Annie Lee the Argosy Update No. 029

Gulf State Park

Gulf Shores, AL

 

For the past, oh... I don't know how many years, I've had a work conference at The Gulf during this time of year... and while I am still on the board [of directors] for this organization ... 

I didn't attend, because... well.... there was no convention due to the combination of the pandemic plus SALLY who wreaked havoc on the Orange Beach / Gulf Shores 

[GULF COAST] area last year... 

But we love a winter's beach, y'all. 

 

 [not my photo - but I do love 'our' rocket at night]

So we made the last minute decision to get up early and head to The Gulf for the holiday weekend. Our original plan was to go towards Pensacola and stay at the airstream park there**... And then head over to Mobile to enjoy Mardi Gras in a totally different way than what we remembered from our years living there... 

with maybe just a drive through Gulf Shores to dip our toes in the sand...

And then, at the last minute, my sweetheart was able to get us TWO nights in The Gulf State Park... on the water... not really on the water... but on the water...lol...

 

Close enough for THIS. 

And I kinda love how it's not really a warning - just a statement to not interact with the gators that I truly believe are in any source of water along the coast. 

They're there - don't feed them or be hostile to them....

respect their territory, and we will all be fine...

Of course we didn't see any during this trip...

because IT WAS COLD Y'ALL.

Ha.

So you know we're social distancing and that puts [self-imposed] limits on where we might enjoy a meal or two while traveling...

 

and we can't go to The Gulf without enjoying some of our favorite meals...  

Thankfully places like Buzz Catz [oh, how I enjoy their homemade poptarts!], 

Doc's [the new location] - THE BEST SHRIMP AT THE GULF - and

  The Shrimp Basket have outside seating!! Yay!

We also had take-out in the car at least once while in Mobile...

But one of the joys of taking our 'home' along with us is that we can always 

prepare a meal in the comfort of our camper... 

Having a leisurely breakfast at the campsite is always nice...

 

It was a rainy - messy - weekend while we were in Gulf Shores...

 

But there was one brief dry-spell where we enjoyed a bit of beach time.... 

Like, maybe an hour...

 

The wind was crazy and it didn't stay dry long

as another rain storm moved in...

But oh, how I love a deserted beach!

So, toes in sand - check.

 One of the things on our to-do list this trip was to ride our scooters 

along some of the wonderful trails in the park... 

 

and we specifically wanted to ride the beach mouse trail 

to the overpass that goes to the pavilion on the beach 

[which is still closed btw, thanks to Sally] ... 

 

[I LOVE that they kept the retro feel to it all when it was re-modeled a few years back!]

We woke up early one morning and there was NO RAIN so we thought we'd give it a go to welcome the day and [possibly] see a sunrise... IT WAS COLD.

We rode in the dark [we have headlights!] and finally found the correct trail to take...

ending up on the overpass just at day-break...

It turned out to be quite wet as the rain came in while we were out on the trail

and the sunrise was covered in clouds...

Still, so fun!

I love these little adventures with my best friend...

even if my fingers were FROZEN by the time we returned to our warm camper!

SIDE NOTE: our masks turned out to be great nose warmers!

It's been YEARS since we've camped at Gulf State Park...

probably not since Ivan came through at least...

We look forward to going back!

Next stop - 

Shady Acres RV Park

Mobile, AL

 

And the first question is - 

How did we not know about this [not so] little campground 

in the heart of the city before now?

 

We ended up only staying one night due to impending weather [and my anxiety about driving home in possible icy conditions] - but it's a great place just a few miles south of I-10.

We took the afternoon to drive around town to enjoy the 

Yardi Gras

 that the city was celebrating in lieu of having the wonderful 

Mardi Gras parades that Mobile is known for... 

 

YES. Mobile was the FIRST city to celebrate Mardi Gras!

Craig and I have fond memories of when we lived there

 and Fat Tuesday being a holiday with everything closed so that everyone could enjoy the parades and revelry that goes along with it.

And the #MobilePorchParade was fun to see...

I love how anyone could join in regardless of how little or how much they decorated!

And of course there were those that took the opportunity to make a statement - this one being a great big thank you to the medical heroes who have worked tirelessly during this past year...

There was something fun almost everywhere...

 Okay - I'm exaggerating a bit... 

 

We had to refer to the map more than once to find some of the places... 

still it was a fun afternoon.

But too cold for us to get out and walk around... 

We enjoyed our Mardi Gras Cheesecake 

[thanks to Buzz Catz] back at the camper...

 And I caught up with my Ode to Women Daily Challenge in front of the fire

while Craig watched a race on the telly. HA.

We believe in 'roughing' it, can't you tell?

[This little heater kept us snuggly warm in #AnnieLeetheArgosy all weekend!]

We headed home a day early due to the predicted winter storm... and I love that Craig always takes extra precautions to double check things before we get out on the road...

We made it almost home with just a drizzly rain and temps above freezing...

 but when we got on 565 [in our town]

 we ended up behind the DOT crew spreading salt and sand on the interstate.. 

Thankfully we already had plenty of bread and milk...lol.

HAPPY WINTER Y'ALL.

It won't last long here in the south...

so let's stay warm!

** We DID visit the airstream park on the way down [a detour] and it's so quiet and peaceful! 

We're looking forward to being there in the fall with other argosy friends!

I'll share more soon!