Hilton at Gulf State Park
After a lot of driving, including stop-and-go traffic on the roads to the beach, we made it to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Our first stop was the "Sea N Suds", a restaurant on the waterfront. We had a couple of drinks while waiting on our table and then ate fried seafood as there wasn't much else on the menu. It was good, however. We drove to our hotel, the Hilton at Gulf State Park, a new resort right along the ocean. Janie dropped off J. R., Rebecca and the luggage and went to park the car. J. R. checked us in and we walked over to the next building where our room was located. Our room was on the second floor with a balcony facing the ocean. A quick walk down to the beach while the sun was setting capped off our evening and we returned to our room for sleep.
A Day at the Beach
In the morning, we headed down to the beach and rented a pair of chairs and an umbrella for the day. We relaxed at the beach and Rebecca shed the sling from her shoulder surgery to do a little posing along the water. We had lunch at one of the hotel's restaurants. It was pricey but good. Then we returned to our beach chairs to sit in the sun and enjoy our beach experience. Dinner was back in town at Bahama Bob's, which was much better than the night before. Becca was able to get some crab legs, which she had been asking for. We stopped by a couple of the souvenir shops to browse and then drove to Wal-Mart for some snacks and sodas for the rest of our drive.
Pool and Flora-Bama
The next morning, we spent some time by the pool and Rebecca did a little floating since she can't swim yet. On our way out of town, we went to the Flora-Bama where we had some of our best food, including some key lime popcorn shrimp that we could have eaten for days. J. R. finally got some good shrimp and grits, flavorful and with a good kick of spice. Then it back in the car for a six-hour drive to Atlanta.
