Gulf Shores 2009

A couple of weeks ago, we took our annual trip to Gulf Shores. I love going in the off-season. We usually go in May or September, when it's still warm enough to swim, but kids are in school so it's not crowded. Our favorite thing is to eat at all our favorite restaurants! We don't get to stay on the beach too long since our children are still so young, but hopefully that will change next year. We left on Friday afternoon and made it to Foley in time to eat dinner at Lambert's. After that, we made it to our room and got settled. We explored the property a bit but it was kind of late for the children so we called it a night.


The condo was really nice - 2 br, 2 ba with leather furniture, granite countertops, nice decorations, etc. The property had a zero entry pool, indoor pool and jacuzzi, and was located right on the beach (meaning we didn't have to walk too far on a big boardwalk or through the sand to get to the actual ocean). Some condos are situated too far back in my opinion.


The next day was Saturday and we took it pretty easy - we ate breakfast at The Hangout and then stayed around the condo and went swimming, did a little shopping for food and necessities, etc. We ate an early dinner at The Original Oyster House and then made it back to the room in time to watch the Auburn game. I was a bit disappointed because I wasn't that hungry for dinner and didn't eat much of my food, and that is the restaurant we most look forward to every year!


Sunday morning, I made breakfast in the room and then we set up all our beach stuff (tent, chairs, toys, etc). By we, I mean Alan. Then, we all played at the beach and pool for a while and then got ready to go do other fun stuff. We ate at Sea-N-Suds, which is probably my favorite lunch place ever. After that, we headed to Pensacola to the Naval Aviation Museum, another tradition. That is where the Blue Angels are based, but they weren't practicing the week we were there :( Maybe we'll get to take the boys to a practice or air show one day! Carter had a lot of fun looking at everything, and he had to climb into every plane or helicopter that was allowed. However, he most enjoyed the new play area they have set up for youngsters. He kept wanting to go back to the "pirate ship" and play with all the other kids. For those of you who haven't been in a while, they have really added a lot of new exhibits and improved some of the other ones - it was well worth another trip there.


After we left there, we went to eat dinner at Lulu's, which is the most fun place ever. It's owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister, so you know it has to be fun. Carter loved playing in the big sand area and with all the things they had set up to play with. Finally, we headed to the outlet mall - my favorite destination of our trip every year :) As far as outlet malls go, it's a pretty big one and has all of our favorite stores. I was disappointed that we didn't get to stay long though, and I missed going to my favorite shoe store, or the Old Time Pottery store that is way better than the one close to my house. And I'm not making that up - it really is way better. I got a few cute clothes for the boys and a lot of shoes for them - they are set with shoes for the fall/winter!

After our long day, we went back to the room and the boys crashed pretty easily :) The next day, Alan had to work. We thought it would be a light work day and he could just check email every so often, but we could still go about vacationing. Not the case. Something malfunctioned, and he had to work for 10 hours straight!!! AND, he had to come back and work more after dinner :( We did take a little break and go to the pool/beach. Then, we ordered pizza for lunch from a place we hadn't tried before, Crico's, but it was really YUMMY! Charlie took a nap, so Carter and I went down to the beach to relax and build sand castles. Later, we ate at another new place, DeSoto's, which was ok but not our favorite. We had heard really good things about how it's the local favorite, but maybe it was because we didn't order our fish fried? We had dessert at another tradition for us - Scoops! After that, we decided to let Carter ride the ferris wheel at The Wharf (it's the biggest ferris wheel in the Southeast). Well, because we went on a Monday night in the off season, it was closed :( We opted to go to the go-cart, mini-golf, bumper boat, arcade place instead. On the way, we looked back and saw that Carter was asleep :) Poor thing - he missed both opportunities that night!


The next day, we got up and got packed to leave. We were going to stop by the outlet mall again and some other shops we missed, but Charlie had other plans for us. He woke up with a stomach virus! What a fun car-ride back! He slept in the car the entire morning, except when he woke up to get sick. After lunchtime though, he seemed to be all better and was eating/drinking just fine. The next night when we were at home, Carter got sick the minute we walked into a restaurant. His virus lasted a few hours as well - it was a very strange bug!


Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Here are a couple of the new outfits I made them for the beach. I cut them out a long time ago but never got them finished, so I just saved them for this trip. Maybe they will still fit this Spring...?

And here are the rest! Pace yourself, or you might get bored, especially with the photo session on the beach. We always looking for the perfect beach shot... Too bad that Charlie HATED the sand! Does that sound familiar?!? ;) If Carter is any indication, Charlie will love it next year :)