MOBILE to ORANGE BEACH / Tuesday, October 25 to Tuesday, November 1 (Day 278- 284)

Admiral's Log:     7:25 am, 10/25/16
                         Air Temp:   57     Water Temp:   67
                        Winds:   calm
                        Speed:   10.5 mph

A bitter sweet day. This begins the last leg of this awesome journey.  Can't believe it's almost over! We entered Mobile Bay and back to salt water, yuck.

                     

               Rowe Boat entering Mobile Bay 

Alabama/Florida Line running into the water

Sunrise over Mobile Bay as we head to Orange Beach

Been missing my lighthouses! Middle Bay Light in Mobile Bay

Sure sign we are back in salt water, shrimper surrounded by sea gulls!

We saw Copper Penny and No Schedule as we passed the Wharf Marina, we waved and said hi.

First dolphin sighting! 

We arrived at Orange Beach Marina a little after 1. This was to be our home port for a week to 10 days. As we planned on a couple of road trips to Auburn and New Orleans. We really liked this marina. It was very quiet, clean, nice restaurant and staff.

Mike says this guy has more in his boat house than the boat! Pretty cool house though.

Mike talked to the service manager to arrange to have a little work done on the boat while we are on our road trips. What? You say more work? Don't forget...it's a boat. 

We had lunch at Frasier's at the Marina. It is a very good restaurant and was featured in Southern Living Magazine. We watched the Lightning and had leftovers for dinner.

Wednesday, I went and picked up the rental while Mike cleaned, deflated and put up our fender balls. Last vestiges of locking, I'm going to miss them...NOT. Then he washed the outside while I cleaned the inside. 

Bye bye fender balls...

We took the rental car to Pensacola to buy liquor, a lot cheaper in Florida! Then we got much needed Pedicure's! The feet really take a beating on the boat. So it's nice to get pampered once in a while. We had dinner at Lulu's, well known in this area. Lucy is the sister to Jimmy Buffet. And I had  to get a T-shirt. There's going to be a major T-shirt give away at our house when we get home. We bought quite a few to commemorate some of the more fun places we stopped at along the way.

Selfie at Lulu's

Thursday, we met a college friend, Carol Darden Gordan and her husband for lunch at R Bistro in Fair Hope. It was delish; Carol and I had quiche and salad. Mike had a fried green tomato BLT. What a cute town! Mike and I decided if we ever decided to move again, we really love this area; coastal Alabama or the Florida Panhandle. It does get colder, but there are a little more seasons and the fishing is great, you don't have to go so far off shore to catch nice fish.

I bought a watercolor by a local artist of the Mobile lighthouse to add to my collection. Then Carol took us on a tour of Fair Hope and Point Clear, where she lives. We went to the Grand Hotel for drinks and watch the sunset. Built in 1840, the Grand Hotel is a beautiful resort on Mobile Bay, with 2 golf courses, a spa and over 400 guest rooms. It has survived fires, hurricanes and even a war. In the 1860's it was used as a hospital for the Confederacy. You can see the 150-grave Confederate Rest Cemetery on the hotel's Azalea Golf Course. 

After drinks we walked around the property, taking in a couple of yard games and a gorgeous sunset. We went back to Carol's duplex which is on one of the golf courses of the Grand property. She fixed a nice dinner and we stayed up till midnight talking and catching up. Can't remember when the last time I stayed up that late! But it was totally worth it, we had not seen Carol in quite a while.

Miss my bud Carol.

Mike and Carol playing Ladderball.

Friday, we sat on the back porch and enjoyed the lovely weather and coffee with Carol and Mike, visiting to nearly 11. They took us to lunch at the Colony Club on the Grand property. Then we drove to Auburn for Katy's Birthday weekend, she turned 25. We had dinner at Zazu's in downtown Opelika. We all agreed Katy's short ribs were the best! Then there was the bread pudding and pound cake.... getting me closer and closer to making that Weight Watcher's appointment when we get home!

Saturday, the four of us (Katy and her boyfriend Daniel) had lunch at the Hound with Mark Wilton of Auburn's Ag School. The Hound has great Southern fare with a twist. Afterwards Daniel drove us around campus. Mike and I tried to remember where things were in the "olden days". So much has changed and grown. But it's always fun to go back. We love the town, the people and the tradition of Auburn.

When we got back we watched college football all day; especially enjoyed Auburn beating Old Miss. War Eagle! It's great to be an Auburn Tiger....sorry I get a little carried away sometimes. Daniel grilled venison for dinner which was quite good and tender. 

Sunday, Daniel fixed breakfast. He wanted us to try some sausage he found in Albany, Georgia, which was delicious. Katy and I took her dog Cooper for a walk around the neighborhood while Mike and Daniel worked on a couple of projects. 

One of her presents, Daniel had her diploma framed.

Katy wanted to change the looks of the house so we moved furniture and hung pictures. We asked her if she wanted to do anything special, but she said that is what she wanted since she had extra bodies to help. I have to admit, the new arrangement looked nice. Mike helped Daniel hang a fan and lights on the patio. Then Mike fixed goulash for dinner. Yes, goulash, one of Katy's favorites, her request. After dinner we watched the movie "Concussion". It's a true story about the NFL and very enlightening. We stuck candles in a pound cake Katy had made and sang happy birthday. I know it does not sound too exciting but she was just happy we were there and had a restful productive day.

Ages 7, 12 and 18.

The Birthday Girl, 25 years old.  We love you!!!

 Monday, we got back to the boat around noon, caught up on emails, rested and showered for dinner. We met Natalie Austin for dinner at the Half Shell in Spanish Fort. Natalie was a next door neighbor kid when we lived in Scottsboro. She and her sister Leslie were close in age to our kids and played together often. We had dinner with her parents Steve and Charlotte when we were in Florence. Natalie is a friend of mine on Facebook, so when she saw we were in Mobile she contacted me about meeting for dinner. We were sorry we did not get to meet her husband, but had a great visit with her. Hard to believe how we've all grown! She was just 13 when we left Scottsboro.

Tuesday, I went to the grocery and did laundry while Mike waited for the repair guys. We had lunch again at Fisher's. I caught up on my Blog again, yay! We had pizza and wings for dinner and watched the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey game.