Gulf Shores Vacation Part 2

 Here's the rest of the story!  :-) 

Remember that one of the reasons we planned this trip was for my 50th birthday so I planned the day with things I wanted to do! 

If you know me at all, you know that I love a really good breakfast.  I would almost rather go out for breakfast then out for dinner.  I picked Sunliner Diner for breakfast.  Darryl and I had eaten lunch at the diner before but this was the first time for my guys.  My breakfast was very yummy!  

After getting our fill at the diner, we headed to the Mini Gulf Course.  It was a bit hot and there were little lizards keeping us company but we still had lots of fun.  

The family selfie on my birthday! !

Of course, I also went down to the beach and read my book for an hour (or maybe two!!)  The beach is my favorite place to be, as I'm sure I have mentioned once or twice! 

I did not want to cook on my birthday (that's the best gift ever!) so we ordered pizza and salad for dinner.  We enjoyed eating out on the balcony - because, well, we are at the beach after all! 

Nate made sure to get a photo of my since I'm 50 now. 

After dinner we headed down to the beach to find ghost crabs.  It's kinda cool because these little guys kind of freeze in the light so you can catch them.  Don't worry, when we were done, we let them go! 

Finally, we ended the night with my favorite dessert - Key Lime Pie from LuLu's.  It's just amazing and such a treat!  I really loved my birthday and hope we get to do it again!  

On Thursday, we started our day like we always do - the balcony and the pool.  We had pretty near perfect weather the entire week.  Clear blue skies and lots of sunshine! 

Our big adventure today was going to the pier.  It's pretty neat to watch the people out there fishing and see what the catch.  There are also sharks swimming below trying to steal the catch before it gets reeled  in and sometimes they do!  It's cool to see them jump out of the water too!  We also saw some dolphins. swimming out a little further.   Oh, and before this we ate at Lambert's Cafe again - the home of the throwed rolls.  

We were HOT after being out on the pier for a few hours so we headed to get ice cream at Matt's Ice Cream.  The servings were big and the icea cream was good!  

Once we got back to the condo, I headed down to the beach and enjoyed putting my feet in the sand :-) 

Our last day, Friday.  What a great week!  When I'm on vacation I really try to enjoy every moment and make it last.  I can honestly say that this vacation was perfect.  Because we chose to do just one thing each day, to hang around the condo, to use the pool, etc, the days seemed to be long and relaxing in a great way.  It was such a laid back trip and we loved it. 

Our big excursion today was the fort. Fort Morgan is another historical park where we get a chance to walk on the same ground as so many soldiers before us.  It's always kind of somber to walk the halls.  

We are still working on our selfies - my arms just aren't long enough HA!  I need to let Nate take them all - he does much better! 

We enjoyed a late lunch at Shrimp Basket since that is our favorite place to eat.  

Saturday morning we were up early, packed and ready to head out by 10:00 because we had big plans! 

See!  Nate does much better :-)  Our last selfie on the balcony!  We hope to go back to this same condo next year. 

You may or may not know but there was a footbook league that started in the spring and there just so happened to be a game in Birmingham Alabama on Saturday.  We surprised the guys (before vacation) with tickets for this game.  It is technically kind of on the way home so we planned our day around the game. 

It was really a fun time.  We cheered for the team from Texas since my brother and his family live there.  It was hot because we chose the side in the sun (if we ever do this again we know to sit on the other side where there is shade HA!)  BUT the seats were super comfortable and the food was good! 

That is the end of my photos!  Once the game was done, we headed for just north of Nashville for the night.  On Sunday, we got up, ate breakfast and hit the road for the long drive home.  We really worked to not take too much time on our stops and got home pretty close to planned which was nice.  

It is always hard to see vacation end but we sure had an amazing time! 

Gulf Shores Vacation Part 1

 I realzied recently that I never shared about our vacatoin back in April.  Part of why I share it is so you can enjoy it but also so I can look back and see what we did as we plan future vacations!  We were gone for nine days so I'll split it up between two posts.  

We really didn't think we would be able to make a trip to Gulf Shores this year - it wasn't even on the radar.  Darryl and I were chatting one day in mid-March both saying how much we needed to get away.  Well, I said quietly . .. .lets go to the beach; I think we can do it.  It's what I want for my 50th birthday.  I had been trying to plan something - a little get away - for my 50th.  It was all I really wanted.  I was checking out AirBnb's on Lake Michigan; Hotels with a lake view . .. but the cost for just 2-3 days was crazy (Lake Michigan prices are crazy!).  Anyway, all it took was my little statement . .. and the planning begin.  We shortened it a few days from what we did last year to save some money and just plain stopped spending money HA!  

