What a day… it started with a 3:45 a.m. wake-up call (after a long NBA game on ABC 33/40 last night!), and a quick morning drive down I-65 and Alabama 59 to Gulf Shores. No time today for the roads less traveled; the main mission today was shooting a series of video clips to be used in a big children’s ministry event at my church next week (yeah, I am a pirate this year, as you probably know). I coach a youth baseball team, and there simply has been no time to get the beach video done until today.
I do want to thank Johnny Fisher and Nina Gonzalez at Lulu’s, and everybody at Pirate’s Island and the Hangout for their assistance today. Also thanks to J.P. Spann (our oldest son), and his friend Angela Kennedy for their help; I could not have done it without them. I only wish we had more time… many people were down there from our part of the state. We did get our mission accomplished; now comes the editing. I will spend lots of time with Final Cut and my computer this weekend.
OIL MESS: We knew that the oil slick was very close to the Alabama coast, so after wrapping up our video shoot we went to the Gulf Shores public beach to take a look. Everything looked great. Big crowd, a sunny sky, white sand, and the beautiful surf of the Gulf of Mexico. A scene I have enjoyed for many, many summers. No sign of any oil, and no oil smell. I was very encouraged.
I was beginning to notice some Facebook and Twitter traffic about oil being reported on the Alabama coast, so we took the time to drive 20 miles west to Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Same thing… no oil, no odor. Just the beautiful Alabama coast. It was great to see the old Fort, along with the Lighthouse that has been on guard over that spot for so long.
As we got ready to head north, we heard more reports of oil issues near the Alabama State Park property and the new pier, but there was no time to investigate. A crew from ABC 33/40 was coming into town as we were leaving (Honora Gathings, Jeff Myers and David Polk), and it was during our 5:00 news that the crew showed live video of the oil coming onshore at the public beach, basically in the very spot where we were standing just three hours earlier. The video was incredible. And very, very sad. And, we had the first live video of the oil coming into Gulf Shores… what a great job by this crew.
OUR PICTURES: So below are pictures taken just hours before the oil arrived. And, below that set, are images sent to us this evening from Charles Bell, who writes:
“These images are from west beach at the Sea Oats beach in Gulf Shores, Al. I am from Eutaw and my girlfriend is from Moundville and we were the only ones who were picking anything up. Everyone else acted like nothing was going on and it was just sad. It was sad to see something like this, that was a man-made disaster, and no one is doing anything to clean it, where we went. People were still playing on the beach and swimming in the waters like nothing was going on… Just thought i would send these in and hopefully people start seeing that it is here in there backyards and start doing something about it.
Long time readers here know my love for the Alabama coast, and perhaps you have read my “Spann’s Best Way To The Bama Beaches” posts over the years. It is always a joy to be there, and I have to wonder what kind of serious environmental damage is ahead for this true Alabama treasure in the days, weeks, and months ahead. They will have my prayers, for sure.
