(All Packed Up – Desmond Star)

It’s hard to believe. We’re packing the Jeep today and leaving tomorrow. And when I say we’re packing the Jeep what I really mean is he’s packing the jeep. Smart move Debi. That’s a much better plan. 

Hey, sound familiar?

I wrote those same words on December 28, 2018. But at that time we were getting ready to leave PEI. Hard to believe three months have passed and now we’re all packed up to return home. Time flies.

Our plan is to be on the road by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Hopefully good driving weather and not much traffic. Raining here today so 🤞🏼

Not much else to say.

We’ve really enjoyed our Alabama winter and plan to do it again next year. 🙂

Nite y’all 😴

(Pack Your Bags – Johnny Winter)

I finally bit the bullet and started to organize my things for packing. Ugh.

But it’s time. We leave early Monday morning.

Where to start.

After being here for three months I had stuff all over the place: in the closet, in the dresser, in the bedside table, in the spare room, in the bathroom, in the kitchen… And I’m an organized person. Imagine if I wasn’t.

And apparently everything I have decided to multiply. Right? 😉 😉

At least I first got in a gym workout early this morning.

And I was able to take a break from packing to enjoy the sun for a few hours this afternoon.

I think it turned out ok. I have most of my things now ready. Yay!

We’ve also been on the countdown meal wise for the last few days; trying to use what we have. So tonight it’s the leftovers that we had in the freezer. Our choices: Alabama Camp Stew, Chicken Noodle Soup. Chicken Curry, or Macaroni and Cheese.

Tomorrow?

Eating out.

Nite y’all 😴

(Dr. Lucy (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) – Clark Gesner

First it was Daphne.

Now it’s Fairhope.

https://www.fairhopeal.gov/

We had visited Fairhope February 1st and loved it so much (even though it was freezing cold) that we decided to go again. The weather was now so much warmer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairhope,_Alabama

There was an interesting article on Fairhope in the New York Times on March 3rd. It started with “A group of populist reformers from up North arrive in Alabama in November 1894 with a radical plan. Their mission: to establish an experimental utopian community inspired by the economist Henry George whose wildly popular book “Progress and Poverty” influenced readers around the world in search of more equitable societies.”

Our first stop was Page and Palette, an independent coffee/bookstore that has stood near the center of town for over 50 years.

The bar and event space hosts eclectic audiences for readings and performances several evenings each week in addition to being a coffee shop. I absolutely love this idea.

The present owner’s grandmother opened Page and Palette as an art supply and bookstore in 1968. The coffee shop and bar/event space was added in 1997.

Who remembers “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”? I do. I do. That’s why this grabbed my attention.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past decade, two longtime residents have operated “Sonya and Nancy’s Friendly Advice” booth inside the coffee shop, sitting behind a wooden booth inspired by Lucy and giving advice for a nickel per customer. They brainstormed this idea a few years ago when the shop was struggling and they wanted to help attract people to help keep it in business. What thoughtful ladies.

Now anyone who knows me knows my intense love of musicals so of course I had to go and try this out. What fun!

What a lovely lady. so personable. She was meant for this. I’m so glad I went and met her. Plus the Chai Latte I had was delicious.

From here we walked maybe 20 steps to The French Quarter.

It was a peaceful yet still busy spot with unique shops, galleries, and eateries. Lots of people were sitting outside and enjoying a meal in the cobblestone courtyard.

After having been to The French Quarter in New Orleans I thought how amazing that Fairhope had one as well. That was until I read the sign that said it was established in 1992. Well sir. Imagine that. Fairhope’s French Quarter mirrors the brick and ironwork, courtyards, and inviting passageways of New Orleans. Not historical like New Orleans but a great idea.

We walked around the town for awhile and then headed back.

Some more photos from Fairhope.

Cute sign outside one of the dress shops. I’m sure this speaks to lots of us. 😉

Nite y’all 😴

(Destination Anywhere – The Commitments)

Off to Daphne.

https://www.buc-ees.com/index.php

On our way we stopped at BUC-EE’S to get some breakfast.

Poor choice.

