Beginning the Drive North, Freedom Riders, and More Baseball!!! (Day 12)

One wouldn't think so, but from North to South, Alabama is a very long state.  In fact, it's about 400 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee border.  That means we had to spend about 6 hours in the car driving north to just get out of Alabama.  It was too much for us to drive straight up to Maryland from Gulf Shores, so we decided to stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee and spend the night there.  

We left around 8:00am in the morning in order to get to Chattanooga at a decent hour.  About 45 minutes into the ride, we stopped at Buc-ee's (again) on the way out of town for breakfast and to fill up the car, then headed out on the road, hoping to get lunch somewhere around Montgomery, Alabama.  All I can say is that the Brisket Breakfast Burritos there are amazing.  I'm still craving them as I write this.  

After our stop at Buc-ee's, we got on the road and rolled on to Montgomery, AL which was about 2.5 hours away.  No one in my family has ever been to Montgomery, but it was a really cool city.  Considering it was a Saturday, it was pretty quiet in town, but the downtown area was nice and very walkable.  We parked near the First White House of the Confederacy and then visited the Alabama State Capital.

 

After walking around the grounds of those two buildings, we went down to the Cahawba House for lunch.  This was a cozy little cafe in the downtown area which had some really great food.  I always try to get something local when going to a place like this, so I ended up getting the Pimento Grilled Cheese Sandwich which is a double stacked pimento cheese grilled on white bread with hand cut fries.  It was so good!!!

After lunch, we noticed a Greyhound Bus building across the street and saw that it was converted to a museum to teach people about the Freedom Riders.  I will be honest, I knew about the Freedom Riders, but not much about what went on.  

From Wikipedia it states:  "Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.  The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17."  

The museum told the story of all the Freedom Riders and the struggles that they went through.  It definitely sounded like a horrible, scary time and these brave riders really made a difference in society.  It was really good for the wife and I to talk to the kids about how much things have changed in the country over the years.  I'm happy Montgomery preserved this building and turned it into a museum about the Freedom Riders.  

They did not allow pictures inside the museum and we respected that, so the only picture I have is from outside.  

After lunch and a quick stop at the museum, we got back to the car and headed north to Chattanooga.  The goal was to get to Chattanooga and then go to the Chattanooga Lookouts baseball game.  I'm glad we made it there in time as it was an amazing baseball stadium up on the top of a hill.  As with every new stadium we go to, we like to walk around, check out all the features of the stadium and meet the mascot.  AT&T Field in Chattanooga did not disappoint.  It was a beautiful stadium to watch the game.

I had a lot of fun talking with the bartender at the craft beer stand along the 3rd base side.  It was a beautiful bar with some local beers that overlooks the field.  It was a great location to hang out and watch the game.  

I also had fun seeing a train come out when the Lookouts hit a homerun.  

I've always loved the Lookouts logo, so I had to buy a hat before we took off.  It's one of my favorite hats that I own.  

On the way out and to the hotel, the girls posed with some statues outside the stadium of children playing baseball.  

Overall, the stadium was great and an a beautiful place to watch a game.  I really hope we can go to a game there again someday.  

We ended up spending the night at the Hampton Inn Chattanooga-North/Ooltewah.  It was a nice hotel and a great place to rest up for the night.  We had a great day filled with some great food, history and baseball while making our way North. It was as perfect a day that you could have as a get away day.  

Fireball at Noon On Our Last Day at Gulf Shores (Day 11)

On our last day in Gulf Shores, the girls needed more beach time and I needed more time of hanging out with my college friend Gerren and his wife.  Since it was late the night before, we didn't have much time to catch up on things.  So while the girls were at the beach, Gerren, his wife, and I went to Gelato Joe's Italian Restaurant and Tiki Bar.  Seems like an odd combination to be an Italian restaurant and a tiki bar, but it was fun and worked.  

Of course we had to do some shots of Fireball while we were there.  

I even got to drive Gerren home and meet his dog Waffles.  

After hanging out with Gerren and his wife for a few hours, I came back, picked up the girls and we went to The Track to ride go-karts and bumper boats, while letting the kids play arcade games.  

