We can’t quite believe it, but we are in Mississippi already. The Beautiful Alabama (which was truly stunning) flashed before our eyes and, all of a sudden, was but a memory. But what a memory it is.
We started our day with one of the best stretches of road that we have encountered so far. Leaving Gulf Shores (you will have seen what that place looks like from our photos yesterday), we headed out along another beautiful peninsula to Fort Morgan, in order to catch the Mobile Bay ferry to Dauphin Island. The first thing we noticed was that we were travelling along a Grand Cru Classé road surface, with a LeBron James shoulder, and even strategically placed mile markers to help us keep track of our progress on our 22-mile journey to the ferry (if we missed it, we would have had to wait 90 minutes for the next…eek squeak). We held our breath without commenting to each other on this wonderful state of affairs for fear of jinxing it. But we were not disappointed.
The next thing we realised was that the scenery was getting even more spectacular. We rode through dunes, and then forests. Next, we looked to one side and were treated to a panorama of sandbanks just peeping out from the flat waters of the bay, with little clusters of birds perched on them almost like they were sitting on the water itself. A bit further on, and we cycled alongside a whole stretch of shoreline with little beach houses along the water, painted in different pastel colours, and all pristinely turned out. Then as we approached the ferry itself, wild beach again, which seemed vaguely familiar. Once we had boarded the ferry, with minutes to spare, we found out from Steven, the ferry attendant, that the beach that we had just been admiring was the one used in Sweet Home Alabama (you remember – the bit with the lightening rods and the rain etc…). How exciting!
So, we arrived safely in Dauphin Island, and then cycled across the steepest bridge yet onto the mainland (Anthony remarked as we approached that it looked like an Evil Knievel ramp…although Kat thought that he sounded a little too happy about that as he started to pedal faster and faster towards the top). Not much further on, and we were cycling through the little town of Bayou La Batre...another movie moment, as this is where Bubba’s shrimping boat was in Forrest Gump. What a day!
From there, it was a hop, skip and a jump into Mississippi, where we have stopped for the night, and a rest day tomorrow: our bodies definitely need it. On Thursday, we’ll be off again, bound for a weekend in New Orleans, and the state of Louisiana…
Us x
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