Party, Party, Party

March 19, 2014
Foley, Ala

     Tuesday:  It has finally quit raining.  Still a bit cool, but at least it is not raining, raining, raining.  We finally remembered it was Tuesday and the model train museum was open.  Everyone we talked to here said it was a "must see".  It really was a lot of fun.  The pictures do not do it justice.

   The drive in movie was showing a Lucy show.  Many of the buildings are replicas of real buildings.  The train club provides the volunteers and it is a free museum.
   Got home in time to go to an open house at one of the lots.  It is owned by the hosts and they provided brats and beer.  We all brought a side dish.  They have a nice screened in gazebo, huge outdoor kitchen, and big fire pit.  It was a nice social get together.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Foley, Ala

     After Dan and Anne left on Saturday, we had a couple more hours of no rain, then the drizzle started.  Decided it was a good day to go to the new Rouses grocery store down by the beach.  It was so interesting watching all the spring breakers in the store stocking up for the week.  Beer, beer, mixers and more beer.  This is what the guys bought.  The girls were getting bread, meat, cookies etc.  Hope they all got together so they could share.  One kid bought himself a chicken dinner.  One of his friends asked him if that was all he was buying and his answer was "I'm hungry now".  Course the kid who asked him had very red, spaced out eyes.  :)))   Ah, to be young and have enough money to spend spring break on the beach.
    We were after the scallops and picked up a filet also.  By the time dinner time rolled around, it was drizzly and cold, but Al persevered and grilled up the scallops and the filet and the asparagus.  I microwaved a potato!
    It was a fine dinner:

      The filet was really not that over done.

     Sunday:  More Rain, rain, rain.  The only good part of this is I am able to watch Justified on Amazon Prime, non stop!  I am in season 4.  Will definitely be a sad day when I have watched all the seasons.   I love this guy.

     Sunday afternoon there was green beer at the club house.  Not a big crowd, as it was pouring down rain and no one wanted to get out.  I talked to two ladies that were here from the Chicago area that were looking at lots to buy.  In fact, they had been interested in the lot our iHome was on.  We talked to them about the pros and cons of this lot.  Biggest con is how wet it is.  Lots of water seems to drain into it from the dog park.  We saw them the next day and they had decided on a lot further around in one of the undeveloped areas.  I had put split peas and ham hocks in the crock pot in the morning and we had a delicious meal for supper.

    Monday was St. Patrick's Day.  We made a run to Walmart as I had signed up to bring desserts.  3 dozen cookies were soon in our cart.  Also went to the Dollar Tree to find something green to wear.  The only thing left in the store was one bunch of green plastic carnations.  Better than nothing!   I put the cookies on a platter and cut the carnations off the stem and tucked them in around the cookies.  I guess I neglected to take a picture.

     I found it rather amusing that as we were finishing this fine lunch, I noticed several women had green carnations in their hands.  Looked at my cookie platter and my carnations were gone.  Have to say, this is the first time my table decorations have been taken by lunch goers.  Glad I only paid a dollar for them!

A Week of Just Some Fun

March 17, 2014
Foley, Ala

    We have had a mixed week of fun, saying good bye and rain.  One day we met Anne and Dan at the Beignet Cafe.  Dan had not had a beignet before.  A lot of picture taking ensued and this is what happened!

     Luckily, he was able to take the cover off and most of the powdered sugar was on the cover.  I have to admit we all had a good laugh over it.
     After the breakfast and a quick trip into Walmart, Al and I drove past one of the trailheads and decided to stop.  It had been misting when we left the cafe, but it stopped for us to take a nice 2 mile walk.

     Needless to say, we stayed on the path.

     I had ordered a stove top cover for your range from Amazon.  Love Amazon Prime.  Ordered it Monday afternoon and it arrived on Wednesday.  This looks much better as a cover than the sink cover I had been using.  Gives me extra counter space.

      We played cards Monday night with Anne and Dan.  Wednesday Dan and Al and another RVer played golf.  I did laundry, walked, rode my bike and read outside.  It was a nice day.  Decided it was a good evening to eat some more seafood, so we all went to the Original Oyster Grill.  This alligator greets you at the entrance.  Forgetting that spring break had hit, we found that we would have to wait about 45 mins for a table.  Luckily, there were a few shops open and the beeper for the restaurant worked in all the shops.  We really only waited about 20 minutes.

