Tuesday...OB...The Last Supper

Short blog....

We got up to a beautiful day....perfect for laying out and we hit the lounges around 9:30....super  nice.  But by 1:30 - 2 p.m, the wind picked up ...way up....just  not fun anymore with that gale-force wind.

So one by one, we came back up and dressed.  Got our suitcases packed up for leaving in the morning. 

We went to the Harbor Grill for dinner.  Norma Sue and Sue went for a pedicure this morning and it was recommended.  So we went for it.  Very nice..on the wharf....our waiter was from Hot Springs and lives in Houston.  Comes down here for the summer to work.  Another small world ...

I tried something different tonight...Chicken Florentine...everybody else went for the shrimp and

oysters again.  It was all very good.

Stopped back by Souvenir City for the third time...last minute souvenirs.  Then came back to the condo and started cleaning out the kitchen....a job. 

We all got our suitcases loaded up in the cars except for the overnight things we'll need.  We all hope to get away early....hopefully....especially the 4 in my car that have so far to go. 

The Last Supper

It's been a lot of fun...lots of laughs...good food, good fellowship, good friends.

Until next time...whenever and wherever that will be...

1962

Monday--Orange BEACH

Finally, actually got on the beach today....just for a walk. 

After breakfast, I went down followed one by one, Sharon, Sue, Charlotte, Wanda and Helen.  We

huddled under the towels until it warmed up around 10ish.  The wind, the wind, the wind.  Slowly, the clouds passed, sun came out and we warmed up nicely. 

Some would go back to the room as others would come down....I stayed down the entire time. 





Charlotte and I floated the Lazy River....nice,

but the water was cold.

Sharon and I walked down the beach a ways...water was cold.  But there were dozens of little kids around 3 and 4 years old running in and out.  Looked like a preschool with all the sand buckets and sand castles along
the beach.  But even they were not staying in the water....dashing in and dashing out.  All in all, this global warming trend has frozen us this week.

But the sun was out for the most part of the time we were out there.  BUT around 2, a big gust of
wind came through and the temp must have dropped 10 degrees.  So we hustled back upstairs, got ready and went shopping again.  This time to the Wharf...a cute little area with boutiques, cafes and condos.  Norma and Charlotte stayed back and read. 

Around 4ish we arranged to meet at Bubba's for dinner.  Okay, that was the second time there and we don't like to repeat ourselves, but we all enjoyed it the first time.  So, it was shrimp/oysters/fried and grilled for us again.

Back to the condo....and brownies/ice cream for dessert.  It's awfully quiet here....think everyone is kinda windworn.  But we are planning on going back to the beach tomorrow.....our last day.  I say


Phoenix West (our condo-15th floor/left corner unit)

"beach" loosely...we aren't tackling the actual beach in our laying out.  Too much wind.  We stay around the Lazy River protected somewhat by the condo. 

Our day was short, it seems.  But nice. 

Note to Ronnie:  No pictures of food...just beach and sunsets...

Later...

1962



Sunday...Orange Beach

This will be a short blog for a long day.  Shopping til you drop has a new meaning for us. 

We got up early this morning (Sue and I went to bed at 9:30 last night...and I was first up at 6:35...never see that hour at home, but I slept like a baby)  The rest were right behind me and we snacked around for breakfast. 

The day plan was for a return to the Outlet Mall.  Stores opened at 11 and we were there at 11.  We hit ALL the stores today.  Great bargains.  Chico's stock went up this week from our two trips there.
  We eventually went our separate ways but met up here and there.  This is by far the best  outlet mall I've ever been to...and that statement was verified times 6.  We all agreed.

Shopped through lunch (yes, we did) and left for the condo around 3:30 or so.  Dragging around!!  We were so tired.  BUT, had to eat.  So we piled back in the car and dashed down to Live Bait for

dinner.  Had the cutiest little waiter from Bulgaria....great accent and green card .

We ordered various dishes...Norma Sue had her usual fried shrimp, Sharon and I had pecan-encrusted talipia, Charlotte a combo fried dish, Sue had gumbo and Helen....well, Helen ordered "just an appetizer" (she has a little black dress that has to still fit in June)....yeah, well, she nearly choked

when the appetizer came out..  We could ALL have made a meal off it.   Everyone's portions were huge.  I left a whole talipia on my plate.... But it was pretty good. 

