I drove the whole way there and back.....20 hours driving time. I could have let Skye drive, but she fails to break the speed barrier like I tend to chance. She was a side seat driver and her keen eyes saved me a ticket a couple of times through Mississippi and Louisiana.
Toby and Bo just sat back and relaxed while the women "manned the boat"....
When we got there, Lucas and Emily took us to a restaurant called California Dreaming right across from our hotel. Our late dinner was good and we shared a pitcher of Long Island Tea over conversation.
The next day we met up with my dad and his wife, Doris for lunch at Cracker Barrel....
After lunch Skye wanted to visit the Exploreum downtown, one of the few things she remembers about Mobile. I really didn't want to waste money for Toby and I to enter the museum and twiddle our thumbs, so Emily and Lucas went in there with her while Toby and I took the opportunity to walk around downtown Mobile......
On the other side of this bay is where Toby made our living while we lived in Mobile...
That night Emily made some delicious chicken tacos for dinner and we had a few drinks and more conversation afterward.
The next day, we did some sight seeing around Daphne. First stop was Fairhope Beach Park....
It let her touch him/her!!!
After that, we went to check out the gators at Gator Alley...
Skye still thinks it's weird they let gators "run around loose" there...
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| Find the Gator |
The boardwalk is really nice. This is where Lucas and Emily begin their bike rides with friends. It's about 10 miles, if I had had more time, I would have loved to walk the whole trail....
Lucas and Emily were excellent tour guides. We ate some ice cream at this cute little place in Fairhope....I can't remember the name of it. They had a vegetable garden and lime and fig trees and a wind turbine. It made me miss how easy it is to grow things in Alabama, something I find hard to do in Texas...
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| More gator |
Nice view of the bay from the restaurant....
On our last day we headed to Orange Beach. We stopped and ate lunch at Luna's Eat and Drink. Toby and I had Brussels sprouts with our meal that were the best I've ever eaten.
The weather was cool, but nice. Toby was the only one brave enough to be out in the water. I guess he figured he didn't have much of a chance to swim in the ocean often, so he took the opportunity. We all love different things at the beach. Skye loves playing in the sand, Toby swims, and I enjoy walking along looking for shells and taking pictures....
It was a little annoying that I had boasted to Skye how much prettier the water was on the Alabama/Florida coast than the Texas coast, but the recent storms had made the water a little murkier than usual. Having not grown up on the coast, she doesn't understand all the different conditions that affect the clarity of the water.
Here's a pic of my little niece on our last night. She's a cutie, but I'm glad she's not my responsibility...
It was one of our better trips to Alabama. It was so relaxed and not rushed because we had no agenda other than to have a good time. Good Memories.
