Back to Illinois

On March 15th, we received terrible news and had to hurry home. Our son-in-law passed away that morning..
Rest in Peace Jason Wood
 

at Doc's with friends from Maine and 'Mardi Gras season'

We met some wonderful people from Maine while staying at Doc's!

They like fires, too!
...and their dog, Benny.

We sure had fun!

The American Legion in Gulf Shores is open to the public. They have great prices, pretty good food and live music.

L to R: Wendall, Rick, Troy and Carol

Mardi Gras 'season' begins and we need some practice!

 Carol 'practicing'!

 Wendall and Carol's niece, Karla and Rick the King!

 Rick and me.
Someone called Rick the 'Burger King', so, we are the burger king and the dairy queen! haha

 We even got Wendall to put on a wig!

 Rick and me, still practicing!

Gulf Shores public beach in January

The beautiful public beach in Gulf Shores!

 

Still January and enjoying the beach after lunch with our Illinois friends, Bill and Fay.

Lunch at Mikee's again. Great food and lunch specials!

...and we say good bye until we meet again in IL.

friends

Rick with his fire and our friends from Maine, Carol and Wendall

 Carol and Wendall

...and their dog, Faith's friend, Benny!

Farewell to a couple of our Illinois friends

Bill and Fay will be starting their journey north in Feb. Before they were to depart we had lunch at Mikees in Gulf Shores.

 Dick, Fay and Bill

Thanks Troy....haha
Donna, Dick, Fay, Bill and Troy.
We met an entire table of Illinoisans besides ourselves.

After lunch we parked down by the beach and watched some kite surfers.

If my back didn't bother me so much, I'd love to try this. Guess I'll have to stick with parasailing...and soon, I hope!

A beautiful day for the beach

We had the most beautiful day filled with sunshine and temperatures in the 70's. It was the perfect day to get down to the beach!

This is one of the public beach entrances in Gulf Shores. They have beautiful beaches!

Another nice Campground in Gulf Shores

While driving around we decided to check out a couple more campgrounds in this area since we love it here so much.
We went through Fort Morgan RV Park but we didn't care much for it. It didn't seem very clean.
The one we did like was Bay Breeze RV on the Bay. It's small and clean.

 This is the beach at Bay Breeze RV.

 The above photo is of the deck that overlooks the bay.

The picture below is of the boat launch. So nice..

Sunday, January 23rd was the playoff game between the Bears and the Packers. Rick, Dick and Donna are HUGE Bear's fans, so, of course, we had a party!

 Pre-game: Great weather, in Gulf Shores, anyway, not in Chicago! They had a high of 26 degrees.

The game begins and of course we had plenty of snacks and drinks!

Although we had to say goodbye, for now, to our friends Ruth and Wendall, another of our Illinois friends came to Gulf Shores this month. Troy (and his dog, Lucky) arrived in January! We went to lunch at Tacky Jack's 2 after taking a drive out to Fort Morgan. We still didn't take 'the tour' there but hope to do so soon.

....Troy, striking a pose!

...and the view today.

These old barracks are along the road just before you get to the ferry and Fort Morgan 'proper'.

The food wasn't great but the view of Mobile Bay was!

Flora Bama

We have been going to Flora Bama to buy alcohol since we arrived in Gulf Shores in November. The nice guy at Tobacco Road told us that the tax on hard liquor here, is 52%! Yikes!

Flora Bama is right on the state lines of Florida and Alabama. That's only 29 miles from Gulf Shores, in Perdido Beach, FL.

I look forward to spending some time across the street at the lounge and Oyster Bar!

Regardless, it's a beautiful drive along Highway 180 from Gulf Shores, AL to the Florida border!

Gulf Shores and area Restaurants

Gulf Shores has so much to do and so many great little 'eating places'. We love it! Not to mention no matter which direction you travel, there are miles and miles of gorgeous white sand beaches!
A few restaurants that we've tried  and enjoyed, in the Gulf Shores area, are:


The Dog House Grille has become another favorite. We had breakfast there one day. It was very good for a good price and you sure got plenty to eat, too! The day that we went for lunch I had a 'build your own' all beef dog with sauerkraut, mustard, onion, jalapenos and relish...yum! Rick had the Philly Dog. He really liked it! I don't have a picture yet, but here's the link with a coupon and menu. The Dog House Grille

Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL
    Always excellent food and lots of it! 

The Shrimp Basket
    Our 1st Dinner in Gulf Shores! Delicious! We have since eaten dinner here, again. We came back for their Monday and Thursday, 'all you can eat' fried fish. Very good, but not as good as Doc's Seafood Shack's fish!

DeSoto's in Gulf Shores
    Great lunches and great prices!

Doc's Seafood in Orange Beach
        We had an excellent lunch of  fried flounder! Large quantities and good prices.

Kitty's Kafe in Gulf Shores
    We have had lunch and dinner here. Yet, I still don't have a photo for you....next time! Nice atmosphere, great wait staff and good food!
I did manage to pick up a t-shirt from Kitty's. Their motto is "Where Pigs Do Fly".

We also like pizza from the Mellow Mushroom. This is a chain and the 1st time we ate there was in Ocean Springs, MS.  There is one in Foley, too. We were happy to see that familiar sign! These pictures are from the Ocean Springs Mellow Mushroom.