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!

Did you know that there are 15 million people who live close enough to drive to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in a day? That’s a lot of folks who can enjoy the beautiful white sand beaches and warm temperatures for pretty much the entire year.

One day while catching up with restaurateur, Charles Morgan, he told me about Jennifer Knight and the vegan restaurant she owns and operates in Pensacola called the End of the Line Cafe. ‘She’s got a great thing going on and you should do a story for Scenic 98 Coastal.”

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.

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.

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?

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?”

My good friend, Jeanie Miller, called me one day and asked if I would like to do a story about an enterprising young lady who started her own business from chicken scratch. I said, “Sure! Tell me about it.” Jeanie drives to Barnwell to pick up fresh farm eggs from the business owner, who happens to be eleven and recently entered the sixth grade.