Here Fishy Fishy

The only fish we caught on the Alabama River

Stu at Ballantrae Golf Club

Gulf Shores Arrival

We arrived safely in Gulf Shores on Wednesday after a leisurely 195 mile drive from the Prairie Creek Campground. With the directions from the RV Resort and our GPS systems we were able to drive right to the Gulf Breeze RV Resort without any difficulty. Tippy got us signed up while I unhooked the car. The park is very nice but the pads and driveways are pretty narrow. Our spot had a tree adjacent to the right side of the entrance and it was definitely in my way. I stopped the coach and broke off a limb that was protruding, almost to the pavement. After removing the limb I started into the drive again and was concentrating on the left side so that my tires didn’t go off the almost 6 inch drop-off. Unfortunately as I was concentrating on the left side my awning support got caught on a tree branch at the top of the tree and ripped it off before I knew what was happening.

Even though the awning remained rolled up and was not torn at all, the support was entirely off the coach and one of the end caps was off the awning. In short the entire assembly would have to be replaced. Fortunately there is a good RV repair facility only a few miles away and they came out to look at it and assess the extent of the damage. They have ordered a new awning which will be here around May 6th and they will install it prior to our scheduled departure on May 12th. I guess it was a good thing we had planned some extended time in this area.

We had great weather on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Today, Saturday it has rained all day and very hard earlier this morning. We didn’t even get up until after 9:00 this morning because it was so dark out we didn’t know it was morning. The rain began about 10:00 and it is now 3:10 and it hasn’t stopped. Yesterday Mike and I played golf at The Woodlands golf course, which is a Craft Farms property. They have three courses in the area and they are all supposed to be pretty good. The Woodlands is a Larry Nelson design and is a great course for us older guys. It plays less than 6500 yards from the back tees with a slope of 123 and a rating of 70.8. We played any par four that was over 400 yards from the white tee, four altogether, and had a great day. I missed a short putt on the last hole that would have won me $2 and ended up losing $2 to Mike. Next time I will get an extra shot so the $2 is like an investment.

We ate out at Lulu’s restaurant on Wednesday and again last night. The owner, Lulu Buffet, is Jimmy Buffet’s sister. They have live music and the restaurant is right on the intercoastal waterway. The food is also excellent and the atmosphere pretty upbeat. It was so busy last night that after having two drinks at the bar we discovered that it would take 30 minutes to get a beeper and then probably another hour before we could get a table. We decided to just eat at the bar, so we ordered and enjoyed another excellent meal.

Wednesday afternoon Tippy and I drove around a bit getting the lay of the land. We drove down highway 182, the road along the Gulf of Mexico, and we were amazed at the evidence of hurricane Ivan that still remained. Beach houses, hotels, condos, restaurants all in some state of repair or, in some cases, just sitting as if the hurricane was the day before. The damage was extensive and must be devastating to the folks that own the property.

On Thursday Mike, Patty and I drove around to look at other RV parks that we might want to visit while we are in this area. We visited about six different parks but didn’t find one that was nicer than ours or closer to the action then we are now. We came back and picked up Tippy and went to lunch before going to one more ownership park that was in Orange Beach, another small town just east of here. The park was very nice and we have decided to stay there for a week beginning tomorrow and then return here to Gulf Breeze to get the awning replaced before heading to Lafayette, LA to enjoy some Cajun food and music.

My friend Rick Arnold sent me a few pictures from our Alabama River trip and I will post them on the Blog as well. I have contacted a charter boat and will do at least one day of fishing next week. I will hopefully get some good pictures from this adventure. Be safe.

Sunset on Alabama River

River lock that we can see from our campsite

Mike enjoying our campfire

Our site on the Alabama River

Alabama River Experience

We are currently in a Core of Engineers (COE) campground between Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. The campground is on the Alabama River and is just terrific! The pads are cement and very level; there is 50-amp power, and water. We don’t have a sewer connection and we can’t get satellite TV because of the trees but the views and the quietness more than make up for the lack of those items.

We drove here on Sunday, got settled in the park, and then drove to Cindy’s river house for an afternoon of fishing and sightseeing on the Alabama River. We started the afternoon by feasting on BBQ sandwiches that Cindy had picked up from the Smokehouse on her way down yesterday. They are closed on Sunday so we were grateful that Cindy had come down a day early to see her father. The fishing wasn’t too great but the scenery was fabulous and we had a wonderful afternoon. Cindy was a great captain and took us to several slews (sp) where we tried to catch a fish or two. After fishing we returned to the campground for hamburgers and a fire by the river. Rick and Cindy have been wonderful hosts and we will miss them until we see them again in New Orleans.

We love this campground so much we have decided to stay for three days instead of just one. Since this is a federal park, our Golden Age Passport is accepted and we have to pay only half of the daily fee, which is only $16 to begin with. Three days for $24, wow, that will help our budget.

Today, Monday we drove into Selma on highway 80. This is the road that was used for the voting rights march, back in the 60’s, from Selma to Montgomery. We picked up a few things at the local Wal-Mart, bought some chicken at KFC, and drove around town a bit. The town seems pretty depressed with many businesses closed and houses empty. There may be a newer part of town, we stayed in the original downtown area, but we didn’t see it. Mike and Patty also visited Selma and had a great tour of the depot museum. They also had a great lunch at The Downtowner, a meat dish and three sides for $6.50, pretty good deal and they said the food was terrific. There are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tomorrow so we are planning to stay around the campground and just relax. I will post a couple of pictures from the COE campground so enjoy and be safe.