Orange Beach, Alabama

 Orange Beach, Alabama

Since our condo was still under construction, we made plans to spend at least the first part of the winter of 2021 in Orange Beach.  Happily my mother and two of her sisters were staying at the same place, Caribe Resort.  What started as a 1 month rental for Jeff and me turned into a 2 1/2 rental which frustrated us, but was also nice since we could easily spend time with my Mom and Aunts.  

We usually tell people our condo is in Gulf Shores when in reality it is in unincorporated Baldwin County in an area called Fort Morgan.  Many people say Gulf Shores and Orange Beach as one area and considering they both have permanent populations of under 30,000 there is some logic there.  However, reality for us was literally a 22 mile drive west to go from Caribe to the Beach Club and our condo.  We visited weekly.  First time we thought we would be back in within a month, but then it sat.  We were a victim of the backlog of wood products so we sat for 6+ weeks waiting for floorboard so they could finish and turn it over to us.  But this is a posting about Orange Beach and the winter of Covid.

Caribe is a very nice resort, but it is on the bay not the gulf side so no beach.  It has a large marina and normally a tram to get you to the nearby beach and some nice onsite amenities.  Thanks to Sally the marina was missing 90% of its docks and thanks to Covid no tram.  Jeff and I were in a unit in the B building which was the first building (go figure).  It was a large 2 bedroom with a nice kitchen and a bit of a wraparound deck.  I said Caribe is on the bay side which it is, but it is also right at Perdido Pass so there were a fair number of boats and even dolphins to see from our viewpoint.  The first month or so we had entertainment from the boats in that they were dredging the mouth of the pass.  We could walk out to the pass area and watch that plus there was a couple of tugboats and other working boats that would come and go in the portion of the marina that was open.  Oh the marina had one lone sailboat too - not sure how much salivating that boat brought Jeff.  Towards the end of our stay it warmed up some and we saw a fair number of recreational pontoon boats in the pass and going out to an island that was in the middle of the pass by us.  There were pros and cons to being by the pass.  Pro was the proximity of the beach and seeing boats and dolphins.  Cons were there was a lot of traffic on the bridge that traverses the Pass as the sound travelled quite well - it was not our nice, quiet beach we are used to.  Each of the 3 buildings at the resort had its own indoor and outdoor pools.  Jeff and I visited ours once, but did not feel comfortable with others in it too so we gave that idea up.

Jeff by the dredging boat.

Nighttime and daytime views from our balcony.

Carol at the tip of the pass with the resort in the background.  The little red spot under my elbow is a face mask.

Since we were in a new part of town so to speak, we did tried out new restaurants and a different golf course. Since we were a mile from Florida, we went for a couple of hikes in nearby Florida State Parks.  Orange Beach has a municipal par 3 golf course.  So early on Jeff, me, my mom and her 2 sisters played it.  We all learned it is full of water hazards and thus a course that eats balls.  I think one of my Aunts had to borrow a couple of balls so she could finish.  Needless to say that was the only time we played that course.  Jeff and I did go there several times to use their driving range, but my Mom and Aunts never went back!

Hiking in a Florida State Park.

My Mom and Aunts decided they liked an executive course on Highway 59 in Foley called Gulf Links.  I am not as big of a fan partly because the holes are not well marked and 8 and 9 (the last 2 for me) make you go back and forth over a marsh - how rude!  When I say the holes are not well marked let me explain #7.  It is a par 5 so it is a long hole and you don't see where you are heading from the tee box.  In theory you drive your ball straight down the fairway and will eventually see the greens and tee.  If however you don't hit long drives and maybe you are off to a side you can see other holes and think that is yours.  So at least once if not twice my Mom and Aunts drove their balls from the tee for 7 and played the greens for 13 - oh well no one got mad and they enjoyed their day.  Not sure if I hit the correct green the first time I played that course either!

