Aishling the Airstream Update No. 013

Gulf State Park

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Located 1.5 miles from the white sand beaches, Gulf State Park Campground offers 496 improved full - hookup campsites with paved pads and with 8 primitive

Gulf State Park is a public recreation area on the Gulf of Mexico in the city of Gulf Shores in southern Baldwin County, Alabama. The state park's 6,500 acres mostly encompass the land behind the Gulf Shores beach community, between Highway 59 and SH 161, with the west end extending further south to a wide beach area. In addition to beaches, the park includes marshland, boggy tea-colored streams, pine forests, and three spring-fed, fresh-water lakes: Lake Shelby (750 acres), Middle Lake, and Little Lake.

And we've loved this campground for YEARS.

- We first camped there in our rough little pop-up

after we'd moved north from Mobile -

The most asked question in the camping world is -

How do you get a site at this sought-after venue?

Well - we PLAN AHEAD -like a YEAR -

Then we MAKE THE RESERVATION.

Then Craig checks and checks,

and checks again - until he finds one of the sites we love

[right on the water, preferably by the beach mouse trail - ]

We love golden hour on the beach - always.

Most people have left after having a full day of sun and

the sun has calmed down enough to not burn my delicate skin...

Truth.

My mama only allowed me outside before 1- and after 3.

Just sayin'.

And I'm glad I caught this snap of the view looking back at the beach pavilion -

To the left is the overpass trail we rode on to get here...

And speaking of trails - that's one of our

VERY favorite activities to do around the campground -

I particularly love riding on the boardwalks!

But we love them all...

And have even ventured off-trail to visit the sports plex...

or the road to Tacky Jacks... or even Docs on occasion...

I just love ALL the different areas you see while riding the trails!

Woodsy, marshy [alligators!], paved, rustic...

There's even a spot that overlooks a deep valley in the back of the park!

And I think it's pretty cool that we can take a quick ride

around the beach mouse trail to enjoy our yogurt breakfast!

And have a view of our #AishslingtheAirstream

and maybe an alligator while we're at it...

Y'all know we have our favorite places to eat seafood while we're there - and we always check out the pool after dark... Although, I will say that during this trip the pool looked a bit in need of cleaning....