Buc-ee’s is a chain of convenience stores located in the Central, North, South, and Southeast regions of Texas and Robertsdale, Alabama.

I wish I’d known this before we stopped.

I don’t know what I was expecting but this wasn’t it. It’s almost like a super general store. It has a bit of everything. And a lot of food but no where to sit and eat it.

But it has the biggest and best restrooms I’ve seen down here. Enormous!

A few photos.

What a row of drinks!

A few food choices.

And more food choices.

The only place I’ve ever seen wages posted inside and outside the store.

And the most gas pumps I’ve ever seen.

Needless to say we didn’t buy breakfast here.

We continued our travels to Daphne.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne,_Alabama

Daphne is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay.

Daphne, dating to 1763 (when it was commonly known as “TheVillage”), retains a small-town feel. Spanish moss-draped oaks shade quiet streets. In the town’s center, homes of yesteryear have been converted into distinctive cafès and boutiques.

This community became a resort destination for Mobile and New Orleans residents prior to the Civil War. Wealthy families flocked to the area’s elegant hotels, one of which currently houses BaysideAcademy prep school. In the early 1900s, Italian families settled here and brought their tradition of great food and wine.

We stopped in to East Shore Café in Old Towne Daphne for breakfast.

It’s a small, family run spot with very friendly staff and ok food. Except for their homemade chocolate chip, coconut, and macadamia nut cookies which they presented to us as a first timers gift. Super yummy.

Our next stop was Gator Alley Boardwalk.

“Alligator Alley” is the name of a boardwalk built by the town of Daphne specifically to allow visitors to view Daphne’s scaly wild critters in their natural habitat. The gators are most active in Spring and Fall.

We walked along the boardwalk and met a women who said she saw two floating down the water.

We saw the two alligators.

If you are on the boardwalk they’re harder to see and it’s difficult to take pictures through the chain link fence. But we noticed across from us was the parking lot for the Hampton Inn and it was open to the water. So over we trekked. Perfect.

We had great views of an alligator that kept swimming back and forth in front of us. Yippee. Mission accomplished.

We took our time watching him, her 🤷‍♀️ I don’t know which. It was so enjoyable.

Off we went back home.

Seeing the alligators made our day. 😁

Nite y’all 😴

(2-4-6-8 Motorway – Tom Robinson Band)

Very early morning start.

Can’t believe there was no one out there.

Just us, the sea, the sand, and the sun on our beach this morning.

Beautiful view from our beach.

Now let’s hit the road.

We’re heading north to Daphne and Gator Alley this morning.

http://www.daphneal.com/

Talk later y’all 🙂

(New Age – The Velvet Underground)

Our last Wednesday.

Today started with us heading out earlier to the gym than usual. We wanted to do some of our regular workout before we went something different.

Our gym also includes use of fitness studios at The Cultural Centre. So we finished our first workout and then headed there.

This format was new to me.

Fitness On Demand

https://www.fitnessondemand247.com/

The Fitness On Demand™ platform delivers consistent, high quality fitness media and programming through a variety of channels, creating the ideal virtual fitness experience for any environment.

Outside one of their fitness rooms is this self-service digital kiosk where you can instantly choose a workout.

I’m only showing you one screen. There are many other choices. You can choose easy, standard, advanced, etc. There are formats such as yoga, core strengthening, spinning, dance, and more. Once you make your choice you head into the fitness room where your program will begin in a few seconds.

In the fitness room you see this screen on the wall. Sorry for the poor photo. I didn’t do a good job of this one.

There’s a huge screen on the wall and it displays your workout. They supposedly have the sound synced to a speaker but it wasn’t working so we had very soft sound.

We chose to do two programs.

Stretch Warmup

And then

Core Strengthening

They were great workouts and fun to do. It’s a great concept but it’s hit and miss whether the room will be vacant in order for you to do the programs. Guess that’s something they need to figure out. We were lucky. There was a class in there when we arrived but they were almost done so we just did a short workout in the other rooms before getting the virtual room.

It’s always fun to try something new.

We then drove to Foley where Richard went shopping at Academy Sports + Outdoors and I went to Marshalls. He was happy to find a spool and line for his fishing rod or something like that. I know nothing about fishing gear. In addition we both bought a few things at Marshalls.

