The Trip...

Our trip to the Gulf of Mexico was great to say the least. The drive Wasn't even that bad. Uneventful, mostly, but not bad. There's really not a lot to see on I-65 between Huntsville and Gulf Shores, AL.

Well, maybe the rockets. We passed the Space Center both ways and, even though we've seen this a hundred times before, the sight of real Saturn series rockets standing upright on the side of the 565 connector always amazes me...


Otherwise the drive looked totally like this:

Of course, once we arrived in the sub-tropics, the view got a lot better... this is actually a shot taken from the balcony of our condo:

And then we had to make the obligatory calls to tell everyone that we arrived safely. This is me talking to the kids. I'm not mad, this is just how I look when I talk to my kids.

And this is a view from the interior courtyard of the condo looking out over the suspended pool towards the ocean:

And here's the beach - sea oats and all:

We went out, together, to the beach right away... here's our feet in the sand:

Mine would be the Orc looking size 14's (the dainty one's with the painted toenails are Stacie's).

Some initial shots I took on the beach...




Our shadows together (I got the idea for this from Nabeel - thanks)...

We also spent quite a bit of time cruising around Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and surrounding areas. Incredible what you will see in these locales:

We went back to the beach at sunset on Saturday for another look or three...



On Sunday Morning we attended Gulf Shores UMC's 'Contemporary Worship' Service. It rocked. Literally. Full rock band with drums and all, people waving their hands in the air, a dramatic performance to illustrate the scripture reading and a really nice stained glass window in the 'prayer tower'...

We also went to our favorite restaurant in the whole universe - The Original Oyster House - every night. The food was fantastic and, yes, Susan, I had the scallops. But the setting of this place is even more incredible. Here are some views of boardwalk in the back while we were waiting for our pager to go off...



And shots of Stacie and the two of us as we waited for our gluttony...


We got up Monday to see the sunrise over the Gulf. All I can say is WOW!










Naturally, we also caught the sunsets. Double WOW.



Monday evening we went to a place called 'The Wharf'. This is a spankin' new multi gazillion dollar entertainment mecca complete with a 10 story Ferris wheel, a 12 story 'housing complex', a 1000+ seat movie theater, and enough over-priced shops to make your eyes bleed. I got Stacie to ride the Ferris Wheel...

To get an idea of how big this monster is here's a shot from about halfway up. The little light spot in the lower right hand corner is our vehicle...

We caught a few more beach scenes...



Chased some gulls around for a half hour trying to get a good shot of them (they don't like to pose),

And went to the 'Gator park right off H59 in Gulf Shores:

(we didn't see any 'Gators btw)

This is just a sampling of the many pix I took on our trip but I think you can get the idea... It was awesome!

One last thing - I just can't let this be done without my nod to Alabama politics - So in honor of my blog-friend LutherPunk and strange people everywhere, I give you Mr. Luther Strange, candidate for Lieutenant Governor of the great state of Alabama...

I hope he wins and... it's good to be back.