Orange Beach, Alabama, Winter 2024, Part 2.

Beach Time

Orange Beach and its neighbor to the West, Gulf Shores, take pride in their clean white sand beaches. They are miles long, wide, and unfortunately not dog friendly. We can take Maggie to the walkways along the beach for walks but not out on the beach itself. She is probably OK with that, almost everyone who walks by stops to give her a pet.

The beach stretches to the West and just as far to the East. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are doing a beach restoration project this winter. There are barges off-shore maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile that suck up sand from the shallow bottom and pump water and sand through large (maybe 2 ft in diameter) flexible hoses back up on the beach. The sand piles up and the water runs back into the Gulf. Bulldozers push the reclaimed sand around ready for the summer hoards of people. Winter here is the off-season. We can only imagine how busy it must be here in the summer.

And there are the ever-present tower cranes that mark the location of another high-rise beachfront condominium going up. The beachfront property is becoming somewhat limited as is Bayfront property so they are starting to build more condos, townhomes, vacation rentals, and more on the North side of the intercoastal waterway. And another bridge from the mainland to the island where Orange Beach is located.

This is a big-picture view of the Alabama Gulf Coast.

And Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

And a Gulf State Park map. Our RV Park is adjacent to the park on the North Central side. The bike trail we access crosses the corner of the RV Park property.

Naval Air Museum

Susan and I, my cousin Sue and her husband, Lloyd, and my Habitat friend, John and his wife Cheryl went to the Naval Air Museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. We were going to go there the first time we were in Orange Beach five years ago but a shooting on the base caused the base to lock down and the Air Museum was closed.

It remained closed until last year when it was reopened to people with Military IDs and retired Military members. So we didn’t go last year either. This year it reopened to the public. So we went. Everyone had to have a valid US driver’s license or ID. We all had to show our IDs to get on the base. We got in, parked, and went into the free museum.

The museum is organized in chronological order starting back before World War I. The museum was much more about just airplanes, it included the support services that make an air service possible. Everything was restored to excellent condition including this Model T ambulance.

The Navy used a lot of different aircraft over time including this Curtiss JN “Jenny”. They were introduced in 1915 and over 6,800 were built. Top speed was just 80 mph. These were very popular after WWI as barnstorming planes. And put to good use by the early Air Mail services.

And a Sopwith Camel, a British single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was a difficult airplane to fly but to an experienced pilot, it provided unmatched maneuverability. A superlative fighter, the Camel was credited with shooting down 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied fighter of the war, and was flown by Lieutenant Junior Grade David S. Ingalls, the Navy’s sole ace of World War I.

The airplane on display depicts one that operated from a makeshift wooden flight deck on board the battleship USS Texas (BB 35) in 1919 evaluating the operation of wheeled airplanes from ships.

The airplanes were not just on the floor but suspended in mid-air like this Beech D17 Staggerwing. The Navy renamed them as JB-1, GB-1, and GB-2. These were built just before WWI and were faster than almost any plane in the armed forces’ inventory before the war. They were used in many roles in the US, Britain, and the Pacific Theater.

The Staggerwings were first purchased by the Navy in 1937. Designated JB-1, it served as a staff transport for two years. In 1939, the Navy purchased ten Beech D-17s, designating them GB-1s. In all, 360 of the aircraft, 342 of them GB-2s powered by up-rated engines, were purchased by the Navy to use as executive transports and for transporting ferry pilots to factories around the country to deliver new aircraft to the fleet. Some were also given to Britain under Lend-Lease for use as liaison aircraft.

The Beech Staggerwing has always been one of my favorite airplanes. Of the more than 780 built, about 150 are still registered and about 50 actively flying.

When we go to the EAA Airventure show in Oshkosh, WI, there are always several there. Including a few of these G17S models whose parts were built before WWII and the final 20 Staggerwings were assembled right after the War.

These 5 passenger airplanes cruise at 250 mph. And they just look cool. I have a Byron Originals 1/5th scale model of the G17S kit in my radio control fleet. Maybe someday I will finish building it.

There was a spectacular Plymouth too.

We (at least me) will go back. There is way too much to see in detail in just a few hours. We were glad for the chance to finally see this important museum.

Dog Day Afternoon

Both Orange Beach and Gulf Shores have nice dog parks. There is one at Gulf State Park that has one side open to Shelby Lake for the dogs to swim. We didn’t get Maggie there to try her swimming prowess. Maybe next year.

We go to the dry dog parks and prefer the Orange Beach dog park. It is big, with lots of trees, and it is mostly sand which lets Maggie get in some digging time.

She is a very productive earth mover.

She will dig until she is exhausted, burying both her throw toy and herself as deep as time will allow.

She gets pretty dirty. This activity is often followed up with a bath.

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is a big deal down south. In the month before Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) there were more than a dozen parades in the communities around Mobile Bay. In Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, there are daytime parades, evening parades, and parades at the Wharf. Kid’s parades and pet parades allowed everyone to get in on the fun (and noise)

This was at the Wharf Entertainment District for an evening parade. Police Cars start the parade and part the crowd. Lots of floats with people riding and throwing beads and trinkets. Small and loud marching bands. And finally, a fire truck to mark the end.

This video clip shows a bit of the festivity. Lots of fun – a few more plastic beads to add to our collection and a couple of Moon Pies to remind us why we don’t eat them.

Our three months in Orange Beach is quickly coming to an end. My total bike miles has reached 652! The total number of shrimp consumed was surely in the hundreds. Grouper, redfish, clam chowder, every kind of cheesy grits, and a sample of gumbo at every stop helped fulfill our salt life needs. Yum!

We will go to Nacogdoches, TX for a day of service with Keith Risch – a Foretravel legend, a nice supper at Auntie Pasta’s, and then on to the Houston area to visit friends (mostly eat). and then on to Fredericksburg, TX for the spring wildflower season, to see good friends there, and to see the Solar Eclipse in early April.

We are grateful for the opportunity to travel as we do, together, to see friends we have made along the way, and to be where the weather has been nice. And for the folks at home that help make being elsewhere possible, Thanks!

More Later, Much Love,

Susan, Maggie, and Roger