If you're planning to be on Dauphin Island the weekend of December 9th and 10th, you will want to stop by the 22nd installment of Christmas at the Fort, at Fort Gaines Historic Site on Dauphin Island.
Christmas at the Fort is a traditional celebration patterned after a letter written home by James M. Williams with the 21st Alabama Infantry Volunteers stationed at Fort Gaines in 1861. Organizers of this living history weekend have built Christmas at the Fort as a non-commercial celebration for the whole family. The kids can make Christmas ornaments from seashells and visit with father noel. The whole family will enjoy cooking demonstrations, candle dipping, blacksmithing and much more. Christmas at the Fort runs December 9th and 10th.
The 13th annual "Colonial Isle Dauphine" will take place on Dauphin Island at the Fort Gaines Historic Site from 9am to 5pm on November 12-13.
This living history weekend will explore various aspects of life on the Gulf Coast in the early 1800's. Soldiers in uniforms reminiscent of the era will demonstrate drills and firing of the fort's cannon. Women will cook over an open hearth. Traders will be nearby displaying their wares for sale to fort denizens.
Fort Gaines Historic Site is located at 51 Bienville Blvd. on the eastern tip of Dauphin Island.
Mobile Parade of Homes is set for the next two weekends October 14-15 and October 21-22.
Flat-screen, plasma televisions, automatic lighting, security cameras, surround-sound systems in every room, an automated movie screen in the media room, the brick patio even has an outdoor cooking station.
The latest in home construction and decor will be featured at the 49th annual Parade of Homes sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Metro Mobile Oct. 14 and 15, then 21 and 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be 33 homes by 22 builders in 21 subdivisions open for viewing. The homes range in price from the low $100s to more than $700,000. Most of the homes are in west Mobile, and one is located on Dauphin Island.
There is a new attraction on Dauphin Island today. After several years in planning, the salt marsh educational pier is open to the public. The new pier is an educational element of a larger salt marsh conservation and restoration project. It was funded jointly by grants from the Alabama state Lands Division and from Bridgestone/Firestone.
For many Dauphin Island visitors the new educational pier will be the first thing they see on Dauphin Island. It's located right next to the ferry landing on Dauphin Island's east end.
A self-guided tour through Shell Mound Park is a "must do" during any Dauphin Island vacation.
Shell Mound park is probably the single most visited spot for birds returning to the Alabama Gulf Coast after their long spring migration north over the Gulf of Mexico. For this reason Shell Mound Park is a hot spot for birders through the migration seasons.
But don't take our word for it. Read what the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has to say about Dauphin Island's Shell Mound Park:
The Shell Mounds and Dauphin Island in general are renowned "hot-spots" for observing neotropical migrant birds, and attract birders from around the U.S. each spring and fall. Dauphin Island is the first point of land encountered by migrants during their spring migration across the Gulf of Mexico. The entire Island is a bird sanctuary.
Indian Shell Mound Park is located on the northern shore of Dauphin Island. The park is maintained and administered by Alabama Marine Resources Division.
Shell Mound Park consists of eleven acres of subtropical natural beauty. The park is a botanical treasure-trove unlike that found on any other Gulf barrier island.
Many plant species which can be found at Shell Mound Park are representatives of families found as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains and from as far south as Yucatan state, Mexico. Many of them were likely transported here hundreds of years ago by Indian groups for medicinal and culinary purposes.
The park is full of giant moss-draped live oaks. Some are estimated to be in excess of 800 years old. You'll see trees which were mature specimens when the Spaniards first visited the shores of Dauphin Island in 1519.
Dauphin Island's Shell Mound Park is popular with vacationers, student groups, elder-hostels and birding groups. An estimated 25,000 people visit the Mounds each year.
Call Alabama Marine Resources Division (251) 861-2882 for more info.