Tourist Sites

As much as I love to relax on a quiet beach in front of a private beach house, sometimes I long for the energetic bustle found at a fun, public beach. One of my favorite spots is the Gulf Shores Public Beach. Lots of activity, shopping and beachside restaurants—a great opportunity for people-watching.

This is how our week’s vacation usually plays out for us: We spend the first couple of days at our rented beach house, enjoying the peacefulness of the beach, playing in the waves, building sandcastles. Then we get a little restless, and we start looking for other things to do. And one of the first things we do is head over to the public beach, where we do things like play volleyball and picnic at the designated picnic areas. Gulf Shores Public Beach also has bathrooms, showers and beach attendants, so it really is a nice experience.

The Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area has many public beach locations. Just go to www.thebeachiscalling.org to start exploring them.

The Alabama Gulf Coast is known as a wonderful place for birding. In addition to natives, migratory guests make the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach a stopover or temporary home.

Of all the many types of birds that come and go, my favorite type is, of course, the snowbird! (For those who might not know, “snowbird” is the affectionate nickname given to those who spend the winter months in the South and the warmer months elsewhere; since they “fly south for the winter,” they are dubbed “snowbirds.”)

Any area visited part of the year by travelers welcomes guests during its off-season because that helps the local economy. But with snowbirds, there's so much more than simple dollars and cents. The snowbirds who come to this community are “invested” in it in the deepest sense of the word. They don't just come to stay here for a few months, they live here, and they become part of the community. They volunteer; they take part in fundraisers; they help with community projects. They make this a better place to live and to bring up families.

It is such a joy to see friends come back after months away. Although there are all sorts of ways to keep in touch, there's nothing quite like a seafood meal shared with the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop and exchanging tales of the time away.

Welcome back, snowbirds!

Do you remember the show on Animal Planet - the Little Zoo that Could? It was about this zoo in Gulf Shores that had to evacuate like three times during hurricanes. They loaded all the animals on trailers and drove them to a farm away from the coast.

I was down in Gulf Shores recently and decided to go see it for myself. From the outside it looked like a cheesy tourist trap, but I went ahead. Once inside I was surprised. Sure, it was small, compared to big city zoos. but everything was nice. The animals were well taken care of and looked content. The staff was friendly and the cost was so cheap.

These folks have been through a lot taking care of these animals. They don't mind stopping to talk to you and telling what it was like going through the hurricane.

If you are going to be down there, save a couple of hours to go see the zoo.