Alabama’s gulf coast

Travel Writer

My first thought was that I

had taken a wrong turn. This couldn’t be Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. That’s known for long stretches of magnificent sand and unspoiled nature.

I was passing glitzy highrise condominium buildings and restaurants ranging from gourmet elegant to beachdive casual.

It wasn’t long, though, before I understood. I was in a something-for-everyone place. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach combine attractions available at many sunand-sand destinations with a number of enticing add-ons.

Those who like to commune with Mother Nature have plenty of opportunities. Active types may choose from a long list of pursuits. Folks seeking learning experiences head for museums devoted to a diversity of topics.

Granted, beach tourism is why many people visit Gulf Shores, a town of about 12,000 residents; Orange Beach, with about half that number, and the sun-drenched area surrounding them. Tan-seekers find a total of 32 miles of pristine white quartz sand lapped by the blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have eight miles of beach. Gulf State Park encompasses two miles, and Fort Morgan fronts 14 miles of seashore.

Pentagon-shaped Fort Morgan was completed in 1834 to strengthen the country’s coastal defense following the War of 1812. The site contains historic military buildings, artillery batteries and a museum with exhibits of weapons, photographs and letters written by soldiers who served there. A living history program interprets the military periods in the fort’s active life. To top it off, the setting overlooks a broad, snow-hued beach.

While Gulf State Park is home to the shortest stretch of beach, other claims to fame account for its popularity. Nine ecosystems nestled in its 6,000-plus acres include pine forests, coastal hardwood swamps and freshwater marshes. Boggy streams and three spring-fed lakes are among the water features.

A backcountry trail complex stretches for 28 miles. Hikers may spot white-tailed deer, an alligator basking in the sun and even a bobcat looking for its dinner. Boating and fishing are available and, for those seeking modest accommodations, there are cabins, cottages and campsites.

Visitors seeking a more extensive selection of activities also are in luck. Kayaking and paddle boarding attract people of all ages. Dinner, sunset and dolphin watching cruises appeal to those preferring to take to sea without any effort.

Lake and ocean fishing tempt anglers. Some try their luck off a pier stretching 1,540 foot over the Gulf of Mexico’s water.

Snorkelers and divers also find much to like. Artificial reefs provide experiences geared to everyone from children and beginners to advanced divers.

Golfers may spend time on 14 courses either in the immediate area or within an hour’s drive. Two of them, Craft Farms and Kiva Dunes, have ranked high on Golf Digest “best courses” lists.

People who prefer indoor pursuits also are in luck. Small museums provide insight into the region’s history and character.

The Gulf Shores Museum is located in a pre-World War II beach house. A permanent exhibits tell the story of 19th century settlers and of hurricanes, including how they originate and how a community rebuilds from their destruction. Rotating displays deal with a variety of other topics.

In keeping with its name, the Orange Beach Indian & Sea Museum provides introductions to the area’s Native American and fishing heritages. The USS Alabama at Battleship Memorial Park, an hour drive away in Mobile, is home to the massive ship, which saw action for 37 months during World War II, a World War I submarine and a collection of historic aircraft.

An hour’s drive in the other direction leads to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla. Despite its name, the collection of more than 250 aircraft represents every military branch. The complex also is home to the famous Blue Angels, the aerobatic team of Navy and Marine aviators who thrill onlookers with their literal flights of fancy.

Battle ships and historic airplanes, golf and a Gulf-related museum might seem to have little in common with an inviting beach destination, and that’s the point.

Inclusion of the place on “Top 10” and “Most Beautiful” lists is based upon the magnificent stretches of sand as well as the long list of other attractions that the Gulf Coast and Orange Beach offers those who go there. As one repeat visitor told me, “I came here the first time for the beaches. Now I return for everything else.”

Submitted photos

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AUBURN — The Androscoggin Historical Society will host a program on the Poland Spring Resort Tuesday, March 26, beginning at 7 p.m. at the society’s Davis-Wagg Museum on the third floor of the County Building at Court and Turner streets. Presenters Cyndi Robbins and Laura Brown will tell stories about the facilities and the guests who have stayed at this legendary location in Androscoggin County.

A huge hotel, the Poland Spring House attracted vacationers who were the economic and social elite of the country. The resort purchased the Maine State Building from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Other features are the golf course, the chapel and iconic bottling plant.

Robbins has called Poland Spring home since 1971. Starting as a waitress at the age of 16, she became an owner along side her late husband Mel. She has given hundreds of tours at Poland Spring, and happily shares share her stories and the history.

Laura Brown has been on the property since before she could walk. From volunteering in the museum gift shop at the young age of five, to giving tours at age 13, and now on the board of directors for the Preservation Society, she too has fallen in love with the unique history of Poland Spring.

Admission for this program is free, although donations are gratefully accepted. For more information about the society, call 207-784-0586 or visit www.androhistory.org. Enter the County Building at the side door on Court Street and proceed to the third floor. An elevator is available.

LEWISTON —SeniorsPlus has announced its Education Center classes for March 2019. Classes are held at 8 Falcon Road, Lewiston, Maine 04240, unless noted. Classes are free, unless noted. SeniorsPlus is fully accessible. Hearing Assistive Equipment is available upon request. Please register for classes by calling 795-4010 or 1-800-427-1241. For more information, visit seniorsplus. org/education-center. These are just some of the classes:

Date: Tuesday, March 26

Time: 10 a.m.–noon

Instructor: Chris Davis, Workforce Development Specialist at New Ventures Maine

In this workshop, you will use a fun and unique “Money Habitudes” game to identify your money management style. This helps you learn how your habits and attitudes towards money affect your decisions and actions related to money. The results of your card-sort activity will act as a starting point to become more comfortable managing your money.

