Lulu's was our first stop on the GICW. If you don't know this is Jimmy Buffet's sister's place. Everybody said don't waste your time stopping there but we are glad we did. The place is right on the water with a long dock, it was noon, the music was playing and I could see the bar from the helm; I did not have a chance. 
As we were docking ourselves a couple of ladies from the Red Hat Society were leaning over the railing giving Linda some verbal support (eg. you go girl; that away, etc.). Inside a number of people came up to us to talk to us about how we got there from Canada and where are going. It was a very friendly place and everyone was having a good time. Even before we got our table, a waitress stopped Linda and said, "you can't stay here". Linda was shocked until the girl told her that we had to agree to give her a ride on the boat to get a table. The food was good and not that expensive for what you got. Linda had the crab cakes which btw were not on the menu. They were so much better than the Mariner Restaurant crab cakes. I use that place as a comparison because they had the best shrimp and crab claws that I have had. My burger was good and easily worth the $10 that I paid for it. The beer at $3.50 was a bit pricey from what we have been getting used to but still miles ahead of Canadian establishments. It was a good stop.Continuing down the GICW it looked just like I had seen in Florida this past February: houses and docks and beaches. We are feelin' good and the weather is low to mid 70's. Then all of a sudden I saw a fin just in front of the boat. We spotted our first dolphins. They stayed with us a few minutes, diving under the boat and then they were off. Neat.
Getting into to Orange Beach Marina was a bit tricky, especially looking into the glare of the afternoon sun and trying to figure out the different buoys. That is my excuse for touching bottom again. The directions had us go around green Buoy #1 then follow the private channel.... We did exactly that but the shoaling evidently has extended a little beyond the green marker. I must learn not to cut corners down here. No harm, no foul; I saw the depth drop quickly so was out of gear when we touched and I was able to back up without a problem.
and down the rivers. These are serious sport fishing boats. The covered slips behind us are tall enough to accommodate the towers and the long aerials of these boats. Sorry I do not have a photo of that. The rest of the neighborhood has canals running through them and notice how green things are down here. I saw them cutting the grass today. We are going to stay another day here and just enjoy the area. We will either get the bikes out or take off in the dinghy. This is the area for both.
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