Mobile - Gulf Shores, AL
Daily Route
Daily Elevation
I stayed up too late playing on the computer and watching TV. SInce I had internet access I was looking at AirBnB’s for the end of the trip but didn’t book any. I woke up at 6:30 AM thinking that I better book before the places I found weren’t available, so I didn’t get the 8-9 hours of sleep I like to get. I figured Patrick will pick up our stuff and since Tim and I are riding alone today, we can lay back down a bit after. Patrick showed up right at 8 AM and since we were up and dressed we went to breakfast in the lobby. When we returned to the room around 8:30 AM, there was no way we were going back to bed, so we finished getting ready and were on the road by 9 AM.
I was at first worried about riding along some of these roads in Mobile, but then I realized it was Saturday morning, so the traffic was very light. The route took us through an old, historic district of Mobile and we came across this incredible Victorian house, The Kate Shepard House built in 1897.
I was at first worried about riding along some of these roads in Mobile, but then I realized it was Saturday morning, so the traffic was very light. The route took us through an old, historic district of Mobile and we came across this incredible Victorian house, The Kate Shepard House built in 1897.
Great Victorian house
While checking out the house we met a local cyclist, Marshall McLeod. He is 77 and is in better shape than we are even after riding 2,300 miles across the country.
Marshall McLeod.
After 15 miles we were finally able to cross the Cochrane-Africatown USA Bridge over the Mobile River.
Tim leaving me behind
No, we didn’t just cross into Alabama, but there wasn’t a “Welcome to Alabama” sign, so when we saw this sign we had to stop and take a photo.
"Welcome to Alabama"
Another cool thing this route took us by is the Battleship Memorial Park where the USS Alabama is permanently docked as a museum.
USS Alabama
It is pretty nice riding along some water:
Riding by the water
We were finally on the “Eastern Shore” of Mobile Bay when we got on the Eastern Shore Trail. This trail took us on a boardwalk called alligator alley, where we actually saw a huge alligator:
Large alligator
We were kind of excited to see that there was a bicycle trail, although, after we left the boardwalk area the trail became pretty much a sidewalk…blah. We arrived in Daphne, Alabama and there were some pretty cool street sculptures. Check out this bicycle themed one:
Tim drafting behind a tricycle
It has been a while since we went to a brewery on this trip. Finally, Fairhope Brewing Company:
BEER!
After a sandwich and a beer, we were back on the road pedaling south with a pretty good headwind. We finally turned east for a bit which was a relief, plus, there was an actual bicycle path that went for about 3 miles…nice.
Nice bicycle path
We made it to Gulf Shores, and just 4 miles short of the RV park when we stopped into brewery number 2 for the day, Big Beach Brewing Company. It is pretty crazy that we are here at a brewery that we frequent when we rent the condo on Perdido Key. It is like we are home, but not really since we are just passing through.
Another brewery
We finally arrived at the RV park just after 6 PM in time for dinner (pork chops, sweet potatoes, and salad. We were all in our tents around 8:30 PM. I played with my phone a bit and decided I was too tired to do the blog and went to sleep at 9:30 PM. It is now the next day (a down day) and I am doing the blog as I do the laundry at 8:30 PM. The dryer finally stopped just as I am typing this last paragraph, so until tomorrow….
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