2018 01 05-07 USS Alabama, Beauvoir and Audubon Bird Sanctuary

Friday, January 5, 2018

Toured the USS Alabama. 

These are shells for the front two "big guns". We are in the turret barbette which is the protective circular armored support for a heavy gun turret. We didn't get to see this area in Hawaii when we toured the USS Missouri. 

It was a nice sunny day but still chilly in the 40's and 50's. 

Bob "working" the machine guns. 

Behind me is the original teak decking throughout the main deck. I asked why a wooden deck. The Navy believed a wooden deck would be less slippery once it got wet. But is it not more dangerous from exploding shells. The guide says teak shards do not cause infections.  

Glad we were not on this Duck tour. When it tried to leave the dock the front end got stuck in the mud. They rocked it back and forth trying to rev the engine enough to clear the mud. By the time the Duck was free the engine was smoking in two places.  

Late lunch after the ship tour. Wintzell's has been in business for 75 years and is an historic landmark. 

The waitress was so nice to mention that she would hold off on running the tab until Happy Hour when our plate of "naked" oysters would be half off. They were very good spritzed with lemon, resting on a cracker and dabbed with cocktail sauce. 

Beautiful sunset at the beach. Neither dog seems to appreciate the views.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

We decided to travel to the neighboring state to visit the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Reserve. Initially we thought this was a NWR in Mississippi that housed Sandhill Cranes. Cool. But we were wrong. It is a NWR for the Mississippi crane which is different from the standard crane. We were psyched to see something that does not exist anywhere else. Sadly, when we spoke with the ranger he said they have only 100 birds in 28,000 acres so the possibility of seeing one was nil. Such a disappointment. 

We visit the summer home in Biloxi which had been purchased by Jefferson Davis. The original owner named it Beauvoir which means "beautiful view" which was what she saw when she opened the front doors and saw the Gulf of Mexico just on the other side of her front lawn.  

The raised floor is to allow air to cool the rooms above. All of the windows are floor to ceiling and open with three sections, again to allow the breeze from the north side (the back) to cool the house. There is many fine furnishings left by Jefferson Davis' daughter, Margaret. We were sad to hear that Hurricane Katrina did break through the front door, shattering the original glass and flooding the entire house with 18 inches of water. The furniture has been restored, the walls have been replastered and the door glass has been replaced. 

The front (south) veranda. You can see the front door on the left and the triple sectioned window. 

Reproduction of the Hayes Pavilion which was built as a haven for itinerant Methodist circuit riders. The original was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.  

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. This one and Fort Morgan across the mouth of Mobile Bay were designed to defend the bay.

Our girls really like to explore the fort except for the stickers (burrs) in the grass that get horribly tangled in their fur and are very painful in their paws.

One really nice feature of this campground is that it backs up to paths accessing the beach and the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. After lunch, we decided to seek the protection of the trees from the wind and see if there was any wildlife. 

The osprey was so easy to see as he sat above the lake. I doubt it was a fishing perch since the lake was probably not big enough for hunting purposes. More likely he hunted on the bridge side of the island or in the Gulf. 

Bob, what happened to your hand? Didn't you read the sign? Not to worry, folks. There was no alligator...nor anything else that we could see in the lake. We were heading back home and passed the informational sign about the various raptors that visit. I mentioned how I have never seen a Great Horned Owl and really wanted to see one in the wild. Five minutes later we heard hooting. We thought it was another hiker but as we kept walking it sounded again and this time it was definitely closer.

Lo and behold, we spied this Great Horned Owl in his roosting place. We watched for about 30 minutes without any movement. Suddenly, a group of small warblers became agitated by his presence and were flying by twittering angrily. The owl  began hooting again and raised his "horns" but never did turn towards us. It was still awesome. 

In the swamp area we saw a male Pintail, Great Blue Heron and a couple male Mallards. 

Huey, Dewey and Louie. Two female Mallards and one female Black Duck. Good thing we ran into a few guys on the way back home. One of them was an ornithologist by profession and had seen the swamp occupants or we might have thought the middle one was just a hybrid mallard. 

