Friends at Riverside

Beth (from Lasting Impressions from the HeArt) came down to Riverside on Monday. I tried to post, but this has been sitting on the computer for two days now. Solly. This was our first night on Mobile Bay at sunset.

Tuesday, I took her on the grand tour of the Gulf. We, of course, had to start with beignets from the Beignet Cafe. Sinfully good.

Oh, so much better than a power bar, ya think? Diet? Whaaaa?

They gave us enough strength to hit the beaches and the sorry state that the Gulf of Mexico is in.

But the beauty remains at first glance.

Double red flag? NO swimming. NO SWIMMING!!!

Warning signs are posted everywhere. I think this would have had my attention. Of course, there were still families, yes FAMILIES, in the water. So many local stories we heard. One lady said her daughter watched as a family came out of the water with welts on them. WELTS! (Or what Beth and I call "them whelps.") What are they thinking?

This was left over from the Jimmy Buffett concert made with seaweed (and probably a little oil mixed in). I think I would have made a NO BP sign, myself. But I'm sure the day was all full of peace and love, which was the point.

We then drove East towards my favorite beach, Perdido. This is looking West at Perdido Pass Bridge from Perdido Point. The pass separates Alabama from Florida.

These seagulls just sat by and watched. (Sorry about the smudge on the lens, I'm getting pretty good at that, aren't I. Hey, at least it's shaped like a seagull!)

The sands were much cleaner than they were three weeks ago at the same location. Still, we kept our sandals on.

Clean-up crews on the horizon in that gorgeous water.

There was a CNN.com reporter and photographer there. The reporter interviewed Beth.

There weren't a whole lot of people here, and the photog was trying to capture that, I'm sure. More people were walking along the beach than were in the waters. That's a good thing. The reporter told Beth that one lady had come out of the water and she asked her how it was. The lady said "Well, yes, there's some oil on me but mascara remover removes it really 'good.'" Oooooof. And when you come down with skin cancer, will the makeup remover help there? Lordy me.

After we had enough, we went and chilled at the Crab Trap and had my favorite there.

Pina Coladas! Woooot.

Then we made our way inland a tad to The Wharf. Oh, I do love this shop. Beth and I were oooohing and awwwing over all the pretties.

I'd love to do the "girls'" room like this. Not enough money in the world. lol

K, I AM going to make something similar to this though, thank you very much.

After all that window shopping, we were parched. So we headed over to LuLu's (Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant). Of course, they had a run on all the One Love, One Ocean T shirts during big bro's latest visit. The only things left were the hats and visors.

Of course, we had to have a margarita; and let me tell you, if I wasn't already warm and fuzzy, this one would have done the trick.

Woooooosh. A new tequila the bartender told us about that is as good as Petron, but cheaper. Thank goodness I only had the one.

After a few more stops, we headed back to Riverside. Only for a short while though. It was almost dinner time. The kid and I wanted to take Beth to one of our favorite haunts, Felix's on the Bay.
I love the copper menus at the bar. Beth ordered a Bloody Mary and I stuck with the margaritas.

It couldn't hold a candle to LuLu's though. (Must be a Buffett thang.)

She ordered my favorite dinner here, the BBQ shrimp. She was in for a real treat.

Straight outta New Orleans. My mouth is watering just looking at the pic.

Needless to say, I think we all slept well that night. No moss grows under our toesies. Zzzzzzzzzz.

The Wharf

OMG, Becky! Remember the Ferris wheel!

This is the Ferris wheel at The Wharf near Orange Beach. We didn't go on it this time, but this summer, we certainly did. When the cuz and Raphi were with us, we went and rode it. There wasn't a soul around until we got on. And then we stopped at every pod to let everyone else on. It took for-ev-ver to get around. We all forgot our cameras so we didn't have any pics of the pretty views--well, not really pretty. Today, after the kid and I went to the Shrimp Festival, we drove over to The Wharf and walked around. Apparently, Trace Atkins is playing their arena tonight and we could hear him doing his sound check. I don't know any of his music but do know the name. It was a lot of fun.

Anyway, I posted this for the cuz to bring back memories from the summer. We sure do miss you. It's not the same here without you with us. Pout.

Pure Enjoyment

It's been so nice here. The weather has been gorgeous. We've had a very nice breeze, except for yesterday morning. I had to take the hub to the Mobile Airport at 4 in the morning. We could tell as soon as we stepped outside, it was going to be a hot one! When I returned at 7:30 a.m., I put my suit on and headed to the beach. Got to the lounge chairs, looked around and then headed to the pool. There was not a wisp of a breeze. I can't stand to sit on the beach with now air moving. It drives me crazy. So, I was off to the pool to sweat until I could sweat no more and then a quick jump in to cool off. It was heavenly.


