Alabama 2023 - July 13 - The long road home

There is one primary objective for today, get the Suburban back to the rental company on time.   The secondary objective is to have breakfast at The Ugly Diner.  To achieve both of these we require an early start, so we are packed as much as possible, the night before, ready to leave at 6:30.  In the morning from 6 am, the house is a hive of activity, and everything is set the way it needs to be for check out.  The car is loaded, even the children are ready.  We leave on-time, we arrive at the restaurant at 7:03.  Breakfast is ordered, and eaten.  The whole experience is as good as the other day.

Then there is a 270-mile journey out of Gulf Shores, back to Auburn.  For a while we are in commuter traffic, but once on the Interstate it is a straight forward journey.  We arrive back in Auburn in time to unload and return the car to its rightful owners.

The rest of the day is quiet.  We have Culvers, fish and chips (for Jo and I) for our evening meal, and set ourselves to watch Ted Lasso, in a 'mini-binge' we get through a good part of series 1.

Alabama 2023 - July 12 - Once more to the beach

To start the day, we went to The Ugly Diner for brunch.  Its nearest equivalent in the UK is a high street café.  Whatever it is, it is also the best restaurant we have visited.  There are only a few tables, a long one down the middle is the best for us, it is unoccupied, so we are sat straight down.  The drinks are chosen and delivered promptly, as is the food.  This is the first place where the food is really hot when it arrives.

The weather is not good, there are storms moving across the top of the gulf, and we are occasionally engulfed.  It's not a day for beach activities, at least not yet.  So we visit the state park, on the way we stopped to look at some flowers that we had noticed and discussed on two or three trips up and down that road.  They are Swamp Rose Mallow, and in today's overcast, and rainy conditions they are closed up and not at all impressive.  When open, they are beautiful.

Heading to the state park, we come to Peter's Ice Cream and Donuts (English: doughnuts). It is just a few minutes after lunch, so although we go in and order, the children are not very hungry, so do not eat all their ice cream.  It is a nice little place, I'm surprised how many people visit.

Later, at the State park visitor centre we see all sorts of wildlife, mostly stuffed for display, but a number of wild birds that have been rescued following some injury that has left them unable to fend for themselves.  There is also a random tortoise wandering around.

Then on to a supermarket to buy supplies to make sandwiches to eat on the beach.  When we get to the beach, there is very light rain falling, with dark clouds threatening more.  "This is the most English beach experience I've had here" our host says.  In England, though, the temperature would not be in the upper 20's.

We sit on the beach, sometimes visiting the water and watch the wildlife.  A large pod of dolphin pass us, quite a distance from shore, but so lovely to see.  There are pelicans, terns, and black-headed gulls.   There is also a bird that looks like a hawk, seemingly catching things in mid-air, over the sea.  We can't work out what it was.

Madelyn like to be buried

Crab collection, first bucket full

Later in the evening, after the sun had set, we get torches and head along the sand to catch crabs.  The crabs are very nimble, there is a technique for catching them that takes some mastering.  Once in the net, the baby ones can be transferred to the bucket by hand, but don't try it with the larger ones because nip.  It was good to see the children running across the beach, chasing crabs, sometimes losing them down a hole, sometimes losing them in the sea, and mostly catching them and transferring them to the bucket.  When they are first put in the bucket, they are 'mad', but usually calm down in a few minutes.  They were all released back into the sea before we returned to the car.

Alabama 2023 - July 11 - In the water

There was a shark experience on the pier at 10am, it was a bit of a rush to get there in time, but we made it.   The presentation, I think, was aimed at children, but the university students seemed unable to avoid all the long words, the technical names for parts of the shark, or its reproductive methods.  It was interesting for me, and the exhibits - partial skeletons (mainly jaws), and live rays (barbs removed) was interesting for the children. The tank is fairly shallow, and one had escaped a couple of days before.

