Just outside of Fairhope Alabama which was once ranked #2 for the best place to retire in the United States and is world famous for the Jubilee in which the seafood crowds the shallow water and litter the beaches, that would be a problem if it wasn't for the locals and strangely enough all of the Japaneses tourists that flock to this region every year and walk away with pounds of live ell, shrimp, crab, flounder and other prized fish.
Lies a campground called Blakeley State Park that many Alabamians enjoy on a yearly basis. It has walking trails that go on for miles and can seem endless to kids, the park rangers would walk the trails telling children about the bloody history and even legends of a hermit that has taken up residents in the deep woods, but if you can win the park ranger over he will show you something truly amazing that even the locals are unaware of.
He will ask “Would you like to see where the last battle of the Civil War took place?” and if you are like me your face will light up and you will eagerly say yes. He then will open an unassuming gate that is preventing vehicles from traveling down a dirt road. As you walk down the road the forest will give way to an open field that is covered in grass and hills, the dirt road travels right into the middle of the field. As you walk past the many hills that litter the field and look back you notice that they are man made and there are vertical boards dug into the hill so that the soldiers could stand there and shoot at the northern invaders in relative safety, but as for us kids we just wanted to test them out with pretend guns fighting off imaginary armies.
As you travel deeper into the field you come to a much bigger hill than the rest, this is Fort Blakely, the park ranger explained that this was were the last battle of the Civil War took place and showed where the cannons were once placed. It is an interesting site which is untarnished by the commercialism that is destroying most historical landmarks. The park ranger said there was an interior but sadly we were not allowed to go inside and it was sealed in a way that as hard as we tried, none of us kids could even find the entrance. As you explore the Fort have your kids look for Civil War bullets, they are everywhere in the forests of southern Alabama and see what free souvenirs they turn up with when you get back to camp.
Blakeley State Park is massive and there was so much to explore that it would be impossible to do so in a week of camping, but the Fort was highlight of the trip and it is only open upon request so be sure to ask. I would like to add that Blakeley State Park has some of the biggest crickets I have ever seen, they looked like miniature cannons and they cover the roads at night, which sounds awful as you drive. Besides the monster crickets, this is an amazing place to visit that your children will remember forever, you could go during the Mobile Mardi Gras or the Fairhope Jubilee and spend a few nights in the city or at the beach and a few nights camping.
They even have their own Sleepy Hollow Bridge that ominously creeks as you drive over it.
Lat: 30.7489404 Long: -87.9122382
