A week in Bayou La Batre

 Saturday 27 January 2024

    Woke to that all so familiar sound of pitter patter on the Moho one more time.  Making the best of the day we went for a drive, checked out some RV parks on our way to pick up an extra water filter.  The water here is terrible. After three or four stops with no luck we ended up at Wal-Mart.😡 Hey, they had our filter. 

    By now it was 2pm we were starved and decided to stop at the first restaurant we passed, it was closed. Second place, carry out only and finally it was the Lighthouse Restaurant. The service was so sloooow, by the time the food came out we gobbled it down without really tasting it. With our bellies full

We did have some
nice sunsets.

we took a side road that wound around the waterfront. There was just enough daylight to hook up the water filter and softener when we got back. And believe it or not just a snack for dinner.

Sunday 28 January 2024

   No rain this morning and 50 degrees and nice warm morning to walk Rudy. I woke up with a very sore ankle. Didn't hurt when I went to bed, but I could barely walk this morning.  It really hurt. Diane had to walk the dog, go to store, do dishes all while I sat at the table. And just like that, the pain went away (as soon as dishes were done).  The sun came out and it warmed up to almost 70.  This is more like it.  We had grilled steak with mushroom and grilled garlic toast.

No building allowed in this area! 

Monday 29 January 2024

Another nice warm morning. A quick breakfast and we headed over to Dauphin Island for some site seeing. First stop was the Visitor's center, Museum, Old School, town Library, coffee stop and gift shop. Yes, that was all in an old two room schoolhouse. The volunteers were the best.

We drove around the island walked briefly on the beach admiring the beach houses. Lunch was enjoyed at the Dockside Seafood Restaurant. It was a little odd the bar was upstairs, and food was downstairs. But the food was great. Then off to the other end of the island to tour Fort Gaines. It was a civil war fort which fell to the Union in the battle of Mobile. It was really quite interesting. Back to the Moho a long walk for Rudy all of us enjoying another sunny day.

The bay is full of these natural gas rigs.  

Tuesday 30 January 2024

   The weather gods are certainly smiling on us. Another great day. We made good use of the weather. We had an early lunch and headed out to tour the Bellingrath Gardens and Home estate. The gardens were hit hard with three hard freezes in week. It was still beautiful with enough blossoms to add color to the greenery. The house was amazing to say the least. The Bellingrath's made their fortune bottling Coke. They had no children and planned to leave their estate to the people of Mobile. They were very generous people even providing for their Butler allowing him to live on the estate, with a pension, until he passed. When Mr. Bellingrath passed the house was turned over to the city of Mobile, including all furnishing. It has remained unchanged. If you ever get a chance, visit the grounds.

Back to the Moho another great evening.

Shots from the garden and exotic plant house

Wednesday 31 January 2024

All good things must come to an end. No sightseeing today. I worked under the sink trying to strap the bundle of utility lines out of  harm's way as the slide comes in and out. The space is small and..... well, I'm not. Diane did laundry and made a trip to the grocery and drug store. I had tried several times but could not fix the lines. So I quit. Try it again tomorrow. Happy hour arrived a bit early😀this evening. Again today, good weather prevailed.

Thursday 1 February 2024

This week is almost over. I worked on and finally was successful securing the lines under the sink. And I had half of my tools in the kitchen brought in one at a time and ended up grinding out a flange to allow the lines to pass safely.

    Diane tracked down a shrimper that sells off the boat to the public. The lady was great explained how the best way to freeze them and went on to say down here they sell shrimp with the heads on, headless shrimp are referred to as shrimp tails. So Diane bought several pounds on shrimp "tails".

   For our last night here in Bayou La Batre we went out for dinner. The restaurant of choice was Catalina's. Not much to look at but food was great. Diane was eyeing up crab-au gratin, it was funny the waitress looked at her and shook her head 'no'. So she switched to Royal Red's a local shrimp reddish in color (no surprise). I ordered the seafood platter 'grilled'. The food came out Diane could only eat have of her shrimp. I on the other hand ate most of mine, grilled oysters (the best), shrimp, crab claws (small but tasty), crab cake (OK), catfish (took home) and both came with slaw and fries. It was great.

A great end to a weeklong stay. Tomorrow we are off to Mid Bay campground in Niceville FL.