Our path off Dauphin Island today started out with a 6 mile ferry ride across the bay. Without that ferry ride, we would have needed to climb the bridge we came in on yesterday, and add about 70 miles to our trip. The ferry ride was an easy decision, and included in the planning from the start. Here is a look down from the upper deck with assorted vehicles, and our bikes.
Once we got back on our bikes, there is a long peninsula going East-West with a single road. Fortunately it isn’t heavily travelled, but also isn’t very scenic. The surprise of the day for me was that our route planners found some nice paved trails that took us off the main roads.
It reminded me of the trails ride I did in Northern Minnesota in the fall of 2023, with different types of vegetation & about 30 degrees warmer. All of a sudden, the trails ended & here is what we saw:
Gulf Shores, AL. Lots of development & traffic. Quite a contrast from the extensive network of trails we had just ridden through. This is also the Eastern edge of Alabama, and I had to stop in to see the Florabama Lounge. It is famous in this area for live music, beach front parties & of course multiple bars. It sits almost at the Alabama-Florida border & here is the only picture I got that proves we are in Florida:
The ride today was 63 miles (including the mileage on the ferry even though we weren’t pedaling). Because there is so much water down here, we continue to have bridges to climb so ships can get underneath. They are extra work on the bicycle, but nothing as hard as the Dauphin Island bridge I described yesterday. When I got to the top of one today, I stopped to get a picture of this yacht. 
Can’t even imagine how much that cost.
Another great day of biking, and we normally finish off the day with a group dinner. Tonight’s choice was Italian & 7 of us went to the slowest restaurant I’ve ever experienced. Great food, but my business mind says they could be more successful if they could figure out how to get customers in and out quicker. We always have something to talk about - getting to know new people & hearing their stories. Of course we are quite hungry after a day on the bicycle also, but we made it through.