Here's a look back at the first half of our trip: 

We loaded up early on a Saturday morning and hit the road.  Well, not super early - our goal was to be on the road by 8:00 and we were!  So thankful for our "new" vehicle so we didn't have to rent a vehicle this year!  

We enjoy making stops.  We saw the sign for Uranus Fudge Shop and thought it was funny.  We all said we wouldn't make any jokes about it while at the store because we were sure they heard it all.  Well, I'll just say that the joke was on us!  The employees said every joke and then some . .. the shop was pretty "PG-13" actually.  While the Taffy and Fudge we purchased were some of the best I've ever had - we all agreed that we wouldn't stop again ;-) LOL  It's all about the memories, right? 

    Love this bridge :-)  We also love checking states off of our list.  We decided to make day 1 our longer day and go all the way to the bottom of Tennessee before stopping.  Leaving just Alabama for day 2 (which is the longest, most boring state ever!) 

I don't remember where I took this photo - maybe when we stopped for dinner? Or at the hotel?  I will just say that the four of us love being together.  We laugh a lot.  

We stopped for lunch and got Subway/McDonald's (they were right next door to each other making it easy!).  Then we headed on to our hotel.  We planned well - there was a Waffle House and a McDonald's in the "parking lot" of the Hotel making dinner choices easy.  

After a good nights sleep and breakfast at the hotel, we hit the road.  This was our shorter day!  In six short hours we'd be at the beach! 

Just over the border into Alabama is the welcome center/rest stop.  It has an awesome Rocket on display.  We missed it last year but stopped this year.  It's got lots of info not only about the rocket but it was also an area that was a trail used by pioneers.  I love learning our history! 

The rest of the day was uneventful.  We played several rounds of the Alphabet Game to pass the time.  

It was great to arrive at our amazing condo on the beach in Gulf Shores.  We checked in, unloaded, and then headed out to dinner and to Walmart. 

Our first dinner was at a favorite we found when we were Pensacola Beach and visited Gulf Shores called Neptune's.  It's so nice to eat outside!  And, the food is amazing.  From there we headed to Wal-mart to pick up some groceries for the week. 

Now, this is a view I could get used to waking up to every day!  I just love the beach and sitting out on the balcony!  Most mornings (I think every morning actually) I'd start with breakfast enjoying this view.  Then at least Nate and I - sometimes Darryl and Joshua would join - headed to the pool(s).  Our favorite was the indoor pool because it was heated!  The out door pool was super cold!  We would spend a few hours in the pool before getting ready to head out on adventures for the afternoon. 

   We made our main meal "lunch" and would head to a restaurant around 2:00 every day.  This is by far a favorite - Shrimp Basket.  I love their coconut shrimp and seafood queso!  Joshua tried the crab claws and loved them.  

I planned one thing each day.  On Monday we headed out on a nature walk.  It was short and built up with this walkway.  I'll be honest, the reviews were a lot better then real life.  Yes, we enjoyed it but we didn't see much "nature" - it was pretty dry and brown.  

We did not see the alligator . . .but we did look!!  A few months after we were there a friend who lives in Gulf Shores shared a video of an Alligator crossing the main road just down the road from here so I guess there really is one that lives there! 

Since we ate our main meal at 2:00 I planned simple meals/snacks for the evening.  This was Monday's snack.  These little boards are so fun! 

Tuesday Morning!  :-)  We did make it down to the ocean a couple of days to check it out.  Most days it was a red flag so we were thankful for the pools to enjoy swimming.  

Lunch was at Lamberts Cafe - "Home of the Thrown Roll".  Yes, they really do throw rolls to you from across the room and they are all you can eat and are amazing!.  This was true down home, southern food.  They also have all you can eat sides like fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes and fried potatoes PLUS you get sides with your meal!  It was a crazy amount of food.  We all enjoyed it enough that we went back a second time later in the week.  I had a steak the first time and their "famous chicken salad" the second time.  Both were great!   

Our "excursion" today was go-karts.  Joshua and Nate have never driven before so this was a fun thing to do.  They had a blast and were the only two on the track during their ride which made it nice for the first time.  

That takes you through the first part of our vacation!  Check back next week for part 2 (which includes my birthday!!)  

