(Yes We Can Can – The Pointer Sisters)

Just a regular day today. But regular days are always great. Gym and then Starbucks. We tried a new snack. Money on Honey. Wildflower Honey Caramel in dark chocolate topped with sea salt.

It was delicious and yes, we were very good. We shared it.

Back home we sat on the deck reading and drinking tea for quite a while. It wasn’t overly sunny but it was nice and warm.

Every weekend we buy a weekend copy of the local paper, The Press Register. It’s the Mobile newspaper. With the weekend paper we also get the sales flyers and the part that I love is the crossword puzzles section. It’s eight pages of puzzles. There’s a crossword puzzle for each day from Monday to Saturday plus the LA Times, and the New York Times, a crypto-quote, and a few other word puzzles so this lasts me all week. I like to do them at breakfast.

This week’s paper had an interesting article entitled When you reach a certain age, you realize its time to update your mama’s advice. One thing she mentions that I’m sure you can relate to is the Clean Plate Club. I’m sure some of you were told or did the telling of ‘you can’t leave the table until you’ve cleaned off your plate’. I know I grew up being told that, and sadly I said that to my own children. She thinks this club’s charter should be revoked and I wholeheartedly agree. It gets ingrained in you. I still have a difficult time leaving food on my plate. Sigh.

One of her pieces of updated advice women learn by the time they reach middle age caught my attention. I’d never heard this name before. In discussing the fact that life is too short to wear bad bras she states,”A middle-aged woman knows the importance of supporting the Pointer Sisters.”. What? Have I been living under a rock? I’ve heard many names in the past but I’ve never, ever heard them called that. You?

Hope you got a laugh out of the name she used. I know I did.

After reading this article I knew I had to use The Pointer Sisters in my music selection for today’s post.

Another amazing Alabama day.

Nite y’all 😴

(Nature Boy – Nat King Cole)

Today we went on a guided bird and nature walk: The Pine Beach Trail at Bon Secour.

I found this information online.

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge was established by Congress in 1980 for the protection of neotropical migratory songbird habitat and threatened and endangered species. 

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge encompasses some of Alabama’s last remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat. The name Bon Secour comes from the French meaning “safe harbor,” very appropriate considering the sanctuary for native flora and fauna the refuge provides. 

Pine Beach Trail is a 5.1 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Gulf Shores, Alabama that offers the chance to see wildlife and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is accessible year-round.

This is some of the best beach habitat left along the Gulf Coast around here. There are some amazing dunes at the end, but before you get there you get to see the transition of ecosystems from a pine forest to a stunted live oak maritime forest to the scrub of the back dunes and then the sea oats on the fore dunes. This hike is a great way to experience what the coast looked like before all of the condos and parking lots. Gator Lake is fresh and has lots of alligators, and the basin on the other side of the trail is brackish and has fish and crabs.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/bon_secour/visitor_activities/trails.html

https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/brochure/bon-secour-national-wildlife-refuge-pine-beach-trail-guide.pdf

Although Richard may be a nature boy I am definitely not a nature girl. I enjoy being outside (when it’s warm). I love walking. I do not enjoy poking along. We were walking slower than bridesmaids and the bride walking down the aisle. I kept singing to the guide in my mind,” Hey bus driver speed up a little bit.”. Way too slow for me. We saw no birds, no animals, no reptiles, and no amphibians but the guide did point out a few plants. Good Lord. I think when they say that it offers the chance to see wildlife what they actually meant was not a chance in hell you’ll see wildlife. Lol. That’s probably my first and last guided nature walk.

Nite y’all 😴

(Waves and Sun – Carpoolparty)

Just a short post.

Richard look this video this evening and I just had to share it. You can really hear the sounds of the waves and the wind. Enjoy!

Nite y’all 😴

(Ice Cream (Anne of Green Gables) – Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell, Don Harron)

Went to Sunliner Diner for lunch. Richard had fish 🐠 and chips 🍟. He said it wasn’t as good as the last time. The fish batter was much thicker and heavier today plus it was more expensive. We noticed all their prices had been increased. Guess they’re no longer in the off season. I spotted an ice cream sundae on a neighbours table and opted to have an ice cream 🍨 sundae for my lunch. 😮 Not the healthiest option but certainly a delicious one. 😋

This is what I enjoyed.

TURTLE SUNDAE

Chocolate ice cream with room temperature caramel, whipped cream, pecans and a cherry. (I had them also add a bit of hot fudge sauce.) It was sooooo 😋 and only my second ice cream this entire vacation. So glad I worked out 💪 🏋️‍♀️at the gym for 90 min. this morning. I know it doesn’t cover all the calories but still it’s better than no workout 🏋️‍♀️ at all.

