Sun, Fun, Food, and Azaleas

We got to Baldwin County, AL yesterday afternoon for our visit with Amanda and Ben. Took us about 4 hours. Ate lunch at the Bates Turkey place in Greenville, AL. Barbecued turkey sandwich and a side of cornbread dressing! It was delicious.

We did some errands late afternoon. I bought a camera like Amanda's at Best Buy. I am very pleased with the simplicity and quality of pics! The pics today were taken with the camera, some looking into the sun (sorry).

We also stopped on "Alligator Alley" in Daphne. This is a city park with trails along a creek that flows into Mobile Bay. Sure enough, there was a big gator laying on the bank by the Hampton Inn near I-10.

Last night's dinner was at The Bluegill on the Mobile Bay Causeway. This is a rustic older fish camp style restaurant. The food and atmosphere was fabulous. We are all big oyster lovers, and we ate our fill. Excellent meal!!

We spent most of the day today at the Fairhope Arts Festival in downtown Fairhope, AL. Fairhope is on the Eastern Store of Mobile Bay, and is known as the City of Flowers. This is often a stop for Loopers as they proceed down Mobile Bay.

The weather has been great all day. Clear blue skies, a nice breeze, and temps in the low 70's. The festival was huge and well attended. The food was standard festival fare with many booths set up. There were dozens of artists displaying their art. Paintings, photography, wood art, furniture, metal art, ceramics, pottery, jewelry, clothes, toys; you name it....it was there and on display for sale.

So, we were part of the several hundred thousand visitors that this festival draws. We stayed about 4 hours. We rode a shuttle bus from a shopping center into the center part of town, and then back out. We sampled food and had some ice cream. Amanda is about two months away from delivering her baby girl, so she shopped for a lot of baby related things. The booths with hand made baby clothes, baby gear, etc. were very popular with our group. Grandma Susan also enjoyed these booths and vendors.

As I had hoped, the azaleas are still in bloom down here. They are very beautiful. They have huge azaleas in this area. Just a large mass of color. I have posted some pics of some of the azaleas that we have seen.

All in all, we have enjoyed our visit. Tomorrow I will head to Jacksonville and to the boat.

Thanks for reading!

Pictures Below:

1. Fairhope, AL Downtown Sign

2. Nana (Susan) Amanda and Ben at Arts Festival

3. Arts Festival

4. Ben, Amanda, Susan Shopping at Arts Festival

5. Big Bank of Azaleas

6. Multicolor Azalea Bush

7. Big Bank of Azaleas

8. Big Bank of Azaleas