Mobile Bay Crossing

 For the first time since November our boat left Mobile, AL! We pulled away from the dock just before 8 am and Bill was there to see us off.  He even brought us each breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds. 😋

It was a perfect day to be out on the water and crossing the bay was relaxing - all 4 hours of it! We then entered the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) when we reached Gulf Shores and it was reminiscent of the Erie Canal in that you cruised slowly through neighborhoods and houses backed up to the water with boat docks. We only encountered one tow/barge and the meeting was uneventful (thanks to our river experiences). By far the most exciting part of the crossing was when the 3 dolphins decided to join us and swam beside the boat for a few minutes.  I had just asked Tom when we could expect to see our first dolphins and they appeared!  It is unusual to be able to catch them on camera, but because they were beside the boat instead of in front I was able to get a video, which I couldn’t get to load.



Madison spent the rest of the day looking over the side of the boat to see where they went!

I had wanted to eat lunch at Lulu’s which is owned by Jimmy Buffet’s sister, but alas, they closed for the month of January for re-modeling.  Story of my great loop….  I did take a picture and that will have to do…

We are at a marina called The Wharf which is a whole entertainment district in Orange Beach, AL. We are rather “off season” as far as loopers coming though here, so it is eerily quiet and a little lonely. The marina is quite nice and the shopping/entertainment district is right here and makes for nice dog walks.  We are going to a movie in an hour or so - our first in almost 3 years and I am certain we will be the only people in the theater!

Tomorrow we go on to Pensacola and will finally be in Florida!




 



The famous Lulu’s






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