The year before my Mother and Aunts had introduced me to a group of ladies called the plantation ladies who golf together once a week at the Peninsula Golf Course near my condo.  Thanks to Covid and travel restrictions we had a smaller group this year, but most Tuesday afternoons you found me there with them.  They had branched out and had added a couple of husbands so this year Jeff and another guy played some too.  It is a pretty course and oh how a ball can bounce and roll on their fairways.  Also such smooth grass around the greens a bad player can get away with putting versus chipping.  The club has 3 courses each 9 holes and each suffered somewhat from the hurricane so several weeks you weren't allowed to play out of the sand traps and got a free drop - oh darn.  Also like Beach Club they had been hit by a tornado so their club house was closed.

Vaccination Volunteers

Baldwin County launched the vaccination with mass drive up clinics, where over 1,000 per day received the vaccine.   The clinic was at a local amusement park run by the Owa indian tribe.  Jeff helped my mom and aunts go.  We offered to volunteer and they took us up on the offer.  Jeff helped with traffic and I was a nurse assistant - paperwork queen.

 

Can you recognize me with the hat and mask on?

Restaurants- always a good topic.

One of our new favorites even after moving back to Fort Morgan is Playa at Sportsman Marina.  We had talked about going there before Sally hit, but never had.  We were missing out.  It has a bit of a Caribbean taste/style to its food which originally made me hesitate some being a hot spice wimp.  There are a couple of things I have learned that are spicier than I prefer, but I like more than I don't.  Have had brunch there which was wonderful, have had tacos, fried shrimp, nice fish dishes and Jeff has had the steak.  All were good - the shrimp tacos are a little too spicy for me though.  It is in a marina as its name suggests so you have a view of the boats and looking across the bay we also saw Caribe.  It is a sister restaurant to Fishers which has earned some national recognition if that is a hint at the food quality.

As I just said Playa has a sister restaurant and some of the other places we were eating at were also related/co-owned.  Right at Caribe was a restaurant called Cobalt.  It was related to Cosmos, Luna's and GTs.  We had been eating at Cosmos for a couple of years  and knew it was very good so first night in we ate at Cobalt.  Cobalt has a nice outdoor patio for eating and drinking along the bay/pass with a couple of fire pits and some tables.  The food seemed to be hit or miss for us.  The first night we were unimpressed.  We did take out a couple of times with my mom and her sisters and again some good some not.  The one thing we had that was stellar once was their Mahi Mahi sandwich it was perfectly cooked.  Unfortunately the next time we had it the fish was thin and over cooked - so frustrating.  We also visited GTs On the Bay a couple of times.  If you have kids this is a great place on a nice day/evening.  They have a great outdoor play place for them in their patio that over looks Wolf Bay.  We ate lunch there a couple of times and enjoyed the food and the view.  You will find some overlap in the food at all 3, but the restaurants are each distinct.  Cosmos is on the upscale/nicer dining side.  I think of GTs and Cobalt each as part bar part restaurant.

Another new place for us was Niki's Seafood and Thai.  We only did take out, but it was quite good each time. I had the pineapple chicken fried rice and enjoyed it a couple of times.  Jeff was more adventurous than me.

Since Jeff is not a fan of bagels, I waited till our daughter visited and she and I got bagels from a little deli on the corner of Canal Road and 161 called McClures NY bagel.  Like Jeff had heard they had good bagels.  We got a couple of different types and hers was fresh from the oven.  I would recommend it and will probably pick up a bagel or 2 just for me in the future.

Another good breakfast spot and one we knew of is Brick and Spoon.  The food is good, they make great mimosas and Bloody Marys as well as unusual versions of them.  It is only a breakfast and lunch spot.  It is well known so waits are not uncommon.  They added more outdoor seating this year so that may help some.

So we survived and at times enjoyed our winter in Orange Beach.  Now we are trying to get our condo and its building back to good as new again.  Unfortunately with everything that has happened in the world in the last year getting back to normal is a slow process.