     I finally got some shrimp and grits, and red beans and rice, and turnip greens!  A true southern meal.  Everyone's meals were delicious and the service was great.   We were pleasantly surprised because the place was packed.  Lots of cute sunburned college kids.
         We had some exciting news from our traveling friends, Becki and Gene.  They have bought a bigger travel trailer.  Took there other one in for some heater repairs and fell in love with a new one.  Can't wait to spend evenings in it having happy hour and playing cards.

     The couple I had mentioned before, Terry and Anna May who travel with 6 dogs, (they will always be known this way!) asked us to play golf on Friday.  I did not bring my clubs but said I would ride around with them.  When we got to the course, the club had rental clubs for $20, so I said what the heck, I would give it a try.  Of course, I then had to buy a golf glove for $17.50, so my round got much more expensive.   We had a great time and it felt good to get out on the course again.  For about 9 holes anyway, then everything began to hurt, but I made it through and had a good round.  Also proves you don't need expensive clubs.  Seems any old clubs will do! 

      While on the course we saw these strange squirrels.  Looked them up and they are masked face fox squirrels.  They definitely wanted us to feed them, even though the signs forbid it.  They were cute in a creepy kind of way.

      Terry and Anna May.  Good golf foursome.

     Saturday was the day that Anne and Dan were leaving, so we all went to dinner at the Caymen Grill.  Once again, spring break had happened and we couldn't get reservations til 7:30.  Three weeks before, there were empty tables everywhere.  I splurged and had a dirty martini and the baked oysters. 

     Saturday morning we got up to see Dan and Anne off on their trip home to Maine. 
   

      A few of the friends gathering to see them off.  We, obviously did not bring Cujo and Cujoette to this gathering.

Beignets and Beach

Sunday, March 10
Foley, Ala

     Saturday evening we made plans to meet the couple with 6 dogs, 4 of them standard poodles, at the beignets cafe.  We had a really enjoyable time discussing traveling with dogs, the how tos, the disadvantages, etc.  We spent at least two hours drinking lots of coffee and talking.
     After we parted we decided to stop at the beach.  It was a nice day and we wanted to see if we could find some more shells.  We did find a nice deserted beach without the spring breakers.  We watched the waves and found dolphins.  Walked up and down the beach and did some digging, but no luck with the shells.
    

    Al had been to the Coleman store in Foley and noticed a nice motor cycle cover for only $30.  Not that we have a motorcycle (nor will ever have), but it was the perfect for our two bicycles.  When it rains, he has put a tarp over them which was ok, but not perfect when it was windy.   Now we have an easy cover to put on and take off.  And we look so stylish.

     And any man riding by might just think Al has a nice Harley under that cover.

     We pulled out some of our green Mardi Gra beads and decorated for St. Pat's. Day.

Talent Show at the ClubHouse

Saturday, March 8, 2014
Foley, Ala

     Orange Beach was having an Arts and Crafts fair we thought would be interesting to view, so thought we would take a chance at finding parking and drove on over.  We passed by the Park and Ride lot, not going to fool us twice.  We did notice that they had a little larger buses running this time, but there was still a line of people waiting.  Found a little place to park for $5 and had a short walk to the fair.  People were coming in droves, mostly senior citizens. 

Water Front Park


     We saw lots of art, potter, jewelry, etc.  It was a very nice juried show.  The most interesting artist was the man demonstrating how he makes his pottery.  He puts some sort of copper glaze on it, then cools it at different temperatures to get different colors.  People were picking out the style of pottery thy wanted and he worked on it right there for them.  He was busy all day!  Smart man.  You can see some of the pottery in the back ground of the picture.

     There was a small kids area with arts and crafts to make.  I thought the jelly fish umbrellas was the most innovative.  For $5 the kids got an umbrella and were then able to decorate them with lots of fun stuff,  Feather boas, crepe paper streams, lots of foam stickers, etc.  This would be a great fundraiser.  Not that I would ever want to be involved with all those kids! 

     I think they were getting ready for a little parade.  Good advertising.
    Our next favorite booth was the Kettle Corn.  We even waited in line to get the delicious bag of corn.  No pictures, as our hands were too sticky and salty to take a picture.  This was our lunch and a great lunch it was!
     The Resort was having a talent show at 7:30, so we had dinner and walked on down to the club house.  One of our new friends, Karen, was going to be performing.   The opening act involved all the girls who work for the resort and a couple of the guys who help out with maintenance, I think.  It was a very inventive synchronized swimming act and was really cute.