I have been catching up with my friend and they all seem to having a great time. I hope they are enjoying it as much as we are. Today, we drove over to the marina to see about parasailing. (NO, not for me!) A charter fishing boat had just come in from a day of fishing and boy, were they full of fish! They all seemed quite pleased with their catch. These were all caught in a five-hour morning! They had red and black snapper, amberjack and I've already forgotten what the other fish were. How fun! I love going out on boats. It was so sweet, an older gentleman came up to look at their catch and asked if he could buy one of their red snappers. They had so many, they just gave him one. He looked pleased as punch. I asked him if that was going to be his dinner, and he said "yep!"


I've heard from my neighbor that Miss Bev is doing better. Dave was MIA for a few days only to find up he had snuck into the quarantined area with Bev....ha. My mom thought they all had just disappeared! I had to explain to her, again, that they were just upstairs hiding.

I'm hoping to head to Fairhope tomorrow. We headed out there today; and there was a traffic accident. We turned around and came back to Gulf Shores and spent the day here. I think I'm about ready for my afternoon siesta! See ya!

Off Again

Is everybody happy? Momma's happy, the boys are happy (well, actually the kid is bent because he just now realized he needs batteries and has lost his headphones) and me and the hub are happy.

Gulf of Mexico, here we come (in about 6 hours!).

Heading South

Although I fiddled around on my blog today and changed it a little, I did manage to get some things done for our trip on Saturday. I tell you, I'm becoming pretty good at this packing stuff!

I still have so much to do and have put the rest of it off until tomorrow. I need to start my list so I don't forget anything. We have two less people driving down with us this time, so I think that will make a major difference--at least in the van. Mom is staying home, as I knew she would. I remember quite distinctly how much she couldn't wait to get back home after day two! ha. And with friends there, it would just get her mad. (She doesn't like to share me.) I have to admit, I look forward to spending some down time with my dear friend and just doing whatever, whenever. I do have a friend coming in each day next week and taking her to lunch. She likes that; and this way, I know she is at least eating one good meal a day. God bless her. She is just a tad settled into her routine and doesn't like to change it.

Our little Miss Bev is not feeling well. She seemed to be losing weight--she's a tiny little thing anyway. So, I had switched her over to kitten food to help her gain but today she has just been listless. We have an appointment at the vets tomorrow morning. I hope it's nothing serious. I do worry about the little ones--not being able to tell us what the matter is. Poor little boo. Even her eyes look sick. She is still eating and drinking and cleaning herself, and that's always a good sign. Look how pitiful she looks. Awwwwww. Perhaps tomorrow, she'll feel better. Let's hope.

Fairhope, AL

The hub and I took a drive by ourselves today to Fairhope. It’s about 30 miles outside Mobile and about 45 minutes from where we’re staying in Gulf Shores. I found it last year while we were all out for a drive on a rainy day. It reminds me so much of home on the Chesapeake Bay.

“In the 1890s, a group of idealists founded Fairhope as a cooperative colony on a lush bluff along Alabama’s Gulf Coast. The visionary settlers thought their experimental village had a “fair hope” of success. An oasis of idealism and equality, Fairhope not only succeeded but grew into an elegant enclave of individualism and intellect. The bayside town is the world’s oldest and largest single-tax colony. The unique village drew progressives and populists, socialists, and Quakers, artists and intellectuals, and even nudists and free- love advocates. Many of the major social reformers of the early 20th century—from Dewey to Darrow—made pilgrimages to Fairhope. Strong individualists, fine minds, independent spirits, and colorful characters of all sorts came to inhabit the town founded on principle.” -- pulled from Images of America: Fairhope.

The town has a fascinating history indeed. I not only fell in love with the town itself but also its history. I want to find out more about it though, it has such an interesting story. I’ve only nipped the tip of the iceberg. I need to know more. The hub bought me my first book about Fairhope today and I can’t wait to get into it. It’s mostly a photographic “journey;” but to me, that’s a wonderful way to be introduced to a place--visually.

It’s a cute little town. Small shop windows are pretty and inviting, most have a cat or two inviting you in. (Gotta love that!) There are flowering planters everywhere and hanging baskets filled with geraniums on every street corner. Even the vintage post box is sweet. I remember these when I was growing up.


Since we were alone, we were even allowed to stop and have a cup of coffee and a slice of Key lime cake, which I had never had before. It was very tasty, of course. Yum, yum, yum.

Fun, fun, fun.