Went down to a tee shirt shoppe after dinner...down to WM for a few items and then crashed in the condo.  Hit the fudge from the Fudgery....A long, hard day.  We are tired. 

The weather has been beautiful today, but very windy.  A gorgeous sunset.  Tomorrow is beach day. 

Later...

1962

Saturday, Orange Beach

Whoooohooooo.  Slept in til 8 a.m. and woke up to blue skies and bright sunshine.  What a beautiful day.  But cold, cold, cold...especially out on our balcony. 

I cooked bacon, eggs and toast for five of us; the others had Krispie Kremes.  It was good and easy and nice to sit around-again.  Around 10:30, I just felt like the sun was wasting away, so I got on my suit and "stuff" and headed down to the beach.  They bet me 20 minutes and I'd be back.  Well....that determined me!!  So I left and stayed.

I headed to a beach chaise ...it was nice..sun was warm, but the wind was coolish.  I had just sat down and sand was blown all over me.  Stayed about 5 minutes and headed back to the pool area where it's protected by the condo...SO much better.  No wind and the sun was great.  I looked at the trees and knew where to go....and not to go.

No Wind

Wind

I sat and read.  Finally, Sue joined me about 11:45, then Sharon.  We visited and roasted a bit then Sue and Sharon left and I stayed a little longer. 

We all ate a bite for lunch.  Wanda and Norma headed to the grocery store for MORE food...we sorta buy as we eat.  Then Sharon and Charlotte went down; then I went down and Helen and Norma stayed in the condo and read.  We were just up and down at odd times...to each his own schedule. 

We noticed down by the "Lazy River" pool area where we were that the majority of people here are women.  Lots and lots of groups of women having fun, fun, fun.  Music playing, dancing....lots of women having fun. Two men were brave enough to be in that area!  Must be ladies weekend.  We got someone to video us having fun....see if you can pick out who's who.

There are three weddings set up on the beach down below.  We saw one earlier and there's another one going on now.  This one has a tarp set up with food tables and all the trimmings....Looks like a festive occasion.   Not sure when the other one will be.  Sounds like they are partying...maybe all night??? 


Around 3:30, we all started getting ready to go out to eat....Tonight was Cosmos.

It was good and our waiter, Mikey, took very good care of us.  There were fried platters, grilled

shrimp over ricotta, shrimp poboys....good stuff.  Stuffed ourselves into the car and waddled back into the room and will be making brownies with Millenium Moo Ice Cream and/or Key Lime Pie.  We won't get on the scales for a month when we get home.

Card sharks.....                  Until tomorrow night......1962

Friday....Orange Beach

Man, there are some yawning, dragging women here tonight.  We are all beat.  A hard day at the Outlet Mall will kill you!!

Finally got the quiet message out and we slept in til 7:30 this morning.....lol.  And then each grabbed a bite to eat (to each his own this morning) and then dressed to go "out" shopping.  Finally left around 10ish and drove back to Foley to the Mall.  Split up and shopped around until about 3...Covered a lot of stores, but not nearly all.  We did get Helen gussied up for a summer event she's attending.   Wow...a hot mama.  We all came away with something.  We were in a madhouse in Chico's....a very good sale and packed with women and one lone, brave man.  A Crossett girl, Barbara Rawls, lives here and was our saleslady.  Put that in the small world catagory.

We met back up and were tired and hungry, so we piled back into the car around 3 and went to Lambert's...Home of the Throwed Roll ...We had various choices....chicken wings, liver (Sharon, Charlotte and Helen),,,yuck from me, and chicken fried steak.   Some enjoyed theirs, some did not.  Not the best one so far from me.  The music was SO loud and we were right under the speakers, so I was ready to get out of there.  Tells my age, for sure.

After we left there, we swung by Krispie Kreme Donuts for Norma to pick up a couple of dozen for breakfast tomorrow; then to the condo for a little R & R.  And that's what we've done til now....sitting around visiting and laughing again. 

Rain came thru a few minutes ago and it's cloudy again, but it was a nice day...cloudy but nice.  The wind is gone so it's been pleasant.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be partly sunny and rain free....BEACH TIME.

The rest of the evening will be spent with facials compliments of Laurie, Norma's daughter.  She is

making us all young again.  A miracle machine.

Later.