Off to Starbucks and then back home to spend the rest of the afternoon reading on the deck. Only 20c but felt much warmer than that.

Another lovely day.

Nite y’all 😴

(Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band)

I was off to the gym this morning while Richard went for a walk on the Gator Lake Trail. He saw lots of birds but sadly no alligators. We plan to go to Gator Alley in Daphne later in the week so hopefully we’ll see gators then. 🤞🏼

Having accumulated lots of US coin we went to Publix and cashed it in. There was $22. Not bad. We really didn’t want to carry all that coin back home but we did save enough for tolls on the way back.

Then off to Starbucks where Richard had his Dark Roast with a shot of espresso but I only had water. They were out of coconut milk and almond milk. Imagine. Out of both. Unbelievable. Hugely disappointed. 😞

But what an afternoon. Not exceptionally hot temperature, only 18c, but on the deck it felt much hotter. Napped on the lounger and then sat and read. I’m getting very lazy. Oh well. That will soon be coming to an end.

My Afternoon Delight

View from standing on the deck.

View from my deck chair.

After such a lazy afternoon sunning on the deck what could be better than a beach walk. It turned out to be a little chillier than I expected as some clouds rolled in but I’m certainly not complaining.

To top off the day Richard made chicken curry for supper. Simply delightful.

Nite y’all 😴

(Mac ‘n Cheese – G. W. O. V.)

Up today and off to the gym and spent an extra long time there today. I did my 60 min. treadmill, then an hour Yoga class, and finished with strength training. The reason for this was because Richard had his last Alabama hair cut today. I just stayed at the gym ’till he was done. As I said yesterday, we’re on the count down of lasts.

What a fantastic afternoon. It was 23c so I soaked up all the rays that I could. Loved it.

Southern Recipe #12

Southern Macaroni and Cheese with Blackened Chicken

Yes, this is my last southern recipe for this year. 😢

And my oh my it was delicious. 😋 It was so cheesy and so creamy. And who doesn’t love blackened chicken. This will definitely be a recipe that gets made again.

I’m not sure if the spice is sold at home so I’m taking some of the Old Bay blackened seasoning home with me.

What a marvellous day.

Nite y’all 😴

(The Final Countdown – Europe)

We are on the final countdown.

It’s amazing how when we began our trip three months seemed a long time. Now I can’t believe we’re down to one week and counting the last time we’ll be doing things.

Like today.

It was our last breakfast at Sunliner Diner.

http://www.sunlinerdiner.com/

Ever since we first ate there we wanted to sit in “the car”. Today was the day.

Then after breakfast we went for our last walk at Gulf State Park.

https://www.alapark.com/gulf-state-park

It’s such a lovely walk. But, alas, we didn’t see any alligators 🐊.

What a beautiful day it was. 🥰

When we got back home we were able to sit on the deck reading and gazing at the water all afternoon. Heaven.

I hope you all had an amazing day too.

Nite y’all 😴

(Big Cheese – Nirvana)

Back to our regular routine: the gym, the grocery store, and then Starbucks. In the afternoon we sat reading on the deck and soaking in the rays of the blazing sun. Although it was only 20c it was HOT. Love it. Trying to enjoy as much sun as I can before we leave.

Southern Recipe #11

Southern Cheesey Bacon Corn Dip

This Corn Dip was warm, creamy, cheesy, and rich. It’s a combination of salty, sweet, and spicy flavours. I served it with gluten free crackers for me and Triscuit crackers for Richard but it would work really well with tortilla chips as a tasty appetizer.We both loved it and agreed we’d make it again.

Later we went for a walk along The Wharf.

https://alwharf.com/

We did lots of browsing in the shops and Richard was the buyer today. He bought some really nice chino shorts.

It was a lovely evening for the walk and an ice cream. Richard didn’t have one so I had two different scoops, one for me and one for him. 😉 Toasted coconut and creamy chocolate cashew. Yum Yum. 😋

Back to the gym tomorrow 🧘‍♀️💪

Nite y’all 😴