Not very sunny 🌥 this afternoon but still warm enough to sit and read on the deck. I love listening to the sound of the waves 🌊.

Loving my time down here.

Nite y’all 😴

(Alabama – Neil Young)

An easy day today. Off to the gym for cardio and pilates, then Starbucks and immediately right back home. Weather forecast for this afternoon was sunny 😎 and 13C which on our deck can be extremely hot so I didn’t want to miss one minute of deck time.

Southern Meal #9

Alabama Camp Stew and Cornbread

If you go to the grocery store in Alabama to get the ingredients for this I’m told the cashier may say,” You’re making camp stew.”.

Alabama Camp Stew is a traditional dish, popular in the American south, generally involving a tomato base, local beans, vegetables, and originally small game meat, though today often pork or chicken. (I used chicken.) The origins of the stew are currently unknown although it seems to have received this name as it was easy to make while camping.

The recipe site I used said Alabama Stew is as old as the hills and is often also known as Brunswick stew. Works for a Maritimer.

I had some leftover cornbread that I had previously frozen so decided to use it rather than make a fresh batch.

The stew was delicious, so flavourful. We both agreed that we’d make it again. Richard had his with Naan bread and I ate the cornbread. The cornbread wasn’t as good as when it was freshly made but still tasted great.

We had a stunning sunset tonight. Our local friend also enjoyed it. 🥰

Another beautiful, amazing day.

Nite y’all. 😴

(Pensacola – Joan Osborne)

A cooler day but sunny so we decided to take a day trip to Pensacola.

Pensacola, the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and approximately 13 miles (21 km) from the border with Alabama (33.4 miles/53.75 km), is a waterfront city in the north of the U.S. state of Florida. It’s separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Santa Rosa Island, and its protected beaches make it a popular holiday destination. The city was one of the earliest European settlements in the U.S., and Historic Pensacola Village is a museum complex containing original 19th-century buildings.

The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact, a Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola lived in the region. This name was not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appears to be the source of the name “Pensacola” for the bay and thence the city.

The area’s written recorded history begins in the 16th century, with documentation by Spanish explorers, who were the first Europeans to reach the area.

In the age of sailing ships Pensacola was the busiest port on the Gulf of Mexico, having the deepest harbor on the Gulf.

Pensacola is nicknamed “The City of Five Flags”, due to the five governments that have ruled it during its history: the flags of Spain ( Castile), France, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.

As you can see we did our own walking tour around the city. We saw several monuments/plaques: General Andrew Jackson,William Dudley Chipley,and T. T. Wentworth, Jr.

I don’t think he’d have made it as a minimalist. Lol. Wonder if today he’d have been called a pack rat or a hoarder. 😉

We had a wonderful, healthy lunch at Carmen’s. I had a kale salad with a side scoop of chicken salad, and Richard had a chicken salad plate. Delish. After lunch we walked a bit more and then headed home for a nice sunny time on our deck.

A few other things we saw. It’s plaque reads,” A Tribute to our First Nations Artist Dave Kessler”.

An amazing day.

Nite y’all 😴

(La Danse de Mardi Gras – The Balfa Brothers)

Today’s post is about Mardi Gras. We went to our first Mardi Gras parade this morning. (Of course we got up early to fit in a yoga class and some gym time before the parade.) Going to the gym gave us a perfect parking spot as it was then only a few minutes walk to the parade start.

Knowing very little about Mardi Gras before wintering in Alabama I did some research. Here’s a tiny bit of my findings.

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday (known as Shrove Tuesday). Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday”, reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

The festival season varies from city to city, as some traditions, such as the one in New Orleans, Louisiana where they consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period from Twelfth Night (the last night of Christmas which begins Epiphany) to Ash Wednesday. Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras. In Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras–associated social events begin in November, followed by mystic society balls on Thanksgiving, then New Year’s Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight before Ash Wednesday.

In 1703, Mobile was the capital of French Louisiana. French Catholic settlers brought with them their “carnival” traditions of feasting, revelry and merriment on the days preceding Ash Wednesday, which was followed by fasting during the somber, sacrificial season of Lent. In 1703 these French settlers in Mobile established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration tradition. The first informal mystic society, or krewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, the Boeuf Gras Society. It’s said that Mobile’s first parade was held in 1711, when 16 men pushed a cart carrying a large papier-mâché cow’s head down the street, kicking off a big outdoors party.

Mardi Gras Colours

The colours traditionally associated with Mardi Gras are green, gold, and purple: Purple Represents Justice, Green Represents Faith, and Gold Represents Power.

