Market by the Bay has always been a go-to for me because of the delicious fried seafood and gumbo. With two locations in Fairhope and Daphne, I was a frequent visitor. A few years ago, the Fairhope restaurant closed (now the OX Kitchen), and then the Daphne store closed a year later. I was sad to see them go.

Lila Pennington Ryals’s mother died in 1931, just days before her ninth birthday, and her dad didn’t want to care for the last of his six children. She and her younger brother, Buddy, were left to their own devices to feed themselves, manage their health care, get through school, and provide for their safety. 

Meeting up for lunch at The Barn at Hope Farm with the dynamic event coordinator, Tonya Dalhaus, was an exciting hour for both of us. We discovered we have a mutual friend, Heather Mitchell, a sketch artist. 

Having just returned from my third cruise in Belize, I can report that it is still one of the most beautifully pristine pieces of water a sailor can visit in this part of the world. 

You may recall that we did a piece on David Cooper’s book, The Laundry Man for the holiday gift-buying season. When I got a call from my friend, Joe Brown at Portside Advertising about a story on a commercial laundry, I thought there must be something in his water. “Seriously, it’s an incredible story. You should meet Sean Chappell and check it out,” he told me.

Big News! Mobile Ballet Eastern Shore has moved to a new location on Equity Drive in Daphne, Alabama. After years of renting, the dance school has purchased and expanded to a much larger space, with three studios, an area for dressing rooms, and offices. 

Full disclosure, Raine Bedsole is one of our closest friends and she is also an extraordinary artist. She was recently selected as one of 9 artists out of more than 250 applicants to complete a sculpture to be placed in The Underwater Museum of Art, less than a mile from the sugar-white sands of Grayton Beach, Florida.

On a recent afternoon in Pensacola, Linda and I met a friend for lunch at BarSteak on Palafox Street. When I walked in the door, a man and woman sitting near the front called out, mistaking me for a friend of theirs. They must have been thinking of George Clooney or Brad Pitt. I get that a lot, so I took the opportunity to stop and introduce myself.