamond in Mobile’s tiara. Considered to be one of the three top gardens in the south, Bellingrath’s plantings take advantage of Mobile’s mild semi-tropical climate. You can find a profusion of colorful blooms at any time of the year. Spring’s tulips, daffodils, roses, and 250,000 azaleas explode in a color extravaganza.

Tour the home of Walter Bellingrath, the first Coca-Cola bottler in the Mobile area and marvel at his wife Bessie’s collections that fill the house: Chippendale Furniture, hand carved rosewood pieces, Waterford and Baccarat chandeliers, Dresden porcelains, fine china, silver, crystal and cut glass and the largest collection of Boehm porcelains in the world.

The Southern Belle riverboat takes visitors for a leisurely cruise down the "River of Birds," and a boardwalk traverses the lowland tidal flats for up close views of birds, fish, and wildlife.

As a fitting finale to your tour of Mobile Bay, cross the three-mile long bridge to Dauphin Island, a designated bird sanctuary and barrier island across the Bay from Fort Morgan. Along with Fort Gaines on the eastern end of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay stood well protected from French, Spanish, and whatever other invaders had designs on the deepwater port of Mobile. The only major attack on Fort Gaines occurred during our own civil war.

Federalist Admiral David Farragut attacked Fort Gaines where he bellowed the famous battle cry, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" and promptly lost several ships and hundreds of men to Confederate guns.

A lot quieter now, highlights of Fort Gaines include special event weekends (especially the civil war re-enactment the third weekend in May), living history demonstrations, museum, and a self-guided tour where you can see the actual cannons used in the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Fort Gaines campground’s 150 full service campsites will fit all rigs. Plan to spend several days on this many faceted island. A short walk to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary will award you with some of the best birding on the Gulf Coast. The aquarium at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab & Estuarium lets you see sea life up close while the interpretive salt marsh boardwalk and Mr. Sand Trail familiarize you with the natural island habitat. Explore the hiking, biking, and walking trails, an Indian shell mound, pine woodlands, two fishing piers, marina, and miles of sandy beach and grassy dunes. Then sink back in your beach chair and watch the setting sun splash its colors across the evening sky, a final visual snapshot of your Mobile Bay experience.

Home

SIDE BAR

The following organizations provide information, maps, brochures, and current event schedules.

Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau

Gulf Shores/Orange Beach

PO Drawer 457

Gulf Shores, AL 36547

1 (800) 982-8562

Bellingrath Gardens & Home

12401 Bellingrath Road

Theodore, AL 36582

(334) 973-2217

Open 8AM to dusk.

Admission charged (various plans).

Chickasabogue Park

760 Aldock Rd.

Mobile, AL 36613

(334) 452-8496

$14 Full Hookups, $12 Electricity and water

Good Sam discount

Canoe rentals $4/hr, $15/day

Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Estuarium

(334) 861-7500

Open 9AM to 5PM, Monday – Saturday

1PM to 5PM Sunday

Adults $6, Seniors $5, Children $3

Fort Gaines Campground

East End of Dauphin Island

(334) 861-2742

Gulf State Park Campground

22050 campground Road

Gulf Shores, AL 36542

1 (800) 252-7275

Daily rates range from a base tent rate of $12/Night to $25 for full hookups on the lakefront. Monthly and seasonal rates are also available. Tables, grills, tennis courts, laundromat, boat launch, camp store, and nature center.

Mobile Convention & Visitors Corp.

1 South Water St.

Mobile, AL 36601-0204

1 (800) 5-Mobile

Oakleigh House Museum

350 Oakleigh Place

Mobile, AL 36604

(334) 432-1281

Open Monday – Saturday 10AM to 4PM.

Last tour at 3:30.

Roussos Seafood Restaurant

166 S. Royal St.

(Next to Ft. Conde Welcome Center)

Mobile, AL 36601

(334) 433-3322

USS Alabama

Battleship Memorial Park

PO Box 65

Mobile, AL 36601-0065

(334) 433-2703

Opens 8AM, closes 5PM November - March, 7PM April – October.

Admission $8. Ages 6 – 11 $4, under 6 free.

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

US 98 @ Fish River Bridge

(334) 928-9792

Open 9 to 5 Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 Sunday.

Closed state and federal holidays.

Wildland Expeditions & Swamp Tours

Chickasaw Marina

Highway 43

Chickasaw, AL

(334) 460-8206

Tours at 8AM, 10AM, and 2PM.

Closed Sunday and Monday.

Adults $20, under 12, $10.