Dauphin Island is a thirty-mile detour from anywhere, which is exactly why it works. Capt’n Snapper’s sits down on Lemoyne Drive at the marina, and the whole operation is built around the fact that the boats come in right there. There is a bar upstairs, and the menu runs to buffalo shrimp, crab cakes and hushpuppies. Nobody here is trying to reinvent Gulf Coast bar food, and nobody should. Order a beer, find a seat where you can watch the water, and let the afternoon go. This is a barrier island that has been flattened and rebuilt more than once, and places like this are the reason it still feels like somewhere people live rather than somewhere people visit. Dress code is whatever you wore to the beach.
