Thinking about Alabama Point, back in the day
Earby Markham
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Alabama Point, AKA the Jetties (west side) and Zondo’s (east side) of Perdido Pass was a central point for water-based fun back before the area exploded for me and many others that I know/knew.
Of course, they were two favorite surf sites for us, except for the resident hammerheads.
But on days there wasn’t any rideable surf there was still lots to do. Fishing, crabbing, swimming, picnicking or just soaking up the sunshine.
It was here, that I exhibited one of my many failures of common sense and jumped from the apex of the old bridge (south side) resulting in one hell of a nosebleed and ears that rang for days. Obviously, I survived. Now please, stop shaking your heads, some of y’all did it too.
Often, we would jump from the sea wall and swim out to the huge concrete pilings supporting the bridge and risk getting our hands and knees and feet sliced up by the razor-sharp marine growth so we could climb up on their bases.
Over a decade or so, I made dozens of dives, drifting along the sea wall with the changing tides and gathering Stone Crab claws. Man, oh man, talk about some seriously good eating!
And on many summer Saturdays I cold water showered and changed from my board shorts to my cord OP walk shorts and Hang Ten T-shirt at the public restroom there but more often at the one beside Seaside Trailer Park for an evening with friends hanging out at the old Hangout in downtown Gulf Shores. Looking back through my memories, the times felt like a blend of Happy Days, Flipper and That ‘70s Show.
Well, times change and because the area has modernized you can no longer do many of those things.
The old two-lane bridge has been replaced with a much taller and wider one and it’s safety fenced so folks can’t jump off it any longer.
It’s now illegal to scuba dive there or to swim across the pass, because it’s unsafe due to the greatly increased amount of boat traffic.
We won’t even mention how much the landscape has changed, from open vistas to a sickening overabundance of hotels, condos and restaurants. But hey, everyone wants their slice of the beach.
As the saying goes, you should have seen it back then.
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