Down By the Sea Shore

There's nothing like a day at the beach to wash your cares away! We decided to support Alabama tourism this year, and go to Gulf Shores for a little vacation. I had not been there since junior high school I don't think. It turned out to be the perfect first family vacation for us. The drive was relatively short, and we were able to enjoy a few care free days together. Our condo was gorgeous, and had a great pool with it. The beach seemed fine, but double red flags were flying warning that there was oil present. We didn't spend as much time on the beach as I would normally want to, but we did manage to capture plenty of pictures while we were out there. Brennan loved it all, including the sand he tried to eat! After he blessed us with a super messy diaper only a few hours from home, and by the way those clothes went in the trash, he was the perfect travel companion the rest of the time.

We spent our days lounging by the pool, eating great food, shopping, and enjoying the roar of the waves. On our way into town, we stopped to eat at Lambert's. It was a new experience for me, pretty cool but way too much food. We walked that off at the outlets, and snagged a few good deals while we were there. LuLu's was our next fun stop on our second day. The food was great, and I loved all the bright colored furniture, etc. We went for lunch so we didn't get the whole experience I don't think, but it was pretty neat to see. That night we just wanted a little something, and we wandered into The Hangout. I don't remember hearing about it from anyone before, but it turned out to be so much fun. It is open air dining, with a sand dune outside for the kids to play on and live music for the adults. As soon as we sat down they started a game that everyone in the restaurant could participate in, then there was participation music and dancing. At one point people were running and dancing around the restaurant to the song Shout, while tossing paper napkins everywhere. Pretty funny to watch! We also visited The Original Oyster House, Mellow Mushroom, and several souvenir shops throughout our stay. Our last food stop was Sweetie Pies. Um, Um, Yum! We had their breakfast sandwich and a slice of chocolate pecan pie. Needless to say, we were stuffed the whole trip. It was a fantastic start to what we hope will be a great family tradition.