     The lady with the purple boa is Karen.  Her voice added a lot to the talent show.  She is quite a singer.   It was a fun evening and the place was packed.  Very good turn out.

     I felt the cold coming on, so we stopped at Target and I picked up some Cold-Eeze.  Also managed to make a quick stop at the dollar spot.  Oh how I have missed the dollar spot. 
Managed to pick up these cute beer cuzzies.

   

Friday: A Good Day for Nachos

Friday, March 7, 2014
Foley, Alabama 

     Al was finally feeling up to us getting out of the RV park.  We decided that lunch out at the Pink Pony Pub down on the beach.  It was one of the first places we saw when we came here and were told they have huge nachos.  Our first surprise was finding out that where we had parked for free now costs $5.  Just to go to the restaurant we had to pay parking.  Our waiter said that when he first started working there he was paying $5 a day.  He finally found some one who had paid for a city parking permit (he also said they only give them to residents of Gulf Shores) and rides with him.  They definitely get a lot of money in parking.  One their side of things, they do pay for life guards, trash collection, police, etc on the beach. 

     I think the Pink Pony must have claimed this spot on the public beach a long time ago.  There is nothing else like it around, and you can see the condos looming in the back ground.
    The nachos were ok, just a lot of meat and cheese.  But, we had a nice view of the ocean and saw that the town was definitely getting ready for spring break.  Life guard stations were up and trash cans. 

     We tried sitting on the beach but the clouds would just not give up the fight and the breeze was a little cool.  So, WE gave up and drove back into Foley and walked around a tile and everything else store.  Trying to find a big cement pelican to put in our flower bed.  Didn't have any luck.
     That evening the club house was having happy hour for the group of RV's that came in, so we all went down to meet them and eat their free food and drink their free beer.  Spoken as true retirees.  Finally caught up with Karen and Alan, from Maryland.  They left one day in their 30 foot Bar Star and returned with a 38 foot Pallazo.  They made the fatal mistake of going to the RV show in Biloxi and found a deal they couldn't refuse!
We were all excited for them.  I think if you go to the shows on the last day, about an hour before they close, you can get some fantastic deals.  This is why we will stay away from them.
    I am starting to sniff and have a scratchy throat.  Keeping fingers crossed it will pass.

Cough, Cough, Sneeze, Sneeze!

Monday, March 3, 2014
Foley, Ala

     Al woke up with the beginning of a head cold.  We were hoping that it was just allergies and treated it that way all day.  We were both exhausted from our days of partying with our friends.  I spent most of the day watching Justified on my iPad on the bed.   It is a great series.  I get it with our Amazon Prime membership.  It is not available on Netflix.
    That evening we decided we needed to make a trip into the drug store to get Al some allergy medicine and pick up some dinner.  The CVS had a frozen food section, so we just grabbed some pizza so we didn't have to make another stop. 
    Not a real exciting day or evening, and there were more like it to come.

Tuesday

   It was a rainy day and I didn't know if it was wetter outside or inside with all the sneezing and coughing Al was doing.

   We had no food, so I braved the drizzle and drove to Walmart.  My most disliked place to be, but could get all the food we needed in one stop.  The rest of the day was spent taking dogs in and out, watching Justified and feeling bad for Al, as he was getting more miserable by the minute.  We now decided he had a head cold.  And a fever.
   

Wednesday

   A little improvement with the head cold, at least he felt like taking the dogs out with me.  There was a 3 pm showing of the movie The Butler at the clubhouse, so I went down to watch it.  We had a full house for the movie this time.  I was not enthralled with the movie but did think Oprah did a really good job. 

Thursday

  He's alive!  Still a bit of a cough, but not sneezing and snorting!  The club house had birthday cake and ice cream in the afternoon for all the March birthdays, so we went down to enjoy.  Talked to two couples we had not chatted with before.  Found out about some good RV parks in other areas and shared a few that we knew about.  One couple is traveling with 6 dogs.  I think 4 of them are standard poodles.  We give them lots of credit.  Our two cockers take up more room than we ever imagined. 

    An RV group is coming here for the weekend and they started rolling in today.  The empty places around us are filling up. 
   I am knocking on wood that I will not get the head cold.  Guess I could take bets on it!