1962

Thursday....Orange Beach

How many times have we looked at the forecast???  And it seemed to get worse.  That big, huge red blob with the flood watch was actually west of us and we didn't get much really bad weather/rain.  Around 2-4 this am., it came thru here with lightening and thunder (some of the ladies said), but it's not been heavy or severe.  Just misty ...wind is still blowing but not quite as bad.

Plans for sleeping in were destroyed around 6:35 a.m.  Those who were making the noise know who they are and shall remain nameless, but Sue and I just looked at each other, then the clock and groaned.  She went out to tell them off and never came back so I got up too. 

Breakfast around 8:30 was bacon/eggs/toast/coffee/orange juice/milk.  Leisurely....cause we said (most of us said) we were going to lay around today and not do anything.  We discussed what to have for lunch.

Sue and I went down to the gym and had a workout....mine was shorter than hers, but it felt good anyway.  Wanda went for a walk; Sharon and Charlotte tried to walk on the beach but the rain/mist brought them back inside....Helen and Norma talked and  read.  Nice. 

We visited a bit and the skies began to get clearer and clearer so during lunch (sandwiches, avocado dip, and Santistas), we discussed what and where to have  dinner and did we have time to shop a bit before dinner.  The decision was YES, so we began the migration to the bedrooms to dress. 

While waiting on Sharon and Charlotte, the topic of discussion was bras and boobs....where to find them and how much to pay for them....either one.  Then Sue made appointments for her and Norma for pedis on Tuesday. 

Here we are all gussied up to go shopping: 

We all piled (literally!!) into my car and then we hit the shoppes....



we all bought a little bit...blingy tees and such. Such as: 

 

Around 4:30, we went to Cobalts for dinner...Sue had fried oysters; Norma had fried shrimp; Wanda had a Mahi Mahi Sandwich and the rest of us had a shrimp/pasta dish that was HOT.  I asked for a milder hot and I think Helen got it...so we swapped.  Spicy, spicy, spicy.  But good.

Hit WM again for some more food (the important stuff....strawberries for strawberry pie; another brownie mix...OK...now just remember there are 7 of us so that's only about 1 nice piece each.  So we are not OVER indulging, just indulging.   LOL

Sitting on the balcony now with the surf pounding watching the people on the beach....ALMOST a sunset, but not fully....we'll take it.  It's very nice out. 

Tonight is almost over....and we'll sit and visit some more and shop some more and finally the sun will come out and we'll hit the beach!!

Until tomorrow.

1962

Orange Beach, Al

Well...we are all here!!! 

Sue, Sharon, Wanda and I left Richland around 9 ish this morning, drove through torrential rains and then sunshine, then rain, then sunshine and we finally got here around 1:30 p.m.  Checked in on Charlotte and Norma Sue...around 3 ish and finally Helen (via Pensacola ???) around 4.  You just can't trust these GPS's.  Personally, I had 3 women in my car and a male GPS and NONE of them could remember the way.  LOL.  That's for another story.

We stopped in Semmes, AL at Sonic for popcorn chicken.....my favorite.  We all got the same thing and enjoyed it...we were getting hungry!

We got here and drove into the covered garage and unloaded our bags (talk about bag ladies!)....could not believe the wind..

went up 15 floors and walked into this gorgeous condo.  Oh my,  pictures don't do it justice.  It is beautiful, roomy, very well decorated and the view is to die for...actually, if you jumped off the balcony into the pool below, you could.  Ewww. what a gruesome thought.

HOWEVER, the wind is unreal here...it really looks like hurricane winds.  Our hair is wild. 

Still misting, sprinkling rain and very humid...well, we ARE on the gulf so I guess that's expected.  We can at least go out on the balcony and not get blown off.  It's a bit protected.  I love listening to the waves...it's a roar. 

After Charlotte, Norma and Helen arrived

and we visited a bit more, we left in two cars for Bubba's. 

Delicious seafood.  Charlotte and I had the grilled shrimp in their "special" sauce...wonderful. 



Other's had fried shrimp and shrimp salads.  We all agreed that it was very, very good.  Okay...Sharon, it was your suggestion.

 

We then split and Wanda and I took my car and went to WM for groceries.  It was not so bad...very few people and we were in and out very quickly....We have breakfast and a light meal...the rest of the meals we'll be cruising Perdido Ave looking for restaurants.

So, the rest of the night, as we are all tired from driving, we are sitting and visiting and relaxing.

Tomorrow is another full day....

1962