Son, Logan, exploring the shadowy trails of Gulf State Park in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Bicycling in the Shadows
Tag Archives: Alabama
Skywatch Friday – Cool Beach Vibes
We are still at the beach on our family’s vacation. We had a couple of warm days to wear we could sit on the beach for a few hours. The water was warm enough wade in but not for me to get in. Son got in for a little bit but he is young, right? And then it got cold so we go beach walking and hiking in a nearby State Park. Hey you know, a cold day at the beach is still okay.
I hope everybody is doing well!! I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.
Shadowy Beach Sightings
From our recent vacation. Shadows from a fence protecting the dunes.
And Heather and I during one of our walks. We walked on the beach barefoot twenty five miles total. I kind of miss it. I love how skinny I am in this photo, and tall!!
I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2 – come join the fun!!
Skywatch Friday – Alabama Edition
We are back from our vacation to the gulf coast of Alabama (aka the “Redneck Riviera”). We had a great time as a family and will have lots of memories.
Son always has a good time. He also carries a book with him wherever he goes. That’s a good habit to have.
We cooked a couple shrimp dinners while we were there using fresh caught shrimp. We dined out on our balcony.
For the first time we explored Gulf State Park on bike. It is a sprawling park with beaches, lakes ponds, miles of trails, and multiple access points from the surrounding community.
We had a lot of fun and got to do some active relaxing.
I’m linking with Skywatch Friday
Our World – Bellingrath Gardens and Home
The entire property is lush and provides lots of opportunities for photographs. I loved the greenhouse.
Our family recently took a detour on our vacation to visit the Bellingrath Gardens and Home, located on the Fowl River near Mobile, Alabama. The 65-acre property, which was the home of an early Coca-Cola entrepreneur and his wife, is now maintained by a foundation. The property was beautifully landscaped and we were glad we took the time to visit. If you’re looking to keep your own garden clean and tidy, consider hiring a professional landscaping company in Adrian, MI who are well versed in this field.
I love reflections.
This is one of those places that I have heard about for quite a while and I had high expectations and they were surpassed. The grounds are immaculate and the landscaping design is superb, especially for those of us with a camera. The gardens are just packed with great visuals wherever you go.
We stayed several hours and still did not see it all. I took over 130 photographs.s
The place has been maintained well and one can tell from our conversations with the staff and guides that their’s is a labor of love.
What a great courtyard with a the wrought iron fence on the balconty, big huge windows that open, a little fountain, and archways. And I love the brick.
We paid for a tour of the Bellingrath home and it is exquisite. It was built in the 1920’s and had several features that seemed ahead of its time. They didn’t have electricity at first, but the family anticipating it coming had the house prewired and included features you don’t see today such as automatic lights that come on when you open a closet.
A shady area with comfortable chairs.
It really looks like a place where one could relax. Lots of quiet shady spots and courtyards.
I am a sucker for flags and gas lights. REAL gas lights.
And as in the gardens, the house is surrounded by plants.
The guide showed us where the Bellingrath’s cooks kept the cookies.
The kitchen was superb. They have kept it as it was when it was lived in. Two big ovens and ranges, two big dishwashers, a couple of giant refrigerators. We loved the light airy feeling of the place.
This was my favorite room. Not the main dining room but another one. Again, big tall windows with great light.
If you want to visit, check out Bellingrath’s web site. Lots of great info on planning and what to see. Being a garden, they always have something going on.
I am linking with Our World Tuesday
Skywatch Friday – Bellingrath Gardens
We are on our family vacation so my SWF post is a little late this week. We toured the beautiful Bellingrath Gardens yesterday just south of Mobile, Alabama.
I am linking with Skywatch Friday
Skywatch Friday – A Cloudy Day at the Beach
Even the rainy overcast days at the beach are interesting with the big vistas. This particular day featured fast moving showers moving through the area. I suscribe to the “hear it, fear it, see it, flee it” school of lightning. So I am not going to venture out during a rainstorm but I’ll sure take photos of those that do.
I am fascinated how the water changes color with the sky. Sometimes the water is blue, other times green, and still others grey. We stayed at the beach for a week and had no reason to turn on the television even when it was rained.
I’m linking with Skywatch Friday
Skywatch Friday – Lifeguard Tower
Orange Beach, Alabama
Why are lifeguard towers so darn cool? Most places I have been I have hardly ever see lifeguards in them. They are very beachy though like this example from our recent vacation to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. We had pretty good weather and great skies while we are there and a pretty good time.
Skywatch Friday
Life’s a Beach – In the Air, on the Ground, and in the Water
Heather and Logan went on their parasailing adventure the other day. I didn’t go, the pics were taken by a boat hand.
Up
And then way up there!
Before coming down for a little shark dip, and then the credit card went though and they went up again.
While they were up there, I went to the beautiful Gulf State Park’s Backwoods Trail.
And found some geocaches. No snakes, no bug bites (thanks DEET), but a few thorn scratches.
Heather and I have taken several long beach walks along the Gulf underneath everchanging skies.
And I have been crushing beers in the surf. That is what us guys do, we crush our beers. We have found some decent beer here finally. Alabama is a bigger beer wasteland than Oklahoma.
And I found me a friend at the fishing pier at Gulf Shores. I’m not much of birdwatcher except for the big ones like this Brown Pelican.
Today, we are going on a Segway nature tour of the Gulf State Park. I’ll give you a report later.
Life’s a Beach – Birthday Edition
Logan started his birthday on the beach, reading.
It ended up raining and so the planned parasailing got put off for another day. We ended up doing a little shopping and running errands and such.
He wanted dinner at Shipp’s Harbor, a nice restaurant that we all loved.
It is in a marina. I love marinas. Looking at the different kinds of boats and seeing if I can tell which ones get used and which ones never get taken out.
We went to see a movie, “The Fate of the Furious”, part of the Fast and Furious franchise. It had some great scenes filmed in Havana with old cars and such. It also had a luscious Charlize Theron as a bad girl trying to steal nuclear launch codes. She commandeers a bunch of cars to go into driverless mode to attack the convoy that has the launch codes. Great scene.
We also had birthday cake of course.
And so a great day was had by all.