Beads

Mardi Gras beads have been popularized for their widespread use on Fat Tuesday. These Mardi Gras “throws” were similar to the festival customs of the English Renaissance era. During the late 1800’s, inexpensive necklaces made of glass beads began to be tossed into the crowds by the parade krewes.

Moonpies

Some say these should be called Mardi Gras pies. The Chattanooga Bakery began making moon pies in 1916. They first came in graham cracker cookies with a marshmallow center. Now, the famed cookies come in chocolate, banana, coconut, orange and vanilla.

The first to throw moon pies were the krewe of “Maids of Mirth” in 1974. Soon other krewes were following the action as the throw caught on.

Costumes

Mardi Gras, as a celebration of life before the more-somber occasion of Ash Wednesday, nearly always involves the use of masks and costumes by its participants. Many costumes today in this area are simply elaborate creations of coloured feathers and capes.

Mardi Gras 2019

2019 brought a late Mardi Gras season, with Fat Tuesday falling on March 5. Consequently, Mobile’s parade season didn’t start until Feb. 15.

March 5 is almost as late as Fat Tuesday can fall, given its fixed relationship to Easter. It’ll be 2031 before it again comes this far into the year, and in 2038 it’ll land on the latest possible date, March 9.

In the Mobile area (of which Gulf Shores where I’m living is a part) there were 61 parades. What! We only went to the Gulf Shores parade. It was interesting. The parade look approximately 30 minutes to completely pass where we were standing. There were floats, the local high school marching band,dogs, cheerleaders, fire trucks and police vehicles, and lots of people in costumes.

Out to the crowd they were throwing coloured beads, moon pies (look to me like mini wagon wheels), plastic cups, t shirts, cup holders, and mini footballs.

I got two moon pies and of course I had to sample them. Not my favourite item to eat. (My kids never really like wagon wheels even though their Grammie Ruby kept buying them.)

I also got some beads.

No flashing to get them. Lol.

The streets were lined several deep with spectators (right out in the middle of the street – no one really stayed on the side of the street) carrying bags to collect their goodies. I even saw one family with a big Rubbermaid tub on wheels for their parade spoils. Incredible! What was even more incredible was watching everyone clamouring over each other to grab these items.

Here’s a few more parade pictures.

Hope you enjoyed sharing my first Mardi Gras parade.

Nite y’all 😴

(I Forgot – Clara Mae)

Back to the gym this morning. Then groceries for a few things we forgot for dinner tonight and then Starbucks.

We had our neighbours Joanne and Jeanne over for dinner as they’re leaving on Wednesday. 😢

We had a marvellous time. Dinner was delicious even if I do say so myself. 😋 Richard made a variety of kabobs with meatballs, mozzarella balls, cheddar cheese, pineapple, grapes, and cherry tomatoes. Plus we served veggie chips, celery and carrot sticks, and rice crackers. But we forgot to put out the yummy cheese sticks. Oh well. They’ll get eaten. And that’s not the only thing we forgot. Huh. We forgot to take a picture for the blog. I’m so disappointed. It looked so colourful. Next time.

For dessert I made key lime cheesecake. It tasted divine. Very proud of myself.

We will miss our neighbours. They’ve been an added bonus to our staying here. We exchanged emails and Facebook so we will keep in touch. And fingers crossed we’ll all be here again next year. 🤞🏼

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and a Mardi Gras parade day. Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. It is also known as Mardi Gras Day or Shrove Day. It is a day when people eat all they want of everything and anything they want as the following day is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a long fasting period for Christians. Looking forward to tomorrow.

I hope my family and friends at home have weathered their most recent snow storm. I know you’re probably sick of snow. 🙏🏼 Sending good thoughts your way.

Nite y’all 😴

(Everything’s Alright (Jesus Christ Superstar) – Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we’re fine. The tornado in Alabama was not near us. Whew!

(Thunder and Lightening – Chi Coltrane)

You guessed it. That’s our afternoon. And when it rains here boy does it rain! It pours so hard and so loud. Unbelievable!

I’m glad we went out this morning. First we had breakfast at Sunliner Diner. We enjoy it there. Our waitress couldn’t believe we were from PEI. It’s on her bucket list. A former colleague of hers was from Halifax. I had my usual omelette but now I omit the grits and hash browns and just get a fruit side. Richard had his corned beef hash. (Tender house-made corned beef hash, green and red peppers, sweet Vidalia hash browns topped with two eggs your way, horseradish cream and a Sunliner biscuit.)

To Publix for a few groceries as our neighbours are leaving Wednesday so we’re having them to dinner tomorrow night.

Here’s a tiny bit of our storm. ⚡️🌫 At least it’s not snow. ❄️☃️

Nite y’all 😴