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Friday, November 30, 2001 - Gulf Coast at Last
56 miles. Spanish Harbor, AL to Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, AL
We got on the road at 7:30 to an overcast sky but
with a west wind that would help us some during the day for a change. Reaching
the mainland we rode south paralleling U.S. 98 thru scenic and hilly Daphne
(pop. 11,290), Montrose (pop. 1400), and Fairhope (pop. 8485) where we had a
hearty breakfast.
By then the sky had cleared completely leaving a
deliciously cool afternoon to ride in. We have been waxing on about how happy we
are with this weather, lows in the 40's tonight, sunny and 60's in the days
coming up and have been looked upon askance as crazy northerners.
The route then hugged the bay for about 10 miles past
many very posh and exclusive homes flanking the water. They were all back from
the road and secluded by the forest of live oak, pine and magnolia. Bay front
piers with pagodas abound and some have guest houses larger than our house in
Ann Arbor.
Turning away from the Bay on U.S. 98 the route climbed
to a low upland on excellent rural Alabama roads with cotton [not harvested yet]
and pecan groves in evidence before turning south on AL-59 to the gulf 10 miles
away. Here we solved an annoying problem with my left pedal which was making an
irritating click with each pedal stroke. Joan and I switched the left pedals and
voila, problem solved.
Crossing the Intracoastal Waterway we rode thru Gulf
Shores (pop. 3261) where we rejoined the main route, and were confronted with Ferris
wheels, amusement parks, many hotels and the myriad shops, restaurants, etc.
that are the life support of modern leisure in the USA. Chuck Berry got it
right, "Anything you want, they've got it in the USA.
"Fortunately for us late November is way off
season and the five lane wide beachfront boulevard was largely vacant as were
most of the hotels. We continued on AL-182 and are camping at Gulf State Park.
We took the long way in and added at least 3-4 miles to our resume, but they
were very scenic. Tomorrow: Florida.
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