The Holiday Spirit is Alive and Well 

It was a glorious weekend along the Scenic 98 Coastal beaches this weekend. The weather was warm, the sun was out, and it was one of those December days that makes you appreciate where we live.

We made a plan for the day, and it worked flawlessly. We met friends at the Flora-Bama beach to watch Santa parachute down from the sky with three of his closest friends and stick the landing. (Yes, Santa has lots of friends this time of year) A big crowd of kids with their families welcomed Santa with cheers, photo ops, face painting, and more. Flora-Bama knows how to do events and crowds, and everyone always has a great time.

Before Santa could gather his chute, we headed across the street to the Flora-Bama Yacht Club to check on our yacht and get some raw oysters and fried crab claws, with a couple of libations to wash it all down. This is oyster season, and they were just right; plump, not too big or too small, and the crab claws were tender and delicious.

As 2:00 pm approached, we moved to Avenue Pub at Terry Cove to watch the Alabama vs Houston basketball game and have a late lunch. Avenue Pub has winterized its bar area with transparent vinyl blinds but on this day, they were raised to allow the warm breezes to flow. We ordered the fresh grouper fish and chips, shrimp tacos, and grouper fish tacos with sides of fries, salad, and grilled asparagus. All so tasty! Their Salty Dog cocktail is made with fresh grapefruit squeezed per order. They know what they are doing in the kitchen at Avenue Pub.

Maybe you have heard that Alabama is a basketball school now. With Alabama grabbing a quick lead over Houston, the game ebbed and flowed throughout the first half. Alabama found itself down by 15 points early in the second half but fought and clawed its way back into the game. With 3:00 minutes left they tied and then pulled ahead and hung on to a 71-65 victory! Great game unless you are a Houston fan or anyone else that dislikes Alabama. We know who you are! 

This is the second time a team has beaten two number-one-ranked teams before the New Year since Duke beat UCLA on consecutive days in 1965. Why they played the same team twice in two days back then, I don’t know, but I’ll take it.

 It was time to go home. We thought about stopping by The Wharf to see how our friends, Jack and Bevelyn Wallace’s second store, Frank and Company Jewelers, was coming along. They will also open a new speakeasy soon with the folks at Fresh Off the Boat.  It will be named The Vault at 8 Reale, which is an interesting story that we will check out soon, but we needed to get home and feed the dogs. Please stop by Frank and Company and say hello. 

As we made our way home along Canal Road through Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, every inch of the stretch between The Wharf and the Waterway Village area that includes LuLu’s and Homeport Marina, Tacky Jacks, Big Beach Brewing, and Acme Oyster House was taken by parade watchers waiting for the annual Lighted Boat Parade to begin. It was great to see the turnout as this was one of 14 lighted boat parades throughout the state this weekend.

This was a fun, easy day to get out and about along the coast. There is so much to do and see and eat. The holiday spirit is in full swing everywhere you go. Enjoy!

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