At the end of a long, hot summer, a group of eight friends journeyed to Italy and France in late August for a fantastic two-week experience. I will not bore you with all the details, but we were fortunate to have a seamless vacation with no problems with air travel, local transportation, food, or accommodations. We are very thankful for that!

It’s been my experience with so many Southerners possessing a discerning palate, that your average restaurant will be just a flash in the pan, or part of a conversation that goes something like, “What was that place before it became whatchamacallit?”

I thought about telling our three adult (and married) daughters, “If your dad ever retires, we’ve decided to move to Alaska and become homesteaders” just to see their reaction. Would they just roll their eyes, and talk among themselves about how their parents had lost their minds?

I’m beginning to better understand the nuances and relationships of the many organizations involved with conservation efforts in the Scenic 98 Coastal area. One that has been on my radar for a while is Coastal Conservation Association-Alabama. I met to get up to speed with its Executive Director, Blakeley Ellis at The Sloop in Gulf Shores.

With the high school and college football seasons in full swing, I could feel the excitement in Gerhard Mathangani’, the latest member of the sports teams at WKRG. He arrived in March 2023, just in time to get a good look at which Region 1 area high school teams have the potential to go the distance in this year’s state football competition.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded,” Yogi Berra Long-time professional baseball player and manager, Yogi Berra, famous for his jumbled sayings that always made a point seemed to say it best. “It ain’t over til it’s over,” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” are some of my favorites.

There is an old adage that goes something like “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” For Donnie and Lottie Barrett, this saying fits them to a “tea” (pun intended).

I met artist Melanie Grein at a First Friday Art Walk in Fairhope while listening to the Leavin’ Brothers entertain at The Book Cellar at Page and Palette. Sitting with some friends, she is a regular there, either with coffee in hand from Latte Da or taking in the music on a Monday night at the Book Cellar.