Alabama’s Gulf Coast
Sand, sun and, solitude
(not to mention some seriously good seafood)

Don’t visit Alabama’s Gulf Coast looking for high-paced, high-priced attractions, swinging night life, crowded boardwalks, or semi-clad teenagers slathered in suntan lotion on the beach.

This is the place to chill out, hang out, and relax. To be sure, charter boats promise great fishing, golfers can play a new course every day, and there’s enough shopping to keep the credit cards busy. But the pace is as slow and casual as the music of Jimmy Buffet – who lives here, by the way.

Alabama’s Gulf Coast consists largely of a 32-mile long island that starts just west of the Florida line and is roughly split between the towns of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. There’s a comfortable balance between the two places. Orange Beach, to the east, is the more developed area, with hotels and the resort activities. Gulf Shores is the beach community everyone dreams of – houses half-hidden among the dunes, long stretches of deserted sand, and small eateries where the neighbors hang out.

Jack Edwards Airport is just north of Gulf Shores. It’s a clean, well-run, friendly place with full services. It has VOR, GPS, and RNAV approaches, but the weather is usually so good that a visual landing is standard, except when the occasional hurricane blows in, but folks tend to leave when that happens. Avgas is $2.25, and tie-down is $10/night for singles, $15 for light twins, with one night waived with gas purchase. There’s also hangar space available for those who don’t want to tie-down outside. The FBO has its own fleet of rental cars and asks that you call ahead for reservations.

Most accommodations in Gulf Shores are B&Bs or rental beach houses. Prepared to get lost trying to find them. It’s not a big deal, it just that the streets, such as they are, don’t have a lot of signs. A lot of lanes just have couple of hand-painted markers with the names of the beach houses located on them at the intersection. There’s only one east-west highway, so it’s mostly a matter of turning around and trying again. Sometimes, owners and guests have to drive through the sand to reach the houses, but that’s part of the charm. The breeze keeps the streets covered with sand, and anyone leaving the windows open in the car is guaranteed to find a mini-beach on the front seat when upon returning.

This is the place where "laid back" was defined. The most action may be when the resident dog at The Beach House B&B decides to herd the sand crabs scuttling along the beach at sunset. A typical schedule for the Gulf Shores tourist starts with a lazy breakfast, followed by a slow amble up the beach, a few hours’ reading a junk novel while stretched out in a hammock, a strenuous drive to a local fish house for lunch, checking to see if the hammock works well for a nap, Margaritas at sunset (well, this is Buffet’s turf), the difficult decision of where to eat dinner, then falling asleep listening to the surf play against the shore.

Folks who like full-service resort hotels and a somewhat faster pace will find exactly what they want in Orange Beach. All of the well-known chains are here, as are a lot of independent hotels with good services. Even in the most developed part Orange Beach, it still feels far less commercial, less cluttered, and less crowded than resort cities on the Gulf in Florida.

Not surprisingly, fishing is high up on the to-do list. Serious saltwater fishermen, or those who aspire to return home with great fish stories, can head out in the Gulf for saltwater fishing. Half-day, full-day, even three-day cruises are available. Over 100 charter boats vie for passengers and braggin’ rights for which captain helped his passengers hook the big one. Marlin weighing up to 700 pounds aren’t uncommon in the deep water. If the marlin ignore the fleet, tuna, barracuda, wahoo, and sailfish promise to offer challenges.

A lot easier, particularly for families and new anglers, is to join up with Capt. Bill Douglas. His take on fishing is a little different from the other charter boat skippers. He specializes in small groups and families, taking up to six people out at a time in his boat, the Doug-Out.

It’s a relaxed 3-4 hours on the water, just offshore Orange Beach. He tends the rods and lines, baiting the hooks, casting the lines, and finding the fish, then cheering his passengers on as they reel in their catch.

Capt. Douglas says he much prefers working with families than hard-core, deep water fishermen. "It’s a real thrill to take out families and to see the kids catch their first fish. This way of fishing is pure fun."

Except for the fish, maybe, which quickly fill the coolers he keeps on board. If his passengers don’t want their catch, he takes them home and saves them for his church fish fry.

If fish-watching, versus fish-catching, is preferred, sign up for a dolphin cruise. Best in late afternoon, the flat-bottomed boats glide to the spots where the friendly fish are most likely to appear. There are no guarantees that Flipper or his relatives will show up, but they rarely disappoint. There’s a suspicion that the good-natured creatures are leaping into the air and putting on a show to amuse themselves by seeing which passengers will be the first to fall overboard in their eagerness to get pictures.

The ultimate "one that didn’t get away," is found in the courtyard at Sanroc Cay, an upscale dining and retail enclave in Orange Beach. It’s a 28-foot Blue Marlin created by Alabama sculptor Ronald Godwin. He modeled it after the largest Blue Marlin ever caught, fabricating it out of sheets and strips of stainless steel.

Marlin is not on the menus at the restaurants at Sanroc Cay (or anywhere else), but seafood – fresh, tasty, and well-prepared –is, not surprisingly, the regional specialty. Heed the advice of the locals on what to order. They’ve had generations to learn how to prepare them. Grouper is particularly wonderful, as are any shrimp dishes. The crustaceans are the centerpiece of the National Shrimp Festival each October. It’s a four-day celebration of food, arts, crafts, performances.

Food-loving sports fans will definitely want to visit Mangos on the Island, which is owned by former Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Bob Baumhower. It’s probably the most upscale restaurant in Orange Beach, but even "dressy" around here means casual. Shirts with icons of small animals on them and a wrap-around skirt are right.

On any night, Baumhower visits with the patrons as they dine on coconut shrimp, sweet potato-crusted chicken, or Caribbean lobster tails. This is a man who is as passionate about food as he was about football. But it’s hard to imagine the meals here being served at the Miami Dolphins’ training camp.

"What? You aren’t having an appetizer? You have to try the Portobello mushrooms." His beefy hands trace patterns in the air as he almost lovingly describes how the mushrooms are grilled, then topped with feta cheese and toasted cashews. "Then the chef drizzles a balsamic portobello reduction sauce over them. They’re fantastic!" He

flags down a passing waiter to put in an order. This is the same guy who regularly tried to sack quarterbacks and ran over opponents like an enraged bull and who wears two Superbowl rings?

Superstars from a different sport made their mark on the island when they began building golf courses here. Thirteen courses, 252 holes – all within an hour’s drive. It’s

rumored that students from the local high school have financed their college education by retrieving and reselling golf balls from the roughs and water traps. Arnold Palmer designed three of the courses. Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge’s course, "The Dunes," has Scottish-style links, including the signature hole with an island green. The #1 public course in Alabama, designed by Jerry Pate, is located on the beach.

Experiencing the natural attractions of the gulf is as easy as visiting the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. It stretches along more than two miles along the beach, with four miles of nature trails meandering through it. The 6,200 acres teems with wildlife and plants unique to the Gulf Coast. This is a stopover for migratory birds in the late spring and early fall. Gulf State Park, just a few mile east, is only slightly smaller, but also has over two miles of protected beach. Guided beach walks, bike hikes, wildlife exhibits, and nature films are part of the regular schedule. Lake Shelby is popular with freshwater fishermen, boaters, waterskiers, and swimmers.

Eventually, like the tide, time runs out. Turning on departure gives one last view of the beaches and the Gulf. It’s enough to spend the flight home planning when to return.

-0-