The Salt Line, Vol. 31: A Plane's Semester Abroad, a 20-Year Homework Assignment, and Fog at Sunset
Welcome back to The Salt Line — the Gulf Coast news roundup assembled by a man who read the words “fogging mission” in an official county notice today and has not emotionally recovered. Volume 31. The coffee is hot, the news is light, and one of our aircraft is leaving the country. Let’s get into it.
✈️ Fat Albert Is Taking a Gap Year
The Blue Angels’ beloved C-130 is leaving us: Fat Albert, who has been opening air shows since the 1970s, is headed to the United Kingdom for maintenance and won’t be back until the 2027 season. Fifty years of loyal service and the reward is a long restorative stay in England, which is exactly how I’d want to be thanked, minus the part where mechanics take me apart. One note for the scrapbook: this particular Fat Albert flew for the Royal Air Force before joining the Blues, so it’s less semester abroad and more going home to see its parents. We expect it back with a slight accent, a newfound appreciation for tea, and absolutely no patience for our humidity. Write when you land, big guy.
📋 Gulf Shores Would Like Your Answer in Essay Form
Gulf Shores has officially kicked off a new Comprehensive Plan and is asking residents what the city should look like twenty years from now. Between you and me, I’ve seen this exam before and there’s only one correct answer: “like Gulf Shores, but with somewhere to park.” Still, I genuinely love a city bold enough to hand every resident a twenty-year homework assignment in the middle of July, when most of us are struggling to plan dinner. Take the survey. Dream big. Someone has to be the person who writes “monorail” just to see if they’re reading these.
🦟 The County Has Scheduled a Mission at Sunset
Escambia County’s Mosquito Control Division announced it will conduct a fogging mission between Nine Mile and Ten Mile roads, beginning at sunset and continuing as weather conditions allow. I am simply reporting the facts here: the county called it a mission, it launches at sunset, and the theater of operations is the land between Mile Nine and Mile Ten. No commentary required. Somewhere out there a truck rolled out at golden hour, laying down fog along a one-mile front, and every mosquito in that corridor learned that the county does not forgive and does not forget. Godspeed to all involved.
🪪 MILO Is Coming to Town, Briefly, Bring Your Documents
The Escambia County Tax Collector’s Mobile Identification and Licensing Office — MILO, and yes, the DMV has a mobile unit with a friendly name like an ice cream truck — will be in Century on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Billy G. Ward Courthouse. Five hours. That’s the window. Miss it and MILO doesn’t return until August 20, which is a very DMV way to run an ice cream truck. Nothing but respect for a government office that figured out the secret to customer satisfaction is leaving before the line forms.
🌀 Foley Throws a Party About the Weather
Foley is hosting a free hurricane preparedness expo to help residents and families get storm-ready, because Foley remains the only city on this coast that can turn “please buy batteries” into an event with a venue. And honestly? It works on me. I have ignored every solemn televised plea to build a hurricane kit, but if you put the same information in expo form, I will show up early and leave with a tote bag and a generator brochure. Go. It’s free, it’s useful, and unlike hurricane season it has a scheduled end time.
🎸 The Wharf Braces for Friday
Country star Parker McCollum plays The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach this Friday, July 17. This is your official notice that Canal Road on Friday evening will contain every truck in Baldwin County plus several thousand people arriving precisely late enough to miss the opener. If your dinner plans are anywhere near The Wharf, eat at 5 or eat somewhere else. This has been a public service announcement disguised as a concert listing.
That’s the week so far, Gulf Coast: the fog rolls at sunset, the paperwork rolls at 9:30 sharp, and Gulf Shores wants your twenty-year vision by whenever you can get to it. Meanwhile, somewhere over the Atlantic, Fat Albert is starting a new life and hasn’t called once. See you next issue.
— Chris
