More Good Eats
Summerdale, AL - Events of Wednesday, April 10 to Monday, April 15, 2013
Our friends, Pat and Mike, left Blueberry Hill about a week after we did and pulled into Rainbow Plantation on Tuesday. Their friends from Blueberry Hill, Harlan and Linda (Harlan and Linda were part of the group with which had Easter lupper at Cracker Barrel a few days before we left Florida), were staying down the road from Rainbow Plantation in Foley. On Wednesday, we met Pat, Mike, Harlan and Linda at the Shrimp Basket in Foley for lupper.
The Shrimp Basket, which is a chain of about a dozen seafood restaurants, is another one of our favorite restaurants here in Lower Alabama. We both had fried clam strips, which were delicious. The rest of the group had a variety of other things including grilled shrimp, shrimp tacos and all-you-can-eat fish.
Our group at Shrimp Basket (clockwise from the left): Margery, Paul, Mike, Pat, Harlan and Linda
We had a good time catching up with Pat and Mike and with Harlan and Linda.
We shopped for groceries on Friday then did our weekly cleaning of the rig on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, we took Freeway to the dog park at Rainbow Plantation. We have been doing a little training after dinner in the space behind our site, but the training goes better at the dog park where we can allow Freeway to run freely.
When we call Freeway's name, he sometimes even seems to be paying attention to see what we want him to do next.
Freeway waiting for our next command
Come continues to be the biggest challenge. If he is distracted, Freeway acts like he is totally deaf. However, when he feels like it (which is increasingly more frequent), he comes running.
Of course, we continue to mix play with training so the training won't be a chore for Freeway or for us.
We had a big rain storm pass through the area on Sunday, so we just hunkered down in the motor home with a movie we picked up on the way home from church from the Redbox kiosk at Walmart. Fortunately, the storm didn't cause any local damage that we're aware of, but we did get almost an inch of rain during the afternoon.
On Monday, since we had to go out anyway to return the movie, we decided to head to Panini Pete's for a late lunch. Panini Pete's is located on a small courtyard patio called the French Quarter behind a row of shops along the main street in Fairhope.
Entrance to the French Quarter in Fairhope
There is indoor seating in an enclosure that looks like a Victorian conservatory, and there is also seating on the patio.
Panini Pete's is yet another of our favorite area restaurants. They A have nice selection of paninis including house-roasted turkey and house-roasted beef. Turkey is our favorite, so that's what we both had. The turkey panini is served on fresh-baked foccacia with baby greens, roasted red pepper, Dijon, garlic aioli and house-made mozzarella.
Roast turkey panini with shoestring fries
Margery about to take a bite of her panini
The paninis cost around $8 to $10 and include your choice of homemade shoestring fries, homemade potato chips or the side of the day (usually a pasta salad). Several types of burgers are also available for around the same price, and there are gourmet hot dogs that are a few dollars less.
The patio is surrounded by shops and boutiques. While we ate, we watched an artist from one of the shops who was outside painting.
After our meal, we strolled down the sidewalk for a couple of blocks. Fairhope has a quaint, picturesque downtown area that has an artsy feel. There are coffee shops, book stores, high-end antique shops, gift shops and boutiques all over the downtown area.
This garden shop was open by appointment only.
One of the things we like so much about downtown Fairhope are the beautiful flowers that are planted along the sidewalks and on the street corners. You can see an example of some of the flowers in front of the gift shop shown above. We especially liked the white iris we saw in front of another shop.
As we headed back to the motor home, we heard the news of the tragic bombings in Boston. Our prayers are with those who were injured, with their families and loved ones, and especially with the loved ones of those who died.
We are about half way through our stay at Rainbow Plantation, and we still have a number of eateries we want to visit. We are also hoping to do some sightseeing, so stay tuned.