Date: Thursday, March 28

Time: 11 a.m.–noon

Instructor: Chloe Giampaolo

Learn how boosting self-esteem prevents health problems for seniors. Look at what people with good self-esteem do, five healthy ways you can boost your self-confidence, and discuss the good and bad effects of cortisol (the hormone in your body as related to self-esteem).

Date: Thursdays, March 28–May 16 (no class April 11 or 18)

Time: 4–6:30 p.m.

Instructors: SeniorsPlus

Location: Lewiston Adult Education

This is a six-week long workshop for those who want to learn ways to better manage their pain. Participants of this interactive workshop learn ways to deal with frustration, fatigue, poor sleep, and isolation. You will also learn appropriate exercises for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility, endurance, and techniques for pacing activity and rest. To register, call SeniorsPlus at 207795-4010 or Lewiston Adult Education at 207-795-4141.

Dates: Fridays, February 15–April 5

Time: 9–10 a.m.

Instructor: Mary Bishop

This class is designed to help with ease of movement and breath; finding stability and strength through yoga poses with variations for every ability.

Date: Wednesdays

Time: 5–7:30 p.m.

Work on your own project or learn how to knit – bring yarn and knitting needles.

Date: Monday, March 25

Time: 2–4 p.m.

This peer-facilitated group was formed by participants of the Living Well with Chronic Pain workshop. This group meets on the fourth Monday of each month. This for people who have chronic pain.

Date: Tuesdays, March 5–April 9 (six sessions)

Time: 3:30–6 p.m.

Instructors: SeniorsPlus staff

Location: Franklin Adult Education Conference Room, 129 Seamon Road, Suite A, Farmington

Lean real-life skills for living a full, healthy life with diabetes. This six-week workshop will help provide you with strategies you need to enjoy life to its fullest.

If you are a fly fisherman whose passion is casting a line over landlocked salmon across moving water, Grand Lake Stream is the next thing to paradise. Since 1875, the state fish hatchery on the stream has been part of the GLS scene, and the source of salmon that populate the stream and the adjoining West Grand Lake.

Over the years, the GLS hatchery has produced annually 80,000 catchable brook trout and landlocked salmon. In fact, according to Lisa Kane, a spokesman, for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the GLS hatchery is the source of 75 percent of the landlocked salmon stocked statewide in Maine waters. In November, the state trap nets spawning wild salmon in the lake to take eggs that are then incubated and grown in the hatchery.

In the past few years, a number of structural upgrades have been made at the hatchery. Suddenly, in the summer of 2016, disaster struck. With the surface temperature of the water on the lake hovering near 80 degrees, the hatchery lost 30,000 brook trout fingerlings. The salmon fared better, but some were lost due to the unsuitably warm water being taken from the lake by the hatchery intake pipe.

The solution, if this crisis was to be avoided in the future, was to rebuild the intake pipe and extend it two miles into colder water at 52 feet. Four million dollars, from a variety of sources, was allocated for the pipe repair project. It was a major undertaking that involved moving fish to other locations. Additionally, there were some unhappy anglers as the construction project muddied the stream and made fishing next to impossible.

All is well that ends well, however.

Kane writes, “Construction of the pipeline began this August and was essentially completed by the end of November. Final grading, seeding and landscaping at the lake shore where the pipe connects with the hatchery line will occur as soon as weather permits in spring 2019. New valves on the shoreline allow for water temperatures to be blended from ‘shallow’ and ‘deep’ as lake water is gravity fed to a new head box. Other improvements included the replacement of the antiquated UV water treatment system with the latest available modern UV equipment.”

It is good to know, come spring, Grand lake Stream will be back to normal. The hatchery will be humming along with colder, more reliable incubation water for our future game fish, and open day anglers will only have to worry about flow levels and a pool that’s not taken.

By the way, if you have a Maine Sportsman’s license plate on your vehicle, take a bow. Your dollars for that plate helped underwrite the cost of the hatchery repair project.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program, “Maine Outdoors,” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books; online purchase information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.

AUBURN — Auditions have been announced for Lewiston/Auburn Community Little Theatre’s upcoming production of Alan Ball’s hilarious comedy “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.” The open auditions will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 24, and Monday, March 25, at the Great Falls Performing Arts Center, 30 Academy St. The theater will present the show June 7 through 16. Jackie McDonald will direct, assisted by Renee Davis and produced by Cody Watson.

In this production, five very different bridesmaids find themselves hiding together in an upstairs bedroom, hoping to escape the wedding reception of a bride that — they soon realize — none of them really like! In this cramped bedroom above the wedding, these five identically dressed women talk, laugh, argue, cry, console one another and slowly become friends.

• Frances — a highly religious, but sweet cousin (Female: young adult/adult).

• Meredith — the rebellious little sister of the bride (Female: young adult/adult).

• Trisha — a jaded beauty whose pessimism and doubts about men are proved false when she meets Tripp Davenport. (Female: young adult/adult). • Georgeanne — a friend from high school whose marriage is falling apart. (Female: young adult/adult).

• Mindy — a blunt, good-hearted lesbian who is the sister of the groom. (Female: young adult/adult).

• Tripp — an usher at the wedding. (Male: young adult/adult).

The production team is looking for a variety of ages and looks. For more information, visit L/A CLT’s website at www.laclt.com or its Facebook page, contact by phone at 207-783-0958, or email.

141 Howe Street P.O. Box 7110 Bus: 207-784-0309 Fax: 207-784-0527

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