Snowbirds: 1st Year

So this was our first year as snowbirds and I have to admit we have a bit of room for improvement.  Our mistakes:  we came to the beach on the later side, we left twice and we did not join that many groups/activities.

Unfortunately, we still had things to finish up in St. Louis at the beginning of January so it was middle of the month before we both made it to Gulf Shores.  Then we turned around a week later and went back to St Louis for a few days!  At the end of January, we made it to stay or so we thought only to find ourselves running back to St Louis for a couple of days for a funeral.  We did a much better job of staying put in February.  And we started to get a little active.  We both volunteered to take on keeping up the directory and I joined a group of ladies for golf on a weekly basis.  We also enjoyed spending time with my mom, aunts and a family friend.

When we say we need to do more next year, realize there is an assortment of activities: card games ranging from bridge to poker, board games such as mahjong, outdoor activities such as bocce ball, exercise classes, weekly movies, and trips. I am probably missing things. All of that is just options that are on the Beach Club property. The resort is sort of like summer camp for older adults!  

What is life like as a snowbird?
Monday is movie night and what is even better is that they are recent movies like Harriet Tubman and Overcomer and there is free, freshly made popcorn. Happy Hour is prior to the movie so we would grab our glass of wine from the bar downstairs and then head up to watch the movie. Tuesdays I played in my golf league which is in the afternoon, a nice change from playing in the morning. The group plays at Peninsula which has 3 different 9 hole courses all of which are quite nice.  On any week day, there were group exercise classes such as yoga or pool aerobics classes.  There were multiple activities every day of the week.

Of course one also needs to do things that the typical vacationer comes to the area to do, like walking the beach (too cold for most of us to swim), shopping at the outlet mall and eating lots of good seafood.  I had planned on getting a lot of sewing done and in reality, only got one dress done.  I did put my new, fancy toaster oven to good use and made bread a few times.

Our plans for next year?  Well, we will be back coronavirus willing. We will join in some more activities, be better organized with our "stuff" so we can have friends visit and spend time in our guest bedroom. Lastly, we hope to go on a trip or two and we will again enjoy some Mardi Gras fun!