Days 80 – 87 – Gulf Shores Alabama
Ya’ll may remember a few posts back we stayed overnight in Alabama on our way to North Myrtle Beach from Arkansas. I was in a hurry to get out of there quick, so this time going to Alabama I was excited, but also a little wary of where we were going. The drive from St. Augustine was a bit longer, so we made sure to have our things packed and ready and hit the road at 8:30am. I was pretty bummed leaving, I really enjoyed having a home base for 5 weeks – and looking at the weather ahead, it was certainly the warmest. But alas, we were off.
The drive wasn’t bad this time around (long for Dan, but he’s a champ at it) and we made it to the new site around 4. We got to unpacking and guess what! Ya know that little pond next to us in Florida? Well, it was full of frogs. So many that on the last night Dan mentioned “Wow the frogs are really out tonight!” I got to see firsthand when I went to grab a chair from the back room of the trailer. Poor lil frog travelled with us all the way to Alabama. He didn’t survive the chair crushing him, though. To hear Dan tell it, all he heard was my shriek of “DAN! Come help!” to get the sucker out of here.
We got in on a Monday, which meant there was nothing really planned all week as work calls. The spot we were in did have a nice view of the sunset, so when it wasn’t raining we did enjoy a few days sitting out and watching that. We made a lunch trip to the gulf so we could put our toes in the sand, it was a cloudy day but the beach and gulf water were still beautiful. Friday night we had big plans. The Big Earl show was playing at Flora-Bama and according to locals, he’s a can’t miss show. If you have never been to Flora-Bama it has been listed as the number one beach bar in the U.S. many times. We got there a bit early to get a good spot to take it in. The locals were definitely right, as he put on a great show! Full of fun music and lots of raunchy jokes, we had a great time. Saturday we played our Alabama round of golf. The course is tucked away in some farmland area, at first we were not sure what we were getting into. We were pleasantly surprised! The course was well maintained and the scenery was picture esque all the way around. It didn’t hurt that we also shot a great score.
If you know Dan and where he grew up in Arizona, his favorite hamburger place is Whataburger. Well we had one just down the road from the campground. In fact, Dan told me it was .7 miles exactly. He/we got our fill for sure and I have to admit that I am a fan. We also gained a ton of weight eating at Paula Deens restaurant. Good ole southern cooking but the portions we beyond huge! We got to add another state for a church service as well. It is really a joy to be able to visit all sizes of our church families congregations.
Overall the week was a nice one to relax after the hustle in Florida. We were suppose to head out Monday to get to Mississippi, but mother nature had other plans. The wind gusts were between 15 to 25, and after that drive through Kansas I don’t think we want to do that again. Since nothing was tying us down to get to our next stop in a hurry, we decided to play it safe and wait it out. Another day in Alabama wasn’t an issue – we thoroughly enjoyed the spot we were in.
Off to Mississippi!
Duncan Travels 