Our first stop was the giant blue paper clip and the giant dental tools in Spanish Fort, AL. Fortunately, the rain had slowed.
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We then decided to make a last minute detour since we were so close to downtown Mobile, to Fort Conde across from Mardi Gras Park.
Fort Conde is a smaller replica of of the fort as it existed in the 1820s. By that date it had been deemed unnecessary and in the desire to expand downtown Mobile, they started tearing it down. It is a neat fort that doesn’t take too long to tour and also gives you some neat views of downtown Mobile and the cruise port (unfortunately the Carnival Fantasy was not in port today).
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| dolphin skull |
Before leaving Mobile, we took a quick walk around Mardi Gras Park until it started raining.
Our next stop was Bamahenge near Elberta, Alabama. Until we went and actually touched the "stones" (which are plastic and hollow), it almost felt like we were in England.
Just past Bamahenge, you will find a trail of dinosaurs.
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| This guy was across the street from the others and quite hidden. He's a little bit of a challenge to find but worth it. |
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| Dinosaur Love |
Less impressive was this giant sundial. You couldn't get very close to it.
After the dinosaurs, we headed to Barber Marina to see a giant spider and the Lady in the Lake.
We figured that was enough sight seeing for one day and so headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Orange Beach. It was across the street from hotels and condos on the beach and had access to a private gate for easy access to the beach. There was a nice pool in the back with a pond next to it. Here are a few of the creatures that could be found in the pond next to the pool.
The hotel was nice, although a bit run down. Our first room smelled a bit off and so they upgraded us to a room with a balcony which had a great view.
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| Access to the Beach |
We spent some time walking the beach that evening.
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| Killdeer |
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| Laughing Gull |
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| Great Blue Heron |
The next morning we woke up to severe thunderstorms rolling through.
The storms passed through not long after we finished breakfast, so we headed to the beach. We had brought some beach chairs with us and just enjoyed a few hours sitting on the beach, bird watching and people watching. It sprinkled a few times but mostly was just overcast. These lizards hung out on the boardwalk to the beach and were so cute!
This Great Blue Heron was extremely curious or maybe just lazy waiting for someone else to catch its dinner. Regardless, he was surprisingly quite at home around people.
The sanderlings, killdeer, and laughing gulls were also quite a sight to watch.
After a few hours at the beach, we had a late lunch at the Cactus Cantina which was one of the best Mexican restaurants we have ever eaten at. Also, on more than one occasion we found ourselves at Kayden's Candy Factory which had amazing chocolate truffles plus a ton of flavors of ice cream. And it was really convenient to have a Walmart right next to the hotel. Overall, the area was a great area and once we arrived at our hotel on Saturday afternoon, we never saw a need to drive anywhere until it was time to head to the port.
Here are the stats from our drive down to Orange Beach on Saturday including all our sightseeing along the way:
Left home - 5:30 a.m.
Arrived in Orange Beach - 2:45 p.m.
Miles - 348.6
Driving Time - 6 hours and 12 minutes
Averaged 27.4 mpg
Weather - Rain eventually clearing up with the sun poking through - Temperatures around 80*F
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