After a fun afternoon at the arcade, we went to dinner before heading back to the AirBnB to get ready to depart the next day.  Dinner on this night was at Tacky Jack's which is a waterfront bar and grill with a marina.  The food there was pretty good and came out fast considering how big the place was and how many people were there.  After dinner we walked around the marina and watched the boats.  I even got to hang out with a creepy Ronald McDonald mannequin.  

On the way back to the AirBnB, the girls wanted to go to get ice cream and hit up another shop with beach gear.  So we stopped at Kayden's Candy Factory, Donuts and Breakfast.  The girls loved their ice cream.  I wanted a donut, but was full from dinner.  

Finally, we went to Surf Style so the girls could look for new bathing suits for the summer.  While there I got a pretty fly Hawaiian shirt.  

The next day, we were headed out of Gulf Shores early for the long ride home.  We were spending the night in Chattanooga on the way home, but the the drive was long to get there.  So we went to bed early so we could head out early.  

Overall, my family loved Gulf Shores, Alabama.  The beaches were beautiful and clean.  The food at the restaurants was amazing (not normal for beach towns).  The people there were all so nice and fun.  We had an absolute blast and are even talking about going back there for Spring Break 2023.  

Shopping, Beach Time and Lots of Food (Day 10)

 Day 10 was a long day filled with shopping, beach time and amazing food.  

The girls slept in because the previous day was a long day and they wanted to reset up.  However, once they were up, they wanted to go shopping at some of the beach shops up the street from our AirBnB.  There were two main stores that we visited, Souvenir City and Alvin's Island.  The girls were so excited to go into Souvenir City in particular because you had to walk through a shark's mouth to get in there.  

The girls bought some shirts and other trinkets from Gulf Shores. They had fun and Norah even had fun climbing into a shark's mouth to pose.  Avery was too cool for it.  

After doing some shopping, the girls and I were hungry so we went to Lulu's for lunch.  This place was amazing for families.  I will start out by saying the place is huge and right along the water.  You could watch boats come in and out while hanging out.  

The food was so good there.  I got the "Pa-Menna" Cheeseburger which was described as a juicy seared Burger seasoned with LuLu’s Salty Pepper Seasoning Blend, topped with “Pa-menna” Cheese, Bacon, and a Fried Green Tomato.  So good.  I had it with a Cruzan Infusion.  That might have been one of the best fruity drinks I've ever had in my life.  I almost wish the girls weren't there so I could have had a few. 

After our lunch, the kids ran around on the sandy beach playground they had and even played the ring game.  I tried to nap in their Adirondack chairs.  

After lunch, we went back so the kids could get some beach time.  They had not been to the beach all week and were ready to get out there now that the rip current advisories were over.  They had a blast with their boogie boards in the waves.  As usual, I just sat in my chair and watched them as I drank my beer.  

I will say that the beach at Gulf Shores is one of the best in the world.  The sand is clean and soft, the waves are fun, and it wasn't too crowded.  

After the beach, the girls went back to the AirBnB, took showers, and then we all headed out to dinner.  We decided to drive over to the Alabama / Florida state line to go to Flora-Bama Ole River Grill.  The bar is located right on the Alabama / Florida state line and you can get your picture taken on the line.  

We ate up on the deck and there was an amazing sunset.  The food was real good there, I had the fish tacos.

After dinner, we went down to the lower level to listen to a band play some music while the kids ran around in the sand.  Everyone had a blast!!

After leaving Flora-Bama, we stopped by to surprise a college friend of mine on his birthday at the restaurant at which his wife is the chef, the Sunset Cork Room.  This is an amazing restaurant in Gulf Shores with great food. Since we had already eaten and they were close to closing, we stopped by to say hi to Gerren and his wife, while the girls ate some amazing desserts.  

It was so nice being able to see a friend I had not seen in over 20 years and celebrating his birthday with him.  After catching up for a bit, we decided to head back to the AirBnB as we had a long day in the sun and eating.  We needed to rest up for our last full day in Gulf Shores.