We had a fairly short trip to Fairhope, AL. The winds continue to be in the mid/upper 20 knots and the day started out rather gloomy but cleared up as the day progressed. For the last few hours of the trip we had quite the following of birds. It seemed like they thought we were a fishing ship. Lots of squawking going on. The marina we stayed at in Fairhope was rather rundown but we ended up with very friendly and helpful dockmates.

Fairhope is an interesting town. It was established in 1894 by a group of Populist Reformers, who established a Single Tax Colony. There mission was to: "establish and conduct a model community or colony, free from all forms of private monopoly, and to secure to its members therein equality of opportunity, the full reward of individual efforts, and the benefits of co-operation in matters of general concern." The community incorporated as the Fairhope Industrial Association and purchased a large tract of land and leased it back to the individuals, charging an annual rent (the single use tax) in return for municipal services. The association retained the bluff and the waterfront property for the use and enjoyment of the community.

To this day, homeowners and merchants still lease parcels of land and the the Association pays all state and local taxes form the rent and manages a fund to make community improvements.

The town is beautifully maintained with about 8 blocks of stores and restaurants which are beautifully landscaped with plants and flowers.

We stayed 3 days in Fairhope and rented a car to explore the town and nearby Mobile AL for a couple of days. We also spent a few hours visiting the Caterpillar dealer and various marine stores to get supplies for changing the oil and other small repairs. The two main highlights of the day trips were to going to a nature reserve and seeing the insect-eating pitcher plant and going to Mobile to the Carnival museum. Who knew that Mobile, Al had had the longest history of celebrating Mardi Gras in the U.S? Not us.

They started having parades in 1703 (17 years before Louisiana) and have the biggest celebration in the country with 19 days of parades and over 225 floats. 11% of the working population of Mobile is employed in some aspect of their Mardi Gras festivities.

We also took a car tour of the historic districts in Mobile and saw a lot of lovely homes on wide streets, lined with old oaks. Mobile was not destroyed in the Civil war, and thus has over 800+ homes on the historic preservation registry.