Fairhope, AL

(Sat. Nov. 13 - Dist: 12.4 mi; Avg Speed: 7.1 mph; TTT: 2:16 hrs; Hi Temp: 74)

Directly across the Bay is a town called Fairhope which is quite pretty and has a number of artsy-type shops and some other higher end jewelery stores.  I was somewhat disappointed, perhaps because my expectations were much higher.  It was an even bigger disappoint on Sunday because most everything was closed.  We got off on the wrong foot at this destination and that probably did not help my disposition or my assessment.  We could not raise anyone at Eastern Shores Marina; they would not even answer the phone.  I wandered around for 1/2 hour after docking ourselves at the fuel dock, and finally found the office and a young lad sitting in there.  He was too busy to answer the phone???  I won't belabour this but we were not happy in the least, especially after setting up and confirming reservations in advance.

Guy's Gumbo Shack was the best thing that we encountered on our first day here. It is not much inside but they serve really, really good gumbo.  In fact this place was featured on the TV show, "Diners, Dives and Drive-ins".  My pulled pork sandwich to go along with the shrimp gumbo was not bad either.

With most establishments closed on Sunday it was pretty much a write-off except for the beignet that we had at the local bakery.  Linda says not nearly as good as the ones that she had in New Orleans.  We tried the town again on Monday with only slightly better results.  More, but not all, stores were open.  It was pouring rain most of the time but we did have a very good lunch at the Dragonfly Food Bar.  Very eclectic and very tasty.  On the boat we bounced around an awful lot but we were able to get a good nights sleep.

Today is Tuesday and we are taking a weather day, the first in a long time.  The conditions on the Bay are "choppy becoming rough".  We can feel it even in the harbor here; we are rolling badly.  Our drink glasses are not falling off the table yet, but close.

Again I am caught up.  Tomorrow we leave for Orange Beach which is just inside the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway (GICW).  It is about 50 miles to the marina that we have chosen so should not be too much of a problem for us except that the Bay here is fairly shallow and I may not feel comfortable running at high speeds.  We will see.

Lulu's, the place owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister is on the way but most locals say give it a pass; there are much better places to eat or spend your money.  We shall see.