Fishing, Seafood, Dolphins in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL

Visitor Center

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are 2 neighboring ocean-front towns. There are many beach houses and high rise condos, and it is the heart of the tourist zone. We saw a lot of license plates from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. 

High Rise Meets Low Rise

We bought some small shark teeth key rings for the grandchildren here, and Garry bought a large tooth for his own collection.

Fishing at Alabama Point State Park, Orange Beach AL.
Garry said he didn't notice the girls in bikinis. I think he did.

My heron friend, looking for fish. 

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach each had their own Mardi Gras parades, a few hours apart. More beads and Moon Pies! 

Here's the link to my post about our visit to the Mobile Carnival Museum, where we learned a lot about the Mardi Gras traditions, culture and history. There are a lot of photos of the elaborate costumes worn by participants at the Mardi Gras balls. 

Flippers Seafood Restaurant, in Orange Beach at Bear Point Marina, was recommended to us. Our meals there were very good, and homemade ice cream is included! I regret that I never got around to trying a popular Alabama drink, a Bushwacker, made with rum and ice cream. 

The dolphin tour which has offices next to Flippers had off season specials, and we got a fun and educational 2 hour trip. The dolphins like to ride the wake between 2 boats because it helps them to shed their skin. 

Gulf Shores advertised a Seafood Festival and Car Show at The Wharf, which is a shopping center and condo complex.  It wasn't a festival by Milwaukee standards; no beer tents and very little food. But it drew a large crowd and seeing the classic cars was fun.  

What we thought would be a short hike into the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge turned out to be a long hike in on sand in the hot sun. When we got to Gator Lake, we didn't see any gators. 

I guess some people need to be told not to SWIM with alligators.

During the month we were in Alabama, we made several visits over to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, so we tried a few restaurants. One popular spot is Fish River Grill. Meals include Swamp Soup, which tastes better than it looks, sort of a greens & beans kind of soup. I tried a crawfish pistol, which is crawfish in a sauce stuffed into a roll. Yummy. 

We also tried Niki's Seafood & Thai restaurant. It seemed strange to have Thai food in a beachy-vibe place, with all blue and green decor. The basil spring rolls were good and the tea was served in a big jar. 

A neighbor in Perdido Beach suggested we go to Doc's Seafood Shack. I tried the fried stuffed crab, which I never had before and it was good. 

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach had some good places to fish, swim, eat and shop, but we were happy with our choice of our little cabin in the woods in Perdido Beach. It was a much more peaceful and quiet residential area. I took walks every morning on the roads around the neighborhood. 

Sunset from our deck at the cabin.