The Lower Place: Mobile, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach...Oh My!!

Underway once again and seeing brand new landscape! Even though we have been along this part of the country in the past; this time it’s from a water perspective…quite different!

We cast off around 8:00 heading south from Dog River Chanel into the Mobile shipping channel. Luckily the depth of the bay allowed us to “cut over” to the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) – please note that “cut over” does not equal short cut!


Fast Food for Pelicans!

Before long, we were seeing the shrimp boats and crews hard at work. The shrimpers are a hard-working group of folks and probably get very little thanks for their efforts. The pelicans certainly pay attention to them!! This crew was combing through their catch – throwing back the bait fish or anything that wasn’t shrimp. I guess this is like fast food for pelicans and they were lined up!! Incredible to see!!

Channel marker on the ICW – this is where we turned from Mobile Bay and officially entered the ICW!!! WaHooo!!!

Officially on the ICW!

Just sittin' 'round on a Friday afternoon...

Hmmm...well, no yard work required

Lunch was eaten at Lulu's in Gulf Shores…for those who don’t know…Lulu is the sister to Jimmy Buffet (“buf et” NOT “buf ay”)!! And if you don’t know who Jimmy Buffet is…oh, goodness!!! We had a good time, good meal and as always SUPER SERVICE!! Of course, we tied the boat to the dock and Southern Cross rafted to us since there wasn’t enough room for them to parallel park. AND I did not take a picture!! River Brain….

The Coast Guard in hot pursuit...of lunch.

Also I was struck by the main reason we didn’t have enough room to park correctly…these guys!!! We were crossing Oyster Bay heading toward Lulu’s and the Coast Guard boat radioed to say they were “taking you on the point”. They FLEW past us – no kidding! Their wake rocked our boat to the point that lamps were knocked over AND plugs pulled from the outlet, closet doors flung open and bathroom doors slammed shut!!! I thought we were burglarized…in the middle of the ICW!! Yikes!

After lunch we continued heading east and it was so strange to motor “down the road”. Charlie was below deck while I was driving for a while. When he looked out of the side window and saw traffic he thought “oh no!”…like I would take a wrong turn!!

Hey, FedEx doesn't play - they deliver!

After MANY, MANY attempts to capture the "perfect picture" this is the best I could do today...dolphins EVERYWHERE!! But they are quick and with the overcast skies it was hard to see them! OK, mental challenge - what's the difference between Dolphins and Porpoise? Check it out & impress your teachers!!

yes, that's a dolphin - trust me!

We are at anchor tonight in Wolf Bay. It’s quite windy and the entire day was gloomy and overcast. We are rafted to Southern Cross and both boats have 80’ of rode (chain & rope) out. We should be just fine.

Tomorrow will be a short day as we are planning to get close to Pensacola FLORIDA!!! The Blue Angels will perform and we should be able to watch them from the water. Charlie spoke with a boat traveling a day ahead of us and he confirmed their location was perfect! YAY!!