Alabama Appetites

Royal Reds, the king of shrimp. We had them for dinner one evening, and as is usual when our family travels, we eat out a lot. Here are some of the highlights of our food-related adventures in Alabama.

One evening, we went for seafood at Geno's Fresh Catch Grill, where we had oysters and fresh local crab.










Afterwards, Emmett got dessert at the ice cream place a few doors down (everybody else was full).

On a sunny afternoon, we had lunch at Flora-bama, a bar and road house on the beach, just over the Florida border. Emmett tried and conquered his very first oyster! I didn't see it but other bar patrons confirmed, so I was forced to believe. We ran out onto the beach after lunch and touched the Gulf on the Florida side, just to say we had done it.

One day, Ben and I went to Blalock's Seafood and Gourmet Market and bought Royal Red shrimp (a variety of deep-water shrimp that almost tastes like lobster), plus smaller shrimp for the kids. They liked the Royal Reds better! We had a deliciously decadent dinner in the condo, feasting on crustaceans.


One night, we went across the street for Mexican food and we all practiced our various languages. I tried Spanish, Emmett spoke French, Jack spoke Japanese, and the waiter informed us (because we asked) that currently, there are approximately ten pesos in one dollar. We wanted to go to Fort Morgan, but Ann and Jack weren't feeling well and the kids were having so much fun at the beach that we never got there. Next time.

And of course, we can't forget our breakfast at the Waffle House.

On the last night, we cleaned up all our mess. We leave a day before Ann and Jack so we can get to New Orleans. We haven't been there since Hurricane Katrina and we want to see how they are doing--and contribute our tourism dollars. I didn't quite finish Travels with Charley so I'll have to finish it when I get home--I need to return it to the lending library. Friday morning, we said farewell to Orange Beach and to Ann and Jack, and headed due west for the Big Easy.

Good-bye Orange Beach! And thanks, Ann!

Taking Our Relationship with the Sun to the Next Level

This morning, the kids and I woke up early and went down to the beach right away. I brought my laptop down and sat on the cushioned loungers with the sun shades to work on this blog, while the kids played in the surf. It was extremely windy and the red flags in front of the condo were flying, signaling hazardous surf in the form of rip tides and undertows. With the promise to be sensible (or “sensibly unsensible,” as they put it), the boys went in anyway. The water is so cold, I don’t see how they can do it, but I guess it’s because they’re kids. The surf was wild, with waves far bigger than the kids. You wouldn’t know it was the Gulf—at least not the placid summer Gulf I’m used to seeing. Although thinking back to childhood, I do remember a more vigorous springtime Gulf.










After awhile, we moved to the pool, then back upstairs for breakfast. And so went the week--lots of beach.

One day, we went back for plastic shovels, so the boys could dig a giant hole. (And as an air guitar prop, apparently.)




Digging is serious business, as you can see:





The rest of the week, it was pretty much all about the beach.

Remembering the Sun

On our first full day in Orange Beach, Alabama, we had one mission, and one mission only: to thaw our poor Iowa bones on the beach.

I got up with the kids at about 7:30 and cooked breakfast burritos with bacon, egg, and cheese. Emmett was in the pool by 8:30 a.m., and on the beach by 9:30. We sat out on the balcony with Ann and Jack (Ben's parents) and enjoyed the beautiful morning while we drank our coffee.




But Angus needed supplies, so we headed over to Gulf Shores, to find a souvenir shop I’d seen on the Internet with a large shark built into the structure. The door was his mouth. Angus needed a swimsuit because he’d outgrown his old one. He also needed a skim board, sunglasses, and flip-flops. Emmett needed a body board and goggles, Ben needed a hat, etc. (I use the term “needed” loosely.)



But bathing suits were incredibly expensive at Souvenir City. Ben did find a $5.00 hat on clearance—a black cowboy-style hat that suits him—and Angus found some reasonably priced sunglasses (which he hasn’t worn since) and some cheap flip-flops from a huge selection. We bought Emmett a body board and tried another chain, Alvin’s Island, which did have swimsuits at a cheap price that Angus liked just fine. The really good skim boards with a foam core were around $100 so we searched and searched for a wooden one that wasn’t warped—and actually found one for $7.99.

Yet, I mourn the demise of the small independently owned souvenir shop on the beach. I didn't see even one.

I dropped everyone off at the condo after shopping because I still had to go to the grocery store to get food for dinner. I went to Winn-Dixie and got fresh snapper (they didn’t have fresh shrimp, I’ll go to a shrimp store later in the week for that) and some smoked pork and shrimp Cajun sausage for the boys. I got a bunch of avocados, limes, milk, juice, turbinado sugar for Ben’s coffee, juice, soda, beer, etc. You know, the bare essentials. I was hoping to get ingredients for margaritas but the liquor stores are closed on Sundays.

Back at the condo, I hit the beach. Everybody else was already out there. The boys body-boarded, skim-boarded, swam, and went back and forth between the beach and the pool, with occasional breaks inside for food or rest.





Ben and I walked down to a pier, probably about a half mile away, taking pictures (including a picture of Ben under the pier, just to prove he really walked all the way there with me) and enjoying the beautiful cool sunny weather. On the way back, we passed groups of tan, muscular boys in baggy swimsuits trying to pick up groups of tan, leggy girls in bikinis. Obviously, it's spring break. The boys so excited and hopeful, the girls so beautiful and blase'. We also walked past a sand sculptor who had made a sea turtle and a cool painted hammerhead shark. He was spraying the sand with paint and a group of kids watched in fascination.






Here's Ben, setting a bad example for the youngsters on the beach.





I felt so relieved (there is no other word) to be back in the sea air with the sound of waves, the sun. I could feel all my stress melting away in the sun and with every breath of the salty air. I think I should live on the beach. Ah well, maybe someday…and doesn't everyone say that when they go on vacation? A group of spring-break boys on the beach decided to dig a giant moat around a big mountain (in front of a group of spring break girls, of course). They worked in earnest for hours. When someone asked them what they were doing, they said, "Something memorable!"





The red flag signals the dangerous surf, but that didn't keep the kids from skim boarding and playing the waves all afternoon.












After awhile, I went in to start dinner. I made a big salad, guacamole with corn chips, and put out salsa Ann had bought. I baked the fish (covered in butter, lime juice, garlic, and Carribean seasoning salt) and the sausage in the oven. We all sat down together with Ann and Jack for a laid-back dinner…and forgot to take a single picture of the food! (I hate it when that happens.) When we realized we were missing the sunset, Ben raced downstairs to catch the end of it.


Not long afterwards, exhausted from a full day outside, everyone fell asleep early.

It was a good day.