This is it, Summer-06's last hurrah. The last big vacation weekend of the summer, Labor Day weekend. And what a weekend it's going to be on Dauphin Island. The island will be full of long weekend revelers.
Anglers from all along the Gulf Coast will be headed to Dauphin Island this weekend for the Sertoma/Pepsi Family Fishing Rodeo. That is, those who aren't going for half-ton sized fish at the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Tournament.
Dauphin Island beach goers will line Bienville Blvd and pack the beach parking lots to get one final, glorious long weekend in the sand and sun.
Dauphin Island condos, hotels and vacation rental homes are booked solid for Labor Day weekend 2006.
Just remember, the year isn't over with this weekend. Yes, it's been a great summer. But on the Alabama Gulf Coast summer extends well into autumn. There are still plenty of warm sunny weekends to plan that 2006 Dauphin Island beach vacation.
Coastal communities look for big Labor Day weekend business
With Tropical Storm Ernesto no longer a local threat, tourism officials in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach said they expect big crowds this holiday weekend, hopefully helping offset last year's Labor Day, when Hurricane Katrina turned Alabama's beaches into virtual ghost towns.
As Ernesto churned in the Caribbean last weekend, and early projections called for it to smash the Gulf Coast, officials feared the worst.
Once the storm weakened and shifted east over Florida, it signaled good news for the Alabama coast, a region that missed out on the traditional end of summer bonanza last year.
"We all breathed a little sigh of relief," said Marie Curran, the director of marketing and reservations for Brett/Robinson, a real estate conglomerate that manages more than 1,500 rental units.
"We hate to see the hurricane go anywhere, but we're happy it's not going in this direction. I think that's a common thought along the Gulf Coast."
Curran said all of the real estate conglomerate's 1,856 condo units are booked for this weekend.
Officials with some hotels and rental companies dealt with questions and cancellations when Ernesto appeared destined for the Gulf Coast. With the threat removed, officials prepared for an influx of visitors.
"That was real good news for us," said Connie Carlisle, the director of reservations for Kaiser Realty, which has about 600 rental properties on Pleasure Island.
Carlisle said she expects to rent about 80 percent of the company's units this weekend.
Some hotels along Alabama's Gulf Coast experienced spikes in reservations during the early part of the week. At the Hilton Garden Inn in Orange Beach on Thursday, a front-desk clerk said the hotel had only four rooms available for this weekend.