On Friday, November 1st, we drove 145 miles to Gulf Shores, AL where we will spend a little more than five weeks at Gulf State Park. We had reserved site #197, a pull-through site that was just two sites down from where we parked on our previous stay. We will be there for the month of November but will have to relocate for the final eight days of our stay. Two other couples, Tom and Roxi Rykal and Todd and Beth Ehlenfeldt, who we had met last winter at Palmdale RV Park in the Rio Grande Valley, were also spending the month of November at Gulf State Park.
On Saturday morning we rode our bikes around the park and stopped at the butterfly garden. We had a trail map but it didn’t include the campground roads so it was difficult to know how to get back home. After riding around in circles for a while, Jan fortunately spotted our rig down the road.
Later that afternoon, we joined the other couples at Flora-Bama, a large, multi-stage entertainment venue on the Florida/Alabama state lines. We watched a performance by Big Earl and his band. They were very talented musicians and humorous, albeit off-color, entertainers. After listening to a couple of sets, we all headed across the road for a late dinner at the grill.
On Sunday we rode our bikes to the beach and walked along the gulf shoreline. The water was surprisingly warm and we enjoyed wading in the surf.
On Monday Phil visited Bayside Orthopedics to get treatment for his shoulder that had been hurting for about a month. He was relieved to learn that the pain is most likely the result of bursitis, rather than a rotator cuff tear. He received a cortisone shot and was referred to a physical therapist in Gulf Shores. That afternoon, Dave and Jo Peterson, another couple we had met last winter at Palmdale, arrived for three nights and dropped by our site to visit.
Tuesday morning we rode our bikes again and stopped over at Tom and Roxi’s site. The other two couples were already there so we spent about an hour socializing before resuming our ride. That afternoon we returned to Flora-Bama to play bingo. We had known Dave and Jo were planning to visit Flora-Bama but were surprised when we all arrived at the same time. The four of us spent a couple of hours playing bingo. The games were free and the number caller was quite entertaining, although somewhat hard to understand. Jan ended up winning twice and getting two half-off certificates for the restaurant where we had dined on Saturday night.
On Wednesday morning we returned to the beach and strolled up to the pier. The surf was rougher than it had been on Sunday. We had to be careful to avoid stepping on several large jellyfish washed up on the beach.
That afternoon we got together with the other three couples. The boys headed into town and visited a local microbrewery, Big Beach Brewery Co., while the girls stayed at the campground and had a wine tasting party. Upon joining up again, we all gathered around the central fire pit near the Rykals’ and Ehlenfeldts’ sites. Later, we moved to the Rykal’s picnic table for a pot luck dinner, before returning to the fire pit for more socializing.
On Saturday, November 9th, we drove to the Pensacola Naval Air Station and attended the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show with the Rykals and Ehlenfeldts. This was the final show of the 2019 season for the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. In addition to seeing the Blue Angels , we watched demonstrations by F-16 and VFA-125 fighter jets as well as precision flying and aerobatics in vintage WWII planes and other planes. We were glad we had chosen to go on Saturday rather than Friday because the weather was perfect, whereas Friday’s weather had been cold and windy.
After the air show, we drove to the grill at Flora-Bama to watch the Wisconsin–Iowa football game, since the Rykals and Ehlenfeldts are from Wisconsin. The restaurant was packed and, although the restaurant had dozens of TVs showing college football, almost every one of them was showing the LSU-Alabama game. Fortunately the manager was from Wisconsin so he had one TV showing the game we wanted. He was very helpful in getting us a couple of tables by that TV so we were able to watch the Wisconsin victory.
We kept busy over the next few weeks, both in the state park and in the neighboring communities. The weather was quite nice most days so we were able to ride our bikes frequently. We had numerous get-togethers with the Ehlenfeldts and Rykals, including celebrating Beth’s birthday at Crab Trap. We returned twice to Flora-Bama to play Bingo and Jan won a game each time. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we went ahead and reserved a site at Gulf State Park for November 2020. A week later, we also reserved the site for December 2020.
The days around Thanksgiving brought us a lot of activity. We shared a Thanksgiving feast with the Ehlenfeldts and Rykals. Sadly, Todd’s mother had passed away a couple of days earlier so Todd and Beth had to depart immediately after our meal to head back to Wisconsin. Our sons, Jason and Jarrod, arrived that afternoon and we headed to the beach in time to see the sunset.
On Friday, November 29th, we rented a couple of additional bikes for the guys and rode all the way to Tacky Jacks in Orange Beach, where we had appetizers. Jan’s cousin, Lori Davis, and Lori’s husband, Bruce, arrived Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday at the Hampton Inn in Orange Beach. Jan’s high school friend, Donna Ditges, and her husband, John, also arrived on Friday afternoon and stayed at Gulf State Park, two sites away from ours. The Davises and Ditgeses joined us at our campsite and we socialized until it was time for dinner. All of us, except the Ditgeses, headed to Papa Rocco’s for pizza and entertainment by Charles “Bo” Grant. Bo Grant is a former member of the 50’s and 60’s doo-wop group, the Platters. Bo was the last performer to replace an original member of the Platters and toured with the group from 1984 to 1998. We had seen him at Papa Rocco’s two weeks earlier and Jan had told him she would be back on her 60th birthday and hoped he would sing Sixty Candles (Jan’s version of the original song, Sixteen Candles). Unfortunately, Bo’s scheduled appearance on the 30th was canceled so we had to go on the 29th instead. As before, we had a great time singing the oldies along with Bo. He remembered Jan and did serenade her, albeit with the original version of Sixteen Candles.
On Saturday morning, we, and our sons, drove to the Hampton Inn and walked along the beach with Lori and Bruce. That afternoon we hosted a get-together at our site with the Davises, Ditgeses and Rykals. The men watched various college football games on the TVs, inside and out, while the women socialized. That evening, we were joined by the Davises and Ditgeses for Jan’s birthday dinner at Fin & Fork.
On Sunday morning, December 1st, we had to move to a new site for the balance of our stay, since our original site was only available for monthly stays. We met Lori and Bruce at Flora-Bama shortly before noon and discovered that the second church service was still in progress. We were surprised to see such a large congregation at what is primarily an entertainment venue. After discovering that the main building of Flora-Bama did not have the Tennessee Titans football game on TV, we walked across the street to the Ole River Grill and joined several other fans to watch the Titans beat the Colts. On Sunday evening, Donna and John invited us to their RV for lasagna.
Monday was largely spent on domestic duties but Donna and John came over in the afternoon to play games. We introduced them to Farkle and they brought Taboo.
On Thursday, December 6th, we returned to Flora-Bama for our last chance this year to play Bingo. This time, Phil won a game. Jan had been enlisted to serve as the judge but we swear that didn’t impact Phil’s win.
On Friday, three of Jan’s childhood friends, Sheila, Michelle and Helena, arrived for the weekend. It was a group birthday celebration, as all four women had turned 60 this year. They rented a condo in Gulf Shores overlooking the beach and Jan joined them for their stay. The four friends enjoyed the next three days; shopping, dining and laughing. They played Farkel every night.
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