This is how it should be

A wonderful day in Fairhope  (my idea of how to spend Black Friday) spent with a bike ride to town, meandering through the shops and lunch at Panini Pete’s. Then Sat bright and early, we head down Mobile Bay to the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW).  Sunny days with highs of 70 and lows of 60 is sharp contrast to our trip 2 years ago when we were weathering cold and rainy storms.  As we made the left into the ICW we saw our first dolphin since the Atlantic coast-mom and baby.  Ingram Bayou in Orange Beach offers a perfect anchorage about 3 hours outside Pensacola for the night.  The Vols play Vanderbilt this afternoon so we will anchor early and get our game face on.  If the panhandle stayed this way throughout the winter the marinas and anchorages would have a waiting list. 

Fairhope Yacht Club offers reciprocal dockage with Rock Harbor, it is about 2 miles from town and is a perfect stop for us. Two years ago we had Thanksgiving dinner here with Tom and Nancy. 

 

The city of Fairhope has a lot of consignment/estate shops, Christmas stores and great restaurants

 

Thought of our buddy Glen from Rock Harbor as he is recovering from surgery

 

Entering the Gulf ICW

 

Ducked into Barber Marina where our friends on Lauren Grace are docked--all buttoned up, we figure they are home in Missouri for Thanksgiving weekend

 

LuLu's is on one side of the ICW in Gulf Shores

 

Tacky Jacks and Acme on the otherside