Big Donation Bucks Bicycling to Bubba’s Bayou

We awoke the next morning thoroughly disappointed that no alligator had visited us. We watched the sun rise over the lake then ate a quick breakfast before our friend Lisa and her brother-in-law Tony came by. It is a great comfort to see familiar, friendly faces when you’ve been out on the road.

Lisa agreed to lighten our load by taking some nonessential items back to Louisville for us. We each got rid of a few things, and it was enough to make cycling easier. Thanks Lisa and Tony!

Before leaving Gulf State Park, we hiked a trail for a bit, and saw a huge spider on its web. It was early morning and it was already scorching on the boardwalk trail. We met what we thought was a kindred cycling couple until they peppered us with somewhat inane gear questions and the woman thought the 1800 mile Underground Railroad bike route was all underground!! The first several miles out of the park were fabulous! All on bike trail mostly through wooded areas. Very peaceful and beautiful. 

Once on the road, it was still beautiful, but unbelievably hot with no shade surrounded by sand.However the traffic wasn’t too bad for the most part. We stopped for a rest at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge where we met Henry McIntire from Tuscaloosa. We enjoyed visiting with him, and he gave us a donation for the Alzheimer’s Association! He had a grandparent who suffered from it.

Onward to the ferry! We got to the ferry right before boarding- hurray! It was a thoroughly fun experience. The boat has an observation area so you can see where you’re going. While standing up there, a couple offered to take our picture and we struck up a conversation with them. Debbie and Darryl were great conversationalists... and it turns out they’re from Elizabethtown! Small world! 

Although the ferry was headed to Dauphin Island, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water as we neared the shore.

Once back on land, we got another donation from Daphne as we left the ferry lot. We went to check out Fort Gaines which was instrumental in the Battle of Mobile Bay before heading toJT’s Sunset Grill for a late lunch/early dinner. 

After our meal, as we were about to leave, the bartender and another couple began asking questions about our trip. By the time we left, we had our third donation of the day, this time from Kent Curry. 

We are surprised, humbled and grateful for these donations out of the blue! We are cycling hard every day in hopes of raising awareness and funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. Our goal is to raise one dollar for every mile we think we’ll cycle on our way to San Diego.  We’ve raised about $1100 so far.

After leaving JT’s, we cycled for the last time across the intercoastal waterway. This was like the others, a huge, steep bridge in the middle of the span. But different than other times, we also rode for quite a while on a flat part that hopped across the different pieces of land. The marshes and estuaries were so beautiful with lots of birds to watch.

We cycled to Bayou LaBatre. Many of you will remember this place from Forrest Gump. His army buddy Bubba was from there, and they had a shrimping business. Well, Bayou LaBatre  is still a shrimping community, and we saw several boats which were charming outlined against the sunset.

We arrived at our hotel (the only one in town), only to find it sub par. The gentleman at the desk was very kind, and offered us a first floor room because we had bikes. Well, that room was awful, so we opted for the second floor room, even though that meant carrying the 36 pound bikes up a flight of steps, and of course back down in the morning. ( not to mention the 100 pounds of pannier bags!)

Total cycling mileage: 49

Total hiking mileage: 4