April 5 - Day 20: Mobile Bay's Eastern Shore

We have a nice night's sleep and awake to a sunny day, not too warm. We get organized and check-out, skipping breakfast at the Hotel for coffee and pastry at a nearby Starbuck's.

The sky is completely clear as we head southeast out of Mobile. Our major activity for today is exploring the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. First up is the town of Fairhope. Founded in 1894 under the banner of "Single-Tax", Fairhope was an idealistic experiment in a new form of capitalism. The goal was to provide equality for all without the possibility of monopoly. The experiment did not exactly succeed, but there is still some remnant of the dream carried in the corporation that owns much of the land in the city.

Regardless of the ownership structure, the drive to the town is lovely and walking around shows Fairhope to be vibrant. We spend an hour in the museum, very interesting, then drive down the long avenue to the Pier and take a walk to the end of it. We see Pelicans galore.

View of Fairhope's Waterfront from the Pier

The 1,000 Places book and our Nav System tells us that there is a good restaurant down the road (south along the shore) at Point Clear. When we arrive, the restaurant is closed up tight. It doesn't serve lunch or is closed today. Ah, well, we continue on our journey of southern Alabama back roads and stumble upon the Magnolia Bar & Grill on US 98.

We immediately question whether we have made a mistake as the bar is overwhelmingly smoky from cigarettes, but it is late and we are hungry. We order our lunch, Amy has a hamburger and I choose the Chicken and Dumplings. While we await our food, we join the 4 or 5 locals and the barkeeper in conversation. This is a really quaint, local establishment. We tell the bartender about our Road Trip and that we are on our way to Florida. She says that she has never been anywhere. She finishes cooking our food and brings it to us at the bar (she is Barkeep, Cook, Waitress and, presumably, everything else here). The food is OK. My chicken and dumplings remind me of the food my mother cooked when I was growing up.

We are eager to get back on the road and to our destination of Orange Beach. Another half hour of driving through rural roads and strip malls finds us at our destination. The hotel is undergoing restoration and most of the common areas of the first floor are not accessible, so after check-in and dropping bags in our room, we get to the beach through the outside pool side entrance. Ah well, at least the beach is beautiful.

Orange Beach, Alabama

It is around this time that we learn of the passing of Dear Aunt Frances, Amy's 97 year old aunt, Ike's sister. We are very sad, but are quite grateful to have seen her three different times in the last 8 months.

We take a stroll on the beach. It is crowded with revellers; everyone is having a good time. Back to the room for a short rest, we drive about a mile down the road to a nice restaurant called "Gilbey's". A gentleman is playing his guitar and singing, making a very nice atmosphere. We share the New York Strip Steak.

Once again, we are stuffed. We head back to the hotel for night.