The Taxidermist's Wife: Snowbirds: Exploring & Fishing in Alabama

I never thought I'd be a "snowbird", but since I recently retired and Garry is self-employed, we decided to escape the cold and rented a small cottage for the month of February in Perdido Beach, AL. It proved to be a great idea, and we had a wonderful time exploring "the real LA" (what the locals call Lower Alabama), as well as nearby Pensacola, FL.

Our cozy cabin had all we needed.

We arrived shortly before dark on February 1, 2018 and met our host, whose family has owned the property, which includes two larger homes and the guest house we rented, for almost 100 years.

When we walked down to the dock, we saw our beautiful view of Perdido bay. Dolphins came to welcome us, swimming within 5 feet of the dock. They came by almost every morning and evening during our stay.

Dophin Pair with Young

Yay! I'm not wearing a parka.

Blooming Camellias were a bright surprise from the snow & cold we came from.

The nearest town was Elberta, AL. pop. about 1500. It is home of the Baldwin County Heritage Museum. Being a retired museum employee myself and museum geeks in general, of course we had to visit. It was very interesting and much larger than we expected. We met volunteers who were snowbirds from Wisconsin (the first of many we'd meet over the month).

I'm a fan of antique clothing, so I had to take these photos.

Our tour guide at the museum asked us "Did ya'll eat at the Roadkill Cafe yet?". It's the most popular place to eat in Elberta; and has the Alabama Crimson Tide elephant painted on the window. It's also the first restaurant I've seen that is only open two hours a day - 10:30 a.m. to 12:30, six days a week. They serve a family style Southern buffet with fried chicken, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, red beans & rice, green beans, corn, corn muffins, biscuits and gravy, and the popular sweet tea. Dessert of cake and ice cream is included. Seating is at group tables, and when it gets busy, people are encouraged by the owner to "quit your jawin' and yappin' and move on out so others waiting can get a seat". It's good they weren't super busy when we were there, because I'm a slow eater!

When paying at the register, you have a chance for a free meal by picking a poker chip out of a bag and if you get the red one, your meal is free. We weren't so lucky and paid ($11 each). The owner Mike, decked out in Alabama Crimson Tide shirt, took our cash. They don't accept credit or debit cards, and Garry heard him tell a guest that if he didn’t have cash, he could bring it back later!

We brought our fishing equipment, and spent a lot of time fishing off of the dock on the property where we stayed. It was a bit early in the season for redfish, but Garry managed to catch a nice one, which gave us 2 tasty meals.