Summer may be winding down, but the Gulf Coast events calendar shows no signs of slowing. This weekend’s lineup ranges from waterslides and balloon art to Civil War history, ghost stories and an interactive art exhibit built entirely from repurposed materials. Residents looking to round out the last weeks of summer can also pick up practical hurricane preparedness skills, dig into Mobile’s rich Black medical history, or watch some surprisingly athletic goats put their agility training to the test.
Whether the goal is staying cool, learning something new or simply enjoying a family outing, there’s no shortage of ways to fill the days ahead. Just don’t try to do everything at once — even the goats know the importance of pacing themselves.
Storm Ready
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System will host a hurricane preparedness workshop for homeowners and property managers. Topics include preparing gardens, chainsaw and generator basics, tree risk and selection, storm supply essentials, and food, water and sanitation planning. Lunch is provided. For more information, contact Carmen Flammini at [email protected] or (251) 395-0249.
When: Thursday, July 30, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Gulf Coast Eco Center, 1650 Eco Trail, Gulf Shores
Price: $10
The timing is no accident. July 30 falls squarely inside the heart of Atlantic hurricane season, when Gulf Coast residents are reminded each year that the most dangerous stretch of the calendar — from late August through October — is still ahead. Extension System workshops like this one have become a fixture of coastal preparedness in Baldwin County, where tree damage, extended power outages and cleanup logistics are recurring realities after major storms. Sessions covering chainsaw safety and generator use in particular address the practical skills most often needed in the first days after landfall, when professional crews are stretched thin.
Summer Sendoff
Orange Beach Parks and Recreation will host a summer celebration with activities for all ages as part of America’s 250 festivities. The event will feature a water slide, obstacle course, bubble truck, balloons by Jen’s Bay Balloons and a special area for younger children. Free pizza and beverages will be provided. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, towels and a change of clothes for children. Parking is available on-site, and residents are encouraged to use golf carts. For more information, email [email protected].
When: Friday, July 31, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Where: Waterfront Park, 26425 Canal Road, Orange Beach
Price: Free admission
The event is part of the build-up to America’s 250th anniversary observances, the multi-year run-up to the nation’s semiquincentennial that communities across Alabama are weaving into local programming. Waterfront Park on Canal Road sits along the Intracoastal Waterway corridor that defines much of Orange Beach’s western edge, and the city’s recreation department has used the venue for a growing slate of free family events in recent years. Golf cart access is a signature of Orange Beach life, and the city’s encouragement to arrive by cart keeps parking pressure down at one of its most popular green spaces.
162nd Battle of Mobile Bay Commemorative Day
Fort Gaines Historic Site will commemorate the 162nd Battle of Mobile Bay with living history activities throughout the day. The site’s historic cannon will be fired every 45 minutes in honor of the soldiers who fought in the pivotal Civil War battle. Visitors can explore the well-preserved fort that has guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay for more than 190 years while learning about its military history.
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Where: Fort Gaines Historic Site, Dauphin Island
Price: Regular Fort Gaines admission
Commemorations like this one tie directly to one of the most consequential naval actions of the Civil War. In August 1864, Adm. David Farragut’s Union fleet forced its way past the forts guarding Mobile Bay — Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan on the opposite point — in the engagement that gave American speech the phrase “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” The victory sealed off Mobile as a Confederate port and helped shorten the war’s final chapter. Fort Gaines itself, with its环形 ramparts, tunnels and original cannon emplacements, remains one of the best-preserved coastal fortifications on the Gulf, and the 45-minute cannon salvo schedule gives visitors a rhythmic reason to spend the whole day on the island.
Handle With Care
Mobile Museum of Art will present “Handle with Care,” an interactive exhibition created in partnership with Alabama Contemporary Art Center. Artists Calder Kamin and Jacob Reptile transform discarded fabrics, plastics and secondhand materials into sculptures that create an imagined landscape filled with alien-inspired flora and fauna. The exhibition explores local ecology, the environmental impact of waste and creative reuse, while encouraging visitors to interact with the artwork. For more information, contact (251) 208-5200.
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 10 a.m.
Where: Mobile Museum of Art, 4850 Museum Drive, Mobile
Price: Free with museum admission
The show brings together two of the city’s leading visual arts institutions, with the museum in Langan Park and the Alabama Contemporary Art Center downtown anchoring Mobile’s cultural map at opposite ends. Kamin and Reptile’s repurposed-materials approach gives the exhibition a hands-on appeal for families while carrying a pointed message about Gulf Coast waste streams — from storm debris to single-use plastics — that wash into Mobile Bay each year.
Goat Agility Training
Visitors to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo can watch goats navigate a specially designed agility course while trainers demonstrate positive reinforcement techniques. The program highlights the animals’ intelligence, agility, and physical and mental enrichment while providing an entertaining and educational experience.
When: Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 1-2, 10-10:15 a.m.
Where: Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, 20499 Oak Road E., Gulf Shores
Price: Included with regular paid admission
The demonstration is a short one by design — fifteen minutes, twice over the weekend — so families can catch it and still take in the rest of the zoo’s grounds. The Gulf Shores zoo, sometimes called the “little zoo that could” after its nationally covered relocation to higher ground away from its flood-prone original site, has built a reputation for up-close animal programming, and the positive-reinforcement training on display mirrors the modern husbandry standards now used across accredited zoos.
Healing the Community: Mobile Black Medical History Tour
The Dr. James Franklin Historic House & Gallery and the Mobile Medical Museum will present an immersive tour highlighting the contributions of African American medical professionals in Mobile’s history. Participants will learn about pioneering Black physicians, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and healthcare advocates who served the community during segregation. The tour includes visits to historic neighborhoods and sites associated with Black-owned pharmacies, hospitals and clinics, and features historic photographs, medical devices and interpretive exhibits.
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 1-3 p.m.
Where: Historic Franklin House & Gallery, 355 N. Ann St., Mobile
Price: $20 for members, $25 for nonmembers, $15 for students
The tour documents a chapter of the city’s medical history that was long under-recorded: the network of Black doctors, druggists and midwives who built institutions of care in segregated Mobile, often when no mainstream hospital would admit their patients. North Ann Street sits in one of the historic neighborhoods central to that story, and the partnership between the Franklin house and the Mobile Medical Museum — one of the few free-standing medical museums in the country — makes the program a rare chance to see period instruments and records in the very district where much of that history unfolded.
Haunted History Ghost Walking Tour
Foley Walking Tours will lead a family-friendly ghost tour exploring Foley’s haunted history. Participants will hear stories of restless spirits, unexplained events and local legends while walking through historic areas of the city at twilight. For more information, contact (251) 324-5434 or email [email protected].
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 7-8 p.m.
Where: Foley Welcome Center, 104 N. McKenzie St., Foley
Price: $35 for adults, $27 for children ages 5-12
The one-hour walk starts and ends at the Foley Welcome Center, the brick landmark a block from the city’s downtown railroad corridor, and keeps its stories suitable for younger listeners. Foley’s history — a railroad town built around the Louisville and Nashville line that still bisects the city — supplies plenty of material for local legend, and the twilight timing turns the tour into a natural end to a day spent at the beach or at the archery tournament across town.
With events running from Gulf Shores to Dauphin Island to downtown Mobile, the weekend rewards a little planning: the morning zoo demo in Gulf Shores, the afternoon fort commemoration or the medical history tour, and the evening ghost walk in Foley can all fit into a single Saturday for anyone willing to cover some interstate miles. Hurricane season waits for no one, though — and the $10 Thursday morning workshop in Gulf Shores may prove, in hindsight, to be the most valuable ticket of the week.