Living Our Dream: Orange Beach, AL Part I

September 25, 2018

Orange Beach, Alabama, Part I

Orange Beach, AL - Events of Friday, September 14 to Tuesday, September 18, 2018

In August of this year we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Several years ago as we contemplated what we wanted to do in honor of the event, we thought it might be nice to take a cruise with our daughter, Lora, and our son-in-law, J. Michael. We began to think about an Alaskan cruise. However, all that was before our granddaughter Lydia came along. We realized looking for icebergs wouldn't be very entertaining for a 4 year old so we started working on Plan B.

Lower Alabama is one of our favorite places. We used to go to the Summerdale/Fairhope area every spring and fall on our way to and from Florida when we were full-time RVers. Orange Beach, Alabama, is on the Gulf of Mexico and is one of the places we visited when we stayed in Summerdale and Fairhope. Orange Beach is very vacation-like so that's where we decided to go instead of going on a cruise.

Margery found an excellent rental villa in Orange Beach through Homeaway. It isn't right on the beach so the price was more reasonable, but the beach is only a short drive making it very convenient. We would have access to the pool that is located within the group of villas where we would be staying so close proximity to the beach wasn't necessary.

Although our anniversary was in August, August is still peak season in Orange Beach so we made reservations for the second week in September figuring it would still be warm enough to swim, but it wouldn't be nearly as crowded. Lora and J. Michael planned to arrive early Saturday afternoon (September 15). We drove up to Alabama on Friday so we could to be there to greet them when they arrived.

We pulled in around 3:30. We were very impressed with the villa. It has three bedrooms and two baths and is decorated in a beach-house theme. The place was immaculately clean.

Our villa in Orange Beach

View of the living room

After we got settled, we headed out to Mikee's Seafood in Gulf Shores (the next town to the west along the beach) for dinner. We had been to Mikee's once or twice before when we used to stay in the area in our RV.

Mikee's Seafood

We were both hungry for fried clam strips, but Paul was also hungry for shrimp. Fortunately for him, in addition to the fried clam basket ($10.99), which is what Margery had, they also had a combo shrimp/clam basket ($12.99). Margery had marinated slaw and new potatoes for her sides, and Paul had marinated slaw and potato salad.

Margery with her clam strips

The clams were a little over-cooked and were a bit too crisp. When the waitress asked how our meals were, Margery mentioned the clams. Within a few minutes we each had another dish of perfectly cooked clams. The second batch of clams was excellent, and the shrimp and the sides were also very good.

The villa is fully equipped with linens, towels, dishes, silverware, etc. There were supposed to be "starter" supplies of consumables such as dish soap, napkins, coffee and coffee filters, paper towels, etc., but the supplies were so generous they lasted our entire stay. We planned to eat most dinners out, but we needed a few additional supplies as well as things for breakfasts and snacks. Therefore, we headed out to the nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market first thing Saturday morning. The Neighborhood Markets have groceries only, although this one also had some beach-related items such as coolers, beach towels, and picnic supplies.

Lora, J. Michael, and Lydia pulled in shortly after 1:00. After unloading the car, we had a quick lunch, then we relaxed a bit before heading down to the pool.

J. Michael, Paul, and Lydia heading to the pool

Later in the afternoon, we headed out to Moe's BBQ down by the beach for an early dinner.

Moe's BBQ

The adults all had pulled pork platters with various sides, and Lydia had toasted cheese. The barbecue was moist and tender, but not very smokey.

Paul, Lora, Lydia, and J. Michael at our first table

We decided to eat at a picnic table behind the restaurant where it was nice and shady, but that turned out to be a big mistake. Paul was attacked by fire ants so we had to retreat to one of the tables on the front deck where there was a little more noise from traffic and a little more sun, but at least there were no ants.

After we ate, we took a short drive along the beach then stopped at Dairy Queen before heading back to the villa.

Sunday was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky so we headed to the beach. The beach wasn't very crowded, and the water was nice and warm.

View down the beach

Lydia checking out the water

After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we headed back to the villa to get changed, then drove to Lambert's Cafe in Foley for an early dinner. Lambert's is the home of "throwed rolls." Yes, we know that's not proper grammar, but that's their slogan.

Lambert's Cafe

We had about a 30-minute wait for a table. Lambert's portions are huge. Prices for meals range from around $11 to $20 and include two sides plus numerous "pass-arounds," which are additional sides that are distributed by roving servers. The rolls, which they throw to you, are excellent. In the next photo, J. Michael is pretending to get ready to catch a roll.

Our group at Lambert's with J. Michael pretending to get ready to catch a roll