Jacqui had a week of vacation to use or lose, so we headed to the sandy beaches of Gulf Shores, AL, a.k.a., the Redneck Riviera, to kick back. We had a great time, and definitely would go back. The landscape is dominated by these condo hi-rise developments that run all the way east along the gulf coast to Florida. Despite the perfect weather (mid-80,'s and sunny with warm water temps and puffy, puffy huhwhite clouds), the crowds apparently stay away until Memorial Day weekend, which is still a week away.
We'd start every morning on the beach and enjoy a snack and relaxation beverage. Jack got to shovel sand into pails and his dump truck, make sand castles with his mom, and got to fly a kite for the first time. Kites are more work than either of us is interested in at this age, but he was really excited to see how it got up in the air, and how it stayed up there.
Each day, as we got closer to lunchtime, we'd head up to one of the pools, where Jack would practice his Superman dive. Like his mom, he's very interested in the Super Heroes. He recently had an argument with one of his school buddies, Will, about which Super is "best" and "more red", Superman or Spiderman. He has a Green Lantern hero mask/glasses he likes to wear when he asks you to try to "fight" him. He's a head-butt and windmill / haymaker kind of fighter at this stage. And for some reason, he drools when he "fights" and says his opponent's name (You) is "Clacko" or "Ricky". The drool is more effective than his other weapons.
We had the beach mostly to ourselves every day. Jack dug for oil, apparently unaware that this area was devastated just a few years ago by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. No evidence of that now, but we did speak with some people who had been hired to walk the beach, turn over the sand and seaweed here and there, and look for oil blobs and damage to plant and sea life. They said it had been a quite a while since they'd seen any, but they're still getting paid to look, so they keep cashing the checks and walking the beach.
Jack is still a novice when it comes to dealing with ocean waves. We told him what his "Pa" always said when we were kids - "don't ever turn your back on the Sea, or she'll likely knock you off your feet". He was in the Navy, but doesn't really talk like that. Jack seemed to understand these instructions, but was getting more and more daring, running into the surf, and laughing like a nut, until he got hit by one wave a bit too big to handle. We were standing right there, so he only swallowed a few mouthfulls of seawater before we got to him. He came up stunned and coughing, and then kept saying "Why is it...why is it...why is it"? When the sobbing stopped, he finally asked, "Why is it so salty and up my nose? As they say, lessons learned are best learned the hard way. New nickname "Cousteau".
Each day after our 3 1/2 hour naps, we did something different. One day it was trains. Jack got to climb on this one, and check out the caboose, engine and a box car - no hobos though. They did have a warehouse jam-packed with working model trains, set up like a little village. There was a guy there, acting as conductor, and he let Jack work some of the controls. Afterward, we rode on a miniature railroad, which he seemed to enjoy. New nickname - Chooch.
Another day we tried miniature golf at Pirate Island. Jack doesn't have much patience for this game (
see link to video here), and his hockey stick grip and stance isn't helping much. The place is set up like a Disney theme park, complete with a dungeon and pirate skeletons in dark caves. He's always had a problem with skeletons, and after seeing one all chained up in the dungeon, he was pretty much done with this place. New nickname "Happy Gilmore".
We took a ferry ride to Dauphin Island, but due to ferry timing and pregnancy eating schedules, we didn't even bother to off-load. Just turned around a rode it right back to the mainland. No matter, Jack got to see an oil rig, tug boats, and what he believed to be a secret weapon ray gun which blows up race car engines. It was actually one of those coin operated telescopes, mounted on the ferry rail, but it looked like something he saw on the Pixar movie Cars II.
When in Alabama you gots to feed the gators. So - we did (
click to see link here).
There's a chain link fence wrapping the walkway through this swamp. They give you a plastic cup with milk bone dog treats to toss to the gators.
For added fun, they toss a dead otter to the bigger ones (they told us it was a beaver, but that's not a beaver tail) . See the link to the video here (
beaver ).
The drive between Fayetteville, AR and Gulf Shores, AL is about 12 hours, so, on the way down we stopped in Jackson, MS, and stayed at the historic(?)
King Edward Hotel which is now a Hilton. We ate dinner that night at a local restaurant called Mayflower Cafe, that was featured in the movie - The Help, which takes place in Jackson. Interesting note about the restaurant - they make you walk outside to use the restroom. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that the entrance for the restroom is outside, and a short way down the sidewalk. We weren't sure why there was an armed guard at the door when we walked in. Turns out, he's there to accompany you to the restroom. Sorry, no photos, but Jacqui can attest to this, having made use of his service. The food was good, I do declare. I think I had a Cajun flounder stuffed with crawfish.
We broke up the trip on the way home with a stop overnight in historic Vicksburg, MS. Historic for the south because of the civil war battles, and historic for us, because Jack rolled out of bed in the middle of the night, where I promptly stepped on him in the dark. We drove around Vicksburg a bit to get a feel for it (very hilly, very southern, more decay than I expected). The big draw was the civil war memorial park and cemetery, but Jack wasn't acting like the best representative from the North, so we passed on the tour.
There is a route between Gulf Shores that is mostly interstate highway, and avoids all of Louisiana and most of Mississippi, but adds a few hours to the trip. After taking the rural route once, I believe we'll be taking the long way next time. The direct route takes you through some very rural parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. There is an up-side. We now have a new memory yardstick by which we can measure every filthy thing or place we come across in the future - we ask each other if it's as dirty as a backwoods-Louisiana-gas-station-bathroom.
That's about it for now. Next month we'll probably cover the annual Fort Smith Rodeo, a possible camping trip for Fathers Day (just me & the boy), racing the J24 on Beaver Lake (we're still number one in the standings), Jack's "siblings class", the baby name game (narrowed down to 50), and a pregnancy status update with three weeks to go (due July 19th). Until then, we hope you liked the photos and our View Of Life In The South.