We spent about an hour before moving on to brunch at Ruby Slipper.  The restaurant had a long wait. The waitress, seemed to be pre-occupied with something, and was not that attentive. The food is mainly omelettes, and was nice enough, but also seemed to take a long while to arrive.  Neither of the waits was timed, but spent with the grandchildren, who are not particularly impatient, so, if they are getting active, we have been waiting too long. The portions in America, at least in this area, are smaller than I remember them, which is probably a good thing.  The prices are also higher, which isn't.

We then drove to Fort Morgan, arriving in the heat of the day.  It was a relief to get into the museum.  The fort was originally built to defend against the British.  It has a chequered history, being re-fortified in times of conflict, and all but abandoned soon after.  WWII saw the most spectacular abandonment, when in 1946 (a year after the war ended) it was handed to the state as a historical site.  On top of the fortifications, there are great views of the oil rigs in the gulf.  If you think of these as ships, it is easy to see how useful the fort was.  Inside the massive buildings, with their high vaulted ceilings, the temperature is more comfortable, and you can begin to see how people survived the searing heat. That is, until you see the dress uniforms in the museum - thick material, tightly buttoned and high necked.

The picture shows us walking through the tunnels, they provide a fantastic echo, and led to a lot of shouting.

There were lots of dragon flies at the fort, I took a picture of one, if you look carefully, you should be able to make out the wings.

After driving back from the fort, and taking a short break, we headed to the Crab Trap Restaurant for an early tea.  The plan was to eat, then go back to the pier and spend some time on the beach, but a storm was threatening.  We were initially told there was a 30-minute wait, at the end of 30 minutes, we were told we could eat outside, or wait another 30 minutes. We decided to eat outside, under cover. 

So, after eating, we went on the beach immediately behind the restaurant, and enjoyed an hour (maybe), on the beach, in the water.  The water is warm, but still requires some acclimatisation.  I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

A darkness fell, we left the beach and travelled to an amusement arcade, the children loved it, but for me those places are simply a waste of money.  However, the occasional wins are a good life-lesson, I suppose.

Booton, 7 July 2021 - Brody's Paddle

 More 'wufs' in the early hours meant another disturbed night. This time, being very tired, I went back to sleep sometime after 7:30.  I woke a little before 10.  This morning we had a cooked breakfast to use some of the free-range eggs supplied by our hosts.  They have dark yellow yolks and a very good stronger than usual flavour.

We decided to visit a beach - Heacham South, a dog friendly beach on the North Norfolk coast.  It's about an hour's drive through some lovely English countryside. Some very narrow roads too, but nobody is in a hurry, so passing is relatively straight forward.  The car park is pay and display - cash or app.  Fortunately, we have cash.  Then over the dune to sea the see. Except, there is only mud as far as the eye can see.  We have just passed low tide, there are channels a few centimeters deep where the water is barely trickling in.  Walking out the mud gets softer and softer, now almost ankle deep, we turn and make for shore.  Brody is loving it, his excitement was obvious from the moment we opened the car.  He even chased a ball for a short while. Every time he turned, he sat down because his back legs were caught in the mud, but it didn't seem to bother him.

Back on the stony edge between the dunes and the mud we turn back to the car park.  We have a cup of tea at the cafe, and wash the mud off my legs and brody's legs and tail.  

Then off to Sheringham, another hour's drive, for some fish and chips.  Arriving in the car park, where the pay and display is card or coin, we find the card reader is not working so again use coins, but the supply is running low now.  Sheringham is a disappointment - a very high promenade, with very little along it, so we end up in town at a fish and chip shop opposite this:

We sat outside, watching the people go by and Brody dribbling.  Further down the road we bought ice cream, and then headed home, but not before I had topped up the £1 coin supply.

Listening to Wimbeldon on the radio on the way home and watching the TV when we arrived as Federer lost his match. It was perhaps the last time he will come to Wimbledon. Then having a snack and tuning into ITV for ENG v DEN.  2-1 it ended, so there is another game to watch on Sunday.