Sunday Brunch

Sunday, March 2, 2014
Gulf Shores

     What a lazy bunch we are, except for Al.  He was up and out the door about 6 to walk on the beach.  I got up a little before 7 and sat on the balcony watching the waves.  And did a little waving at Al as he came up the beach back to the condo.
     The others in the condo came straggling out at different times.  We had reservations at the Harbor Grill for 11 for the brunch, so we basically spent the morning drinking coffee and getting our showers.   We did get to see some dolphins this morning!
     They really are out there in this picture.

     Arrived at the Harbor Grill a little before 11 and watched the boats.  It was a nice sunny, warm day.

    The meal was, once again, very, very delicious.  Though, we did have a very chatty, overly friendly waiter.  We know way more than we want to about his life.   Al and I hit the endless champagne , this time instead of the bloody Mary's.

     I guess you could label us "the happy drinkers".    And yes, we did finally eat some food.

     After lunch, we all waddled over to the big tourist attraction shop (junk) and had the photo opp. 

    We did buy a large shell wind chime to put on our patio.  It is not obnoxious, so Laurie and Farrah do not have to worry about the noise coming from our patio. 
    By the time we got back to the condo, we all needed another little nap.  Al tried to convince me he was really watching golf, but I recognize the closed eyelid look.  We wanted to pick the dogs up before 4 pm. so gathered our "luggage" and drove back to Foley.  Babe and Beau were very happy to see us.  The kennel help said Babe did just fine.  She would follow her outside to potty.  Did not need to put a leash on her.  But she would not let her put the eye drops in that morning.  I have to corner her to do it. 
     We spent some time with the dogs and then went back to the condo to watch the Oscars.  We were all pretty tired, and I am not sure the guys really were into watching. 
   It was time to say good bye to good friends, as they were leaving in the morning.   We sure enjoyed their stay.  Being on the beach was a lot of fun.  And shopping with my girlfriends is the best!

Best Day On The Beach!

Saturday, March 1, 2014
Foley, Alabama


     This morning we got up and around, packed our clothes in a Chico's shopping bag, packed the dogs travel bag and headed out the door about 8 a.m.  Spending the night in the condo with our friends.  Dropped the dogs off at the kennel, had the vet tell us once again that the most viscous dogs are "blond" (she is buff) female cocker spaniels.  I told him I had met many BUFF cockers who were the friendliest dogs around.  Just as a side note, my neighbor told me the retired vet is a registered sex offender.  Yep, he is.  Looked him up.  Not the best recommendation for the kennel, but they had the best hours for taking and picking up so the dogs don't have to stay longer than we want.  We really liked the woman who tends to the dog and she did not have a problem with Babe and was happy to see them again.  So, we took a deep breath and left them.
     Got to the condo in time to drink coffee and watch the morning walkers.  We decided a few hours on the beach was a perfect idea as it was  a perfect day.   The day before Sue and Peggy had sat on the beach and did a little digging in the sand and found some neat shells that we had not seen on the beach.  Sue says she "found" a little blue sand shovel that some little child had left on the beach.  We are not quite sure if this is really how she acquired the little blue shovel.  We kept looking for a crying child and an angry parent!  She did manage to find a lot more shells with the shovel.
     At some point in the last year or so, sand had been pumped onto the beach from the ocean to form a ledge of beach and sand.  In that sand are some great shells from the bottom of the ocean.  I don't know if this was done because of hurricanes, or the oil spill.
     It is a bit addicting, sitting on the sand and digging for shells.  As much fun as panning for gold.  Just now quite as rewarding.  Pretty soon, we had the guys joining in.

     Sorry about my finder on the last picture.  I can't seem to crop it out.   After about two hours of digging, we took a little stroll at the water's edge.

     After our hours on the beach, we went back to the condo and took naps!  All that digging, walking and sun was exhausting.  The guys went for a food and beer run and to get scallops and shrimp for dinner.  There are barBQ grills for the guests of the condos to use and they planned to do the grilling.  Linus and Keith took charge of wrapping the scallops in bacon and putting the shrimp on skewers.

 View from the balcony of the guys grilling our dinner.

      They cooked it to perfection!  Al and I are going back and getting more scallops to grill.

     After dinner we taught them to play 3 13, a card game we have learned while on this trip.

     Don't let the plastic glass Peggy has in front of her fool you, that is wine in there, not water.

     

Shopping Day!

Friday, February 28. 2014
Foley, Alabama


     Sue and Peggy wanted to go to the Tanger Outlet Mall, and being the nice person I am, I said I would go with them.  First they stopped at the iHome and we gave them a tour of the RV park.  I think they liked the clubhouse.  The guys were going to a train museum while we shopped.  Sue and I made a quick stop in Izod and then spent way too much time in Chicos.  I found the clerk who helped me last time and she was really happy to help us again.  We did manage to find some really cute clothes, but we worked up quite a thirst and hunger doing it.  Arranged to meet the guys at 5 Guys Burgers.  When they got to the train museum, it was not open on Friday.  Al had checked it on the phone before they went, but thought it was Saturday, not Friday.  This is what happens when you retire.  We never really know what day it is.

