A Fun Vacation!

      We have just returned from a fun week with stays in Orange Beach, Alabama, Gulf Breeze, Florida, and Montgomery, Alabama.  Since we had never been farther south than Montgomery in that area of the country we decided to take a driving trip in that area.  My sister & her husband recently bought a vacation house in Gulf Breeze and were going to be down there last week so it seemed a great time to see their new house. We also had a friend who had a condominium years ago on Orange Beach.  He always talked about how much he loved the area so we were curious to see it.  And then we have dear friends in Montgomery who we met through Tommy Tyson's Aqueduct Board.  Two other dear friends--also members from the Board live in Birmingham so they drove down to Montgomery and we had a wonderful reunion at Hutch & Jane's farm.
      It was a fun vacation.  We liked Orange Beach--maybe not as much as Longboat Key, Florida, but it was beautiful in its' own way.  We stayed in a nice little Bed & Breakfast--the Original Romar House--which was on the beach.

The Original Romar House in Orange Beach

Our room at the Romar House

Orange Beach

 The first day it was cold and windy so instead of freezing on the beach, we rented bicycles and went for a long ride through a nature preserve.  We even saw an alligator along the path.

The next day the director of the Bed & Breakfast suggested we might enjoy a car ferry ride to Dauphin Island.  When she mentioned it was a short drive from there to Bellingrath House & Gardens I was eager to go.

Getting ready to drive onto the ferry

The gardens were beautiful--even in winter--I can only imagine how beautiful they must be in the spring and summer!  

We also enjoyed the guided house tour where we learned the inspiring history of the house and gardens.

Instead of taking the ferry back to Orange Beach we decided to return around Mobile Bay.  Unfortunately, we didn't get there early enough or we could have toured the USS Alabama.  Maybe next time. 

The next day we drove to my sister & brother-in-law's.  They were in the process of planning the landscaping for the area directly in front of their new house so we helped them pick out plants, put them in the ground and mulch.

We also toured Ft. Pickens.

At Pensacola Beach we watched fishermen land this shark.  After taking pictures they released it.

Pensacola Beach was even more beautiful as the sun was setting.

We ended our vacation sitting on this beautiful porch reminiscing with friends of the great times we had at Aqueduct.

We got home Tuesday night.  This is what it looked like yesterday at our house.  Quite a change!