We got a much needed beach trip to Fort Morgan! I had not been there, but it has a lot to recommend it and only one thing against it. Let's see
Pros
Beautiful white sand beaches with no one else on them
Crystal clear water with lots of sea shells
You can bring your dog
Cons
No See Ems
Papa and Grandma joined us along with Uncle David, Aunt Karen and Allison. Ruby and Allison shared a room for the first time which went pretty well.
I was startled to see all the drilling platforms in the water. Prior to now, I had only been to Florida beaches and not seen that. At first I didn't like it, but my brother pointed out it had its own strange beauty when they would light up a night. While we were there, a similar rig to those we were looking at in Louisiana had an explosion launching what is set to be the worst oil spill in the US. Sigh.
Each day Ruby had a "favorite" thing about the beach. They were typically sand or waves. We got her a life vest/swimsuit and her and Daddy went to the sandbar.
We went to Dauphin Island one day and that was an adventure. The ferry ride was quite long and by the time we got there, Ruby was saying "snack" over and over in increasing volume. When we got to Dauphin Island, we stopped at the first gas station and asked for directions to the nearest restaurant. The local suggested Flamingo Fae's and said there would be signs and we "couldn't miss it". We headed off looking for the signs and kept driving until 15 minutes later we ran out of land and were at the other side of the island. This would not be so bad if it wasn't for Ruby yelling "Snack!" every 30 seconds (we got brief respites by giving her lemon drops from my purse). Prior to now, I had really only had similar experiences with my friend Dawn. This was clearly becoming a food emergency. As we headed back, one of us spotted an 8x10 sign with probably size 40 font by the side of the road discretely mentioning that Flamingo Fae's was to the right. We swung around and turned onto the street. We persevered until we hit another end of the island were an unlabeled building sat. Without much hope, we walked up to the door that said "Flamingo Fae's" in a handwritten note on the door. Wondering what kind of restaurant you could miss in Dauphin Island, we headed in, 2 year old yelling "Snack!" in tow. We acquired some emergency pancakes that came out first and winded up being the best pancakes I think I've ever had. I wish I had counted how many pancakes Ruby ate, but I am guessing at least 8. It was enough that the chef came out to see the girl eat her weight in pancakes. While everyone else ate, I took Ruby to the beach were we saw lots of hermit crabs. Prior to now, I had only seen those in pet stores. The interesting part of all this is that we didn't take the ferry to see Dauphin Island. We were in fact passing through on the way to Bellingrath Garden's which was beautiful as promised. Ruby walked off her pancakes and we ogled the plant life.
Great trip and I would recommend for sure for a peaceful beach vacation.