2017 12/23 - 2018 01/05 Last day at Foscue Creek heading to Dauphin Island

Christmas and New Years at Foscue Creek, Demopolis, Alabama

Cedar Waxwings on the truck drinking the beaded water after a shower. We had previously seen a flock of dozen of Waxwings in the tree near our trailer.

Cedar Waxwings at Foscue Creek

New Years Eve Banana Bread Cheesecake

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Arriving on Dauphin Island after a chilly start of 15 degrees. It was so cold that when we tried to hook up the hitch was unable to close around the king pin because the grease was too stiff. Six attempts and still nothing. Bob had to hand manipulate the hitch teeth.

Our new home for the week. It has a direct walkway from the camp to the beach and the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. 

Gulf coast beach off Dauphin Island. Unlike what some may think, Dauphin Island is not a misspelling of that smart, fast swimming mammal. I had to spell it several times to the Mail Service and explain that it is French for the Crown Prince, "the Dauphin". This beach probably had a wonderful view of the Gulf but now it is surrounded by deep drilling oil rigs. Tori and Dakota typically are very willing to wade into any creek, stream, lake, even puddle. Neither of them wanted anything to do with this beach. Decide for yourself.

One Willet walking the beach.

Two Willets in flight. They make noises when they fly which really freaked out the dogs. 

Brown pelican.

We love to watch them skimming across the water.  

Two common Mergansers paddling. A little unusually for them to be in the Gulf but the Audubon Society has a wildlife refuge nearby which we can access from the campgrounds. They were fun to watch diving almost in sync. 

One Cormorant 

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Car Ferry pulling in from Fort Morgan, our next destination. We were not in a car and it was 30 degrees without any real passenger space. We had waited until the 11am ferry so it would have a chance to warm up. So I ended up standing inside the doorway to the right of the pilings. No door but better than nothing. 

This armored truck-looking thing was actually a German-made recreational vehicle. 

My sort-of warm room. 

What do you call a group of Cormorants. A Sunning. Who thinks up those things? 

Bob takes such good action photos. 

Checking for fish. 

On the road to Fort Morgan which was named after General Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary War hero. The fort was used during that war, 1812, Civil, Spanish-American, WWI and WWII. 

This cannon is fired at artillery demonstrations during a historical reenactments

Fourth (small) order of Fresnel lens was used in the lighthouse where Fort Morgan now stands was built in 1822 as the Mobile Point Lighthouse. In 1837, the Second (large) order lens was used in a seacoast light on Sand Island three miles out from Mobile Bay entrance. 

Fort Morgan is a double star shaped fort. This tunnel traverses the outer defenses of sloped earthen packed outer ring or glasic with heavy doors at each end. The grassy area between the outer and inner walls was a dry moat. 

The sally port entrance to the inner fort was dedicated to General Morgan in 1833. 

The stairs at the left is a double staircase similar to the one at the right corner. These corners contained the magazine needed to store the supply of gun powder. 

Gun placements along the west facing wall.

Each corner of the inner walls had these stairs. There is another set where Bob is standing to take this photo. We didn't even try to use these. there is no railing on the outer steps and the rise is about 18-20 inches which makes it dangerous for those of us with bad knees. 

Lunch in the sunshine. Still chilly with a breeze blowing. I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt, insulated jacket and wind breaker with a scarf. 

Door pin for the tunnel. We are on our way out to catch our ferry back to Dauphin Island.

The ferry arrived right on time. After several attempts, the pilot had to back away from the jetty, turn completely around and use the rear ramp. The water level is so low the ramp would not lay flat enough for the cars to disembark. Fortunately there were only 4 cars because each one had to back towards the side of the ferry and turn around to finally drive off the ramp. This ferry is designed to carry about 15 cars in three lanes. 

Bufflehead

Bridge from the mainland to Dauphin Island. It is 17,814 feet (about 3 miles) long with a clearance of 83 feet.