Summer Road Trip, Day 6: Gulf Shores

Thursday was our last full day to enjoy Gulf Shores, so we made the most of it! We headed to a different part of the beach early, and learned that the State Park sections of the beach have free parking. Can’t beat free! I could have stayed on the beach all day Thursday, enjoying the clear, cool water, white sand and the sound of rolling waves. 

Cool water spout out in the bay

 

Noah, despite complaints about walking through the sand and getting salt in his mouth, quickly remembered all the fun to be had on sand and in water. He had a great time frolicking in the waves, searching for shells with Daddy, and begging each of us to come out with him. Audrey plopped right down and got to work filling her bucket with sand, and I finally had to drag her into the water for fear that she would get overheated! 

She loves the ocean , though, and started struggling to get out of my arms in four feet of water. I don’t know where she thought she was going! We ate our picnic lunch again, right there on the beach towels with a little sand for added grit. Reluctantly, we decided to get back to the hotel around 1:00 so we wouldn't be scorched. We rinsed off a bit in the pool and got back to our rooms just in time for a few heavy rain showers to blow through, and the kids took long naps while the adults rested (Jamie, Angela & Drew) and obsessed about cleanliness (Chris). Drew and Chris stocked up on a few more items from the grocery store, and then Jamie and Drew graciously offered to keep the kids with them for the night so that Chris and I could go out, just the two of us. Isn't that awesome? I have the best in-laws! They spent their last night in Gulf Shores eating at Dairy Queen and walking to a movie theater to watch How to Train Your Dragon 2. It was Audrey’s first movie in a theater, and they said she did great! She came back telling us all about the dragons and the movie and the “guys.” Noah came back doing this very weird impression of a dragon.

Meanwhile, Chris and I stopped at the Visitor Center to see about coupons for some of the local restaurants, then made our way to The Original Oyster House, a place I had researched and whose menu I had perused online. I did a double-take when the hostess told us, at 5:30 p.m., that our wait would be an hour and FIFTY minutes! Sorry, it can’t be that good! I was pretty bummed, but I had another place in mind called The Steamer. It’s more of a locals’ place, set back from the road and super-casual. The food was yummy and the ambiance was really authentic and small-town. We decided to order different things and share, so Chris got blackened shrimp and I chose the crab cakes. He had new potatoes and I had potato salad, and we both agreed that the potato salad was reason enough to come back if we ever have a chance! After dinner, I suggested a little cheesecake place I spotted earlier in the day (oh, why not? Diet, schmiet) called Hope’s Cheesecake. We picked out a piece of Reese’s cup cheesecake and a blueberry cheesecake, and against our better judgment, downed both right there on the front porch of the cheesecake place. We drove back out to the Wharf to walk around a bit, curious to see the light and music show we had heard about, but then remembered that TCU was playing Ole Miss in the College World Series. We unanimously voted to go back to the hotel, lame or not, walk off/work out a little to ease our guilt about the cheesecake, and watch the second half of the game in the hotel room. It was a great little break from the kid chaos, and we really appreciate Drew and Jamie for “taking one for the team”!