Enjoying our trip, day 2

Hello, everyone.

When we left Beaumont, we drove along the coast, stopping at the Welcome Centers the various states have built at the state lines. We got maps and a collection of brochures at them. (The lady at the Louisiana one was very friendly, informative, and helpful. She found for me a couple of magazines with recipes  printed for various Louisiana foods. Also, the Louisiana welcome center had free coffee.)

The Alabama welcome center is currently not where it is supposed to be. We saw the "remodeling project" from the highway, and it looks like they tore the building down to its concrete foundation pad! The temporary digs are in a town at the outskirts of Mobile. The ladies there are friendly and helpful, too.

We stayed in Gulf Shores that night.

Dawn from the balcony of our suite

As you can see, the sand at Gulf Shores isn't as brown as the sand at South Padre Island, Texas, nor is it as coarse and white as the sand at Destin, Florida.

The hotel we stayed at: Phoenix All Suites Hotel.

Little birdie getting his breakfast at the incoming morning tide.

We tried some Alabama wine--the liquor store only had in-state wine, and we got the driest one we could see on their little shelf unit. It was drinkable, but I can't really say I like it. Most of the offerings were "sweet Muscadine table wine" and I just don't like the sweet wines. YMMV.

We got some really good fried whitefish at the Shrimp Basket (I think that's the name of that chain) and DH had shrimp grits. I thought the shrimp grits were tasty but a bit on the thick side--I really liked my fried fish, however. This chain food place served its wine (an anonymous white Zin) in plastic punch cups, the kind you use for kids' parties. I don't think it hurt the wine any--but it didn't help it either.

The next morning, after taking about a mile walk on the sand in the early light, we stopped for coffee at the local Krispy Kreme and headed out. They make good coffee at Krispy Kreme!