December 14, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie
It was another day in paradise —
We stayed inside and slept late this morning and then had a delicious brunch of eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes. It was a beautiful, sunny day, high of 65, mild and warm. Too nice to stay inside. So after late morning showers we headed out the door to get out of the RV.
The first stop of the day was a billboard just down the road. I had to get a photo of the Wacked Out Weiner billboard for a writing prompt about restaurants and stores with naughty names on medium.com.
After that, we found a small wetland park to visit.
The entrance to this walking/hiking park is located at the base of the water tower at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex. The Sports area has playing fields for soccer, baseball, tennis, and even pickleball.
This loop gravel path travels around a fishing pond, benches, gazebos, and a fishing pier for a quiet way to enjoy these natural wetlands.
It was a nice day for a short walk. Not too windy and no jacket was required. We didn’t see any birds or fish or turtles or anything here, but it was a beautiful and peaceful area to explore.
All of the photos in my posts are taken by me on my iPhone.
I am always intrigued by the Spanish Moss in the huge oak trees in the southern part of the United States. There is something beautiful, yet eerie about it.
We drove around and explored Oyster Bay and found this flock of pelicans in the water as we passed over a bridge.
I also saw a great blue heron along the side of the road but I wasn’t quick enough to zoom in and get a good picture of it at 55 mph. This one is a little blurry.
Next, we headed to the Orange Beach Waterfront Park. Open to the public year-round, this beautiful family park is located on scenic Wolf Bay. I always look for these public areas to visit. Most of the time they are beautiful and well worth the time.
And we were not disappointed with this park. The 400-foot fishing pier in the photo above was completely rebuilt after being destroyed by Hurricane Sally in 2020. It just reopened last December.
There is a huge lawn chair on the deck which is perfect for photo opportunities. It is large and spacious, so you can easily fit multiple people in it for a group photo. The chair is heavy and sturdy, so you don’t have to worry about it tipping over. The best part is that you can get some great background scenery in your photos.
We find these large chairs all around the country. I wonder if that is just a United States thing or do other countries have tourist spots like this too?
We saw some pelicans flying around as we enjoyed the park. They flew by us once, turned around, and passed by us again so I took their picture. Then we headed to the ocean side of Orange Beach which is only two miles from the bay side. We pulled into the Cotton Bayou parking lot.
Even though the flags were red for rip currents today, the wind was mild and warm and it was nice walking along the beach.
The two birds we saw at this beach included a sanderling and a willet.
I am always searching for seashells but have been quite disappointed so far.
I just haven’t found anything very special yet besides the small common clam shells.
The beach was so calm and relaxing that we stayed for a while. I did some research on why the beach is so calm and relaxing and decided to put that in a whole separate article.
I don’t know what the price of gas is where you are, but here in southern Alabama, it is down to $2.52. We are thankful for falling gas prices.
After dark we decided to search for some Christmas light displays.
The only thing we found close by and free of charge was the lights at The Wharf and a small housing edition on Fort Morgan Road where every single house was fully decorated.
After we got home I found out that maybe there is a laser light show at 7:00 pm timed to music. We may have to go back and find out.
The tree was pretty and elegant. There is an ice skating rink here too with skating until 10:00 pm.
Today was a great day. Thanks for allowing me to share it with you. See you tomorrow.