Mobile Bay

Site of a great Union naval victory in the American Civil War. Aug. 5, 1864: Admiral David Farragut commanded the USS Hartford, flagship of a Union navy fleet that captured three Confederate forts south of Mobile. During this battle, the ironclad USS Tecumseh hit a mine and sank. Farragut famously cried "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

Union success in this battle, and the capture of Atlanta, rescued Abraham Lincoln's sputtering re-election bid.

Today one of the dirtiest parts of the Gulf Coast. At a recent party, me and a few friends went running through the low tide... three of us had cuts, three of us had infections the next day even though we nursed the wounds. The scary part is that almost all seafood available in this area originates in the Bay.