     They went on back to the condo and we went to the iHome to care for the dogs and take a nap.  Al also did a load of laundry.  As we were here in the afternoon, we caught the Mardi Gras parade that the people have here.  We almost blinked and missed it, but they had a great time.  It started out with 3 or 4 golf carts, a scooter wheel chair type of buggy, and a Segway.  Plus several walkers with dogs.  The walkers with the dogs could not keep up with the golf carts, so they soon stopped!  We followed along so we could get some pics.  They had a great time and we got a ton of beads.   After the parade there was going to be drinks and red beans and rice in the club house.  We did not go to that as we had made reservations for dinner with the group.

Babe and Beau wanted to get into the spirit of the Mardi Gras.  Can't you just tell how happy they are?  They look rather like the night after!

     The evening was spent at a fantastic new restaurant The Caymon Grill.  Would definitely recommend it and we will go back. 
     We had such a good dinner and such a good time just talking and enjoying the evening as maybe only friends of 20 to 35 years can do.

     Al and I shared some delicious baked oysters.  I also had some black bean soup. 

Friends Arrive!

Friday, February 28, 2014       
Foley, Ala

    The week has flown by with us doing nothing special but enjoying the days.  There was another rainy day and night, but we seem to enjoy being in our iHome and doing nothing!  Getting together in the evening with friends and playing cards passes the time.

    Al and Dan played golf when the course dried out enough to play.  That day I took several walks and rode my bike around.  It was a great day.
    Seems we are always going to a grocery store.  As our friends were arriving Wednesday afternoon, we decided we had better go get supplies.  Our cart was full of beer, wine, coffee, moon pies, and a king cake.  That should cover all bases of what we might need.

     Wednesday morning Al swept out the iHome, and picked up all the stuff that has been collecting and prepared the iHome for visitors.  I also got a much needed hair cut.
Sue and Linus arrived about 3 p.m. (I even had time for a little nap).  We chatted for awhile then they left to meet our other friends, Keith and Peggy, at the condo they have rented on the beach at Gulf Shores.  We got the dogs walked and fed and drove over to the condo.  After drinks and snacks we decided on The Hangout for dinner.  It was close and as we had been there for lunch one day, we knew what to expect.
   

 This was my chicken salad sandwich.  I had to take it all apart and eat it with a fork.

There is a great lunch box collection on the walls of the restaurant.  Many trips down memory lane.

Thursday morning Al had signed everyone up for a dunes walk and talk at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.  We had decided that I had better not try it as the sand we had been walking on was very deep and loose and was hard on my ankle.  As it was predicted to be below freezing Wednesday night, I really wasn't sorry I was not going to be on the windy beach at 9 a.m.   I had decided I would just take my iPad and sit at their condo while they all trooped out into the wilds of the dunes.
    We loaded up the dogs at 7:30 in the morning and took them to the kennel we had checked out earlier.  We decided we would just leave them for the day, picking them up before 6pm and see how things went.  A retired vet owns and runs the kennel.  They have suites, with couches and chairs and tvs, or just regular kennels.  We decided on two regular kennels as I am not sure how Babe would do with Beau if he barked alot and got excited about all the noises.  She can get bossy with him and sometimes will get him down with lots of growling and biting.
     I had a few reservations about the place:
    1:  First thing the retired vet told me was that it has been proven that "blonde" female cockers are the most viscous dogs around.
    2:  The vet's personal dogs (3 of them) were running loose in the building.
    3:  He tried to make friends with Babe by sticking his hand out so she could "smell" him.
All she sees is a hand that must be going to hit her, so she snapped at him.   We try to tell people not to do this, but they are always just sure that "dogs just love me".

    We got them to put the dogs that were running loose into another area, and Babe went willingly into the kennel.  We asked to have their nails clipped, but if Babe gave them trouble not to bother.
     Babe is just fine with people if you let her make friends with you.  As she is a rescue, we have no idea why she is so unfriendly to people and other dogs, but we do our best to control the environment so we don't put people or dogs at risk.
    I figured that it was only for a day, and she would be just fine if she just stayed in the kennel all day.

   When we arrived at the condo, Sue and Peggy had decided to wimp out on the walk.  Their good excuse was they needed to make a trip to the grocery store.  I thought it was a very logical excuse.  So we kissed our bundled up hubbies goodbye and settled back in with a cup of coffee.  We eventually did get to Walmart and then made a stop at Al's 5 and 10.  I knew that Sue would have fun looking at all the yarn, netting, etc.

     The guys got home about 11 a.m. with lots of information about the dunes hike.  The leader was in her 80's and was of course, very knowledgeable.  These are some of the pictures Al took.

     That afternoon we drove out to Fort Morgan.  When we went through the gate to pay, she asked if we got the senior discount for 65 and over for $5 instead of the regular $7.
We said not quite yet, then she asked if we were veterans.  Al got to say yes.  His entrance fee was free and I was only $3, so I guess those years in the Army have finally paid off.  We enjoyed the walk around the Fort, but it was a little chilly when we were out in the wind.

Beers on the balcony after the tour!