Gulf Shores Alabama - Part 4

 Friday - This was our "relax and enjoy the beach" kind of day.  The weather throughout much of the week  had been a little rainy so we didn't spend as much time on the beach as we might have but we did take advantage of it today! 

We wanted to return to a favorite for lunch so we went back to Shrimp Basket and it did not disappoint.  We also made another stop at the souvenir shops before heading back to our condo and, ultimately, the beach. 

The waves were huge.  Being from Michigan, we enjoy Lake Michigan and often say that it reminds us of being by the ocean.  The waves were quite large on this day and we love large waves  . .. .the power of the waves in the Gulf is over the top - nothing like Lake Michigan.  We did play in the waves for awhile and then we made quite the show trying to get back to shore (we weren't very far out) as the waves totally knocked us both off our feet HA!  We were NOT the only ones that suffered this "fate" but, oh my goodness, that was crazy fun.  We spent most of the rest of our beach time relaxing on the beach verses fighting the waves! 

We just loved this view from our balcony overlooking the gulf.  I could live here in a heartbeat and enjoy that view every day! 

Finally, we ended our day with pizza.  Apparently everyone had the same idea because the first 3 places we called, or tried calling, either had HUGE long waits or didn't even answer the phone.  We finally got through to Janino's Pizza and it did not disappoint.  The pizza was great and so was the salad.  Side story - as we were heading back to the condo after picking up our pizza, we heard something hit our back window.  We got egged.  Yes we did - you just have to love a beach town on a warm Friday night I guess.  

Saturday - Sadly, this was pack up day (but our vacation is not done!).  We started out by loading everything up and hitting the road.  We stopped for Chick-Fil-A breakfast and a few Krispy Kreme Donuts for the road.  

This condo was perfect for us.  We really enjoyed our time here and would come back in an instant.  

Our main stop of our vacation on Saturday was Laurel, Mississippi. 

I love the show "Home Town" which is all done in Laurel.  It's just such a sweet show and the home renovations are realistic and always so well done.  It was super busy on this Saturday with a huge craft show going on but we still enjoyed our wanderings through town.  We started at the General Store - where this is as close to the stars of the show as I got HA!  

This is Ben's workshop that is actually used in filming (but no filming on this date!)  

As we were leaving Laurel we stopped for lunch at an amazing Mexican place before heading to a really cool bridge into Louisiana that crossed over the Mississippi River. 

It was getting dark and rainy so after crossing the bridge, we crossed back over into Mississippi and headed to our final stop for the night which was still about 2 hours away.  We were on a back road through the Delta in the pouring rain and it was d.a.r.k. HA!  We knew we were in swamp land because the frogs crossing the road while were driving were endless and kind of gross! 

We finally arrived at our hotel in Greenville, Mississippi.  After checking in, we went looking for dinner and had our first awful meal HA!  Where was it, you ask?  Sonic.  It was just plain gross - at least the Chocolate Shake was good, right?  Whew!  

Sunday - We had a few adventures planned for today around Greenville as it is quite the historic area. 

We crossed the Mississippi River once again! 

Cotton Fields!

This was an unexpected side trip - we saw the sign for the Plantation so decided to check it out. 

It's kind of cool - but not nearly as big and grand as I think of plantation homes. 

This was another plantation that we actually planned to see.  It is a Bed and Breakfast so we didn't stop and go inside but did check out the outside.  It was a little more grand.  

Our last stop was this Cypress Preserve which was just awesome!  These trees are so cool with their "knobby knee" root system which gives them stability in the swamp lands. 

After exploring, we went into the town and found a little place for lunch.  It was a true "southern cooking" kind of place with mainly "soul food".  I got shrimp and grits and Darryl got some sort of omelet with sausage and greens in it.  Mine was some of the best food I had the whole trip and Darryl said his was great too. 

We then hit the road as we had quite the drive before we would arrive at our hotel for the night.  

Monday - This was just our drive home day.  

Our hotel for the night was actually in Missouri so we finally crossed into Indiana and drove around Chicago. 

We finally drove into Michigan and made a quick pit-stop.  This is the photo I sent to Josh and Nate to let them know we were getting closer!!!  We stopped for a quick dinner before making the final trek home. 

We had an amazing trip.  It was a dream trip - something we had been hoping to do for years but it just never worked out so we are both so thankful that the details and planning all worked out.  

Maybe we will go back for our 25th!!