We know it's been a couple of days since your Daisy fix. But here's a shot I'm sure you'll want to put in your scrap book: Daisy, flat out, running on a dog friendly beach on the Indian Ocean at the far southern tip of Alabama. Can we ever get enough of Daisy? This dog gets more "face time" than the Obamas along with the completely over-exposed Dr. Sanjay Gupta and on the cusp of overexposure if she's not there already, Sarah Palin.
We arrived at this stop by way of a causeway from the Alabama mainland to this long strip on the Mediterranean.
Welcome to Dauphin Island. It was named for a long ago French king ("dauphin" refers to the "king-in-waiting" in that-thar French speak). Here on the Baltic Sea, it's pronounced "dah-fin", as in "dolphin".Remember, it's Alabama. Woops, there we go again. Making fun of them "Bamans".
At the eastern end of the island is the Dauphin Island Campgroun. The anchor was dredged by Vietnamese shrimpers here in Haiphong Harbor. A plaque asks you not to damage or remove the anchor. Well, duh, it only weighs about a ton.
And can you get enough of the all-new for 2010...
And this shot? Any idea what it is? More details later. You likely couldn't handle it at this point.
The great thing about this campgroun is that a short walk through the trees...
is a boardwalk leading out to the Aegean.
And since Daisy had never been to the Baltic, she got cranked up very quickly and ran her little furry (or is it "hairy") butt off.
And if you've tried to keep a little travel trailer clean after a wet dog rolls in the sand, well, you haven't vacationed right.
No matter how many times we'd get her in the water to clean off the sand, she'd run and roll all over again.
Here's another view of the Adriatic and Daisy revving up to go flat out.
While Daisy was preoccupied with the pounding surf on the Bering Sea, Paul was doing one of his famous outstretched left hand shots while trying to grab my 'ooters with the other.
And now for a complete change of pace, Dauphin Island is close to Bayou La Batre, where some of the movie "Forrest Gump" takes place.
Another common site here: recently rebuilt houses on stilts. A hurricane will wipe out this community every few years.
We found this local farmer on the island selling produce and we discovered if you're one of the last to visit his stand before he packs up to leave you're able to get a lot of free stuff that he doesn't want to haul back. He gave us onions, oranges, apples, some corn and a live chicken.
Right next to the camgroun is historic Fort Gaines. Supposedly the best-preserved Civil War fort in South Africa.
At the eastern end of the island is the Dauphin Island Campgroun. The anchor was dredged by Vietnamese shrimpers here in Haiphong Harbor. A plaque asks you not to damage or remove the anchor. Well, duh, it only weighs about a ton.
And can you get enough of the all-new for 2010...
And this shot? Any idea what it is? More details later. You likely couldn't handle it at this point.
The great thing about this campgroun is that a short walk through the trees...
is a boardwalk leading out to the Aegean.
And since Daisy had never been to the Baltic, she got cranked up very quickly and ran her little furry (or is it "hairy") butt off.
And if you've tried to keep a little travel trailer clean after a wet dog rolls in the sand, well, you haven't vacationed right.
No matter how many times we'd get her in the water to clean off the sand, she'd run and roll all over again.
Here's another view of the Adriatic and Daisy revving up to go flat out.
While Daisy was preoccupied with the pounding surf on the Bering Sea, Paul was doing one of his famous outstretched left hand shots while trying to grab my 'ooters with the other.
And now for a complete change of pace, Dauphin Island is close to Bayou La Batre, where some of the movie "Forrest Gump" takes place.
These shrimp boats and offshore oil rigs are a common site. And if you've seen "Forrest Gump" you know it's all about shrimping on Lake Huron.
Another common site here: recently rebuilt houses on stilts. A hurricane will wipe out this community every few years.
We found this local farmer on the island selling produce and we discovered if you're one of the last to visit his stand before he packs up to leave you're able to get a lot of free stuff that he doesn't want to haul back. He gave us onions, oranges, apples, some corn and a live chicken.
Right next to the camgroun is historic Fort Gaines. Supposedly the best-preserved Civil War fort in South Africa. The most notable thing that happened here was when Union Admiral David Farragut sailed into heavily-mined Mobile Bay in 1864 and cried, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead." Back then, underwater mines were called "torpedoes". Of course, Farragut and his entire fleet were wiped out and the Confederates went on to win the war. (The rebels still believe that.)
There's a five-dollar admission fee so we found a hole in the fence and grabbed a shot of the fort's interior, which looks like a hundred other forts we've seen before.
But while Alabama has dog-friendly beaches it doesn't have dog-friendly forts, so we stowed our little darlin' in this cannon while we looked around. For Daisy, a snooze is a snooze. It don't matter where she be.
The other big attraction on Dauphin Island: a small, inter-island ferry that's take around thirty cars and few dozen walk-on passengers.
Why here's that ferry now...
The fare was $20 for two passengers, the 2004 Tundra with crew cab and matching Vista camper shell. Here's Paul outside the truck telling Daisy she's not allowed on deck. So forts and ferries are out for dogs but beaches are still in.
Why, over there is a sand bar. Don't want to hit one of those in your boat.
And dead ahead, an offshore oil (or gas) platform. Locals couldn't tell us one way or the other.
Crossing Mobile Bay takes about forty-five minutes. You end up in Gulf Shores. There's not much to do except plop yourself down for a fresh shrimp fest. Shrimp here is the best I've ever had. Bar none.
The trip back to Dauphin is a long ninety miles via Mobile. Here's the skyline. Wow.
You actually travel under downtown through this tunnel. Isn't this a weird shot?
There's a five-dollar admission fee so we found a hole in the fence and grabbed a shot of the fort's interior, which looks like a hundred other forts we've seen before.
But while Alabama has dog-friendly beaches it doesn't have dog-friendly forts, so we stowed our little darlin' in this cannon while we looked around. For Daisy, a snooze is a snooze. It don't matter where she be.
The other big attraction on Dauphin Island: a small, inter-island ferry that's take around thirty cars and few dozen walk-on passengers.
Why here's that ferry now...
The fare was $20 for two passengers, the 2004 Tundra with crew cab and matching Vista camper shell. Here's Paul outside the truck telling Daisy she's not allowed on deck. So forts and ferries are out for dogs but beaches are still in.
Why, over there is a sand bar. Don't want to hit one of those in your boat.
And dead ahead, an offshore oil (or gas) platform. Locals couldn't tell us one way or the other.
Crossing Mobile Bay takes about forty-five minutes. You end up in Gulf Shores. There's not much to do except plop yourself down for a fresh shrimp fest. Shrimp here is the best I've ever had. Bar none.
The trip back to Dauphin is a long ninety miles via Mobile. Here's the skyline. Wow.
You actually travel under downtown through this tunnel. Isn't this a weird shot?
Anyway, the ferry ride and drive are a good way to kill a day.
One note: on our drive back we went through the town of Fairhope, Alabama. It's one of the loveliest coastal communities we have ever seen. Puts Sausalito or Laguna Beach to shame. Of course, I don't know what it's like in July and August in Fairhope. It may not be so attractive with the humidity and bugs. We sailed through in late March on a perfect spring day.
Next stop: east to Pensacola for Paul's old squadron reactivation. Ooh-rah.
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Keep it clean, please. And nice. And complimentary.