In mid-July, we took a family trip to Alabama’s Gulf Coast! When I asked the kids way back in February where they’d like to travel to this year, the overwhelming majority said they wanted to see the ocean, as they had never been! Our first choice was to go to South Dakota/Yellowstone/Glacier, but alas February was apparently too late to book for Glacier, so that trip is still in the holding pen. Anyways, we had a good time on the coast of Alabama, in the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.
Our goal was to leave at 5am on the first day, and we left at 5:10am, so with 10 of us in tow (2 extra family members came along) I’d call that a success! We had a 15.5 hour drive to split over a day and a half, and it went really well! Kids were so excited once we reached the Alabama state line, but it was another 7ish hours to the coast from there! We got to see a lot of America, with our travels to/from taking us through Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Missouri.
We reached the ocean and our condo was right on the water, and the sugary white sand beaches did not disappoint! We had some setbacks/disappointments including a jellyfish sting, late check in, dirty condo and severe sunburn, but we still had a great time! Staying right on the beach was fun for early morning and late evening beach walks and explorations, and the pool of course was a hit, even in the middle of a downpour.
During our stay, we visited the Gulf State Park and did some hiking, went out on the pier, took a dolphin cruise, spent a good amount of time at the beach and pool, saw stingrays, sharks and dolphins, found a lot of seashells, went to the Wharf, mini golfed and ate a lot of ice cream!
And wouldn’t you know, our 15th wedding anniversary landed on a day we were there! We celebrated by going to dinner with Uncle Cameron and the 3 older kids at a really cool restaurant right on the water with all outdoor seating. The kitchens themselves were made out of shipping containers, which is my eventual dream for our house. It was a cool place!
Lots of good memories!
On the way home we stretched the trip over 2 days again, stopping in Peoria to see Venerable Fulton Sheen’s tomb, museum and the Cathedral in which was his home church. Very cool stop! Don’t worry, it’s a cardboard cutout 😉
And when we got home, look what was blooming! I didn’t even plant sunflowers this year 🙂
Thanks for the memories, Alabama Gulf Coast!
House of Costellos 