I never expected to see such beauty in Alabama but the coastal island at Mobile Bay was breathtaking. Our daughter and son-in-law invited us to stay with them at a Dauphin Island beach house for four days. We flew onto the short runway on the long, thin island which has about six square miles of land. Not a touristy spot, we almost had the white sandy beach to ourselves.
The island has an Audubon Bird Sanctuary and the George Crozier Estuarium which was fun to tour. Other activities, besides sunning, swimming and boogie boarding, include taking the ferry, fishing, and feeding the seagulls. My granddaughter and I toured Fort Gaines, an 1860’s Civil War site. 
A small grocery and hardware store on the island had much of what we needed, and we found a place that sold local seafood. We attended the Dauphin Island Baptist Church on Sunday morning and took an evening boat ride to watch the sun set while looking for dolphins. We saw many in one spot but they did not come close.
All together, a very relaxing getaway.