FAIRHOPE, AL/MOBILE BAY AND VISIT TO MOBILE, AL

Sunday, November 16th to Monday, November 17th, 2014

Day 104-105
Miles Traveled: 0
Total Miles Traveled: 2057


  Sunday was a very pleasant day with warmer weather and sunny skies.  We even got to put on shorts, which we hadn't been able to do in weeks.  We found our first sandy beach just at the entrance to the creek where the marina is located.  Although it was very small, we enjoyed our short walk.  It was another calm day on Mobile Bay.

From this - calm seas on sandy beach on Mobile Bay

  Monday brought a drastic change in weather.  Overnight the temperatures dropped over 30 degrees and the winds began to come out of the north with gusts up to 25 mph.  The nice calm Mobile Bay was "a mess".  Although we were up a small creek off of the bay, the boat still rocked back and forth over 10 degrees at times.  Fortunately, we had decided to rent a car and go site-seeing in Mobile, AL.  We were glad we were not on the boat all day dealing with rocking.   

To this - in just one day

  We spent most of Monday in Mobile, AL at the USS Alabama Park.  The USS Alabama, USS Drum, several war memorials, and an Aircraft Pavillion are located at this park.  Before lunch, we toured the Battleship USS Alabama.  It was commissioned in August 1942 and shot down 22 enemy airplanes during World War II.  This ship is 680 feet in length and weighs 90 million pounds under battle conditions.  The normal crew on board was about 2,500 men.   For more info on USS Alabama go to: http://www.ussalabama.com/about_park.php

Battleship USS Alabama

Dan trying to be a gunman again (last time was on the LST-325)

  For lunch we met with Joe and Marilyn at the Half Shell Oyster House.  We bought a spare prop for Seahorse from Joe, and he and Dan have kept in contact since then.  It was nice to put a face with a name.  We had an enjoyable visit and ate some great seafood.  

  After lunch, we returned to the park and toured the Submarine USS Drum.  This vessel was commissioned in November 1941.  She is 311 feet long, had a crew of 72 men, and is credited with sinking 15 ships.  
For more info on USS Drum go to: http://www.ussalabama.com/uss_drum.php

Submarine USS Drum

  After touring these big ships, we returned to our little ship which was still rocking some from the winds and the waves coming off of Mobile Bay.  The temperatures were continuing to drop and predicted to be well below freezing overnight.  This was very unusual for this area, especially this time of year.  We guess we brought our northern weather with us - that was NOT in our plans for this trip.  Due to the extremely cold weather, the marina turned off the water and blew out the lines to prevent freezing damage.  It was a good thing that we had just filled up the water tanks.  We felt like we shouldn't complain, since, family and friends up North had already gotten several inches of snow.  We had it good compared to that.  This freakish cold weather front affected the entire eastern United States.  

  We decided to go out to dinner to get another break from the rocking and rolling.  We went into town and ate at Wintzell's Oyster House.  The original location is in Mobile, AL, but many more have been opened in nearby areas.  When we returned, the winds were worse, so even more rocking and rolling, which made our evening showers a bit challenging (good thing we have a seat in our shower).