Good Eats on the Coast

“Where do the locals eat?” When I have out-of-town visitors, this is the question I am asked most often. They want me to take them where I eat. When I head towards the beach, I get confused looks, but some of the best food to be found is right in the middle of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

When my brother and sister-in-law visit from North Mississippi, they claim they are coming to see me, but what they are really after is the tasty gulf seafood. To be more specific, oysters. They visit a few times a year, so we have had the opportunity to sample the oysters at numerous restaurants. Their favorite for fried, baked or raw is The Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores.

For a great seafood lunch or dinner, some of the old stand-bys in Gulf Shores can’t be beat. Desoto’s Seafood Kitchen and Doc’s Seafood Shack both offer very affordable lunch specials. For a great view of the gulf while you dine, Bahama Bob’s, Sea and Suds, The Pink Pony and The Hangout will fit the bill.

There are only a handful of restaurants in the area that I haven’t lifted a fork in. (Don’t worry, they are on my list of must-eat-there places.) Because there are so many great eateries in the area, my favorite changes almost monthly. At this moment, I am sticking with one of our newcomers, Cobalt. Sitting on the water’s edge in the shadow of the Alabama Point Bridge in Orange Beach, this restaurant has so many things going for it. The food is excellent, the atmosphere is somewhere between casual and elegant and the view is fantastic. I have had the fresh catch (grouper) blackened and the seafood pizza. Both were very good, but my favorite was the peppercorn encrusted prime filet. I haven’t had dinner with anyone at Cobalt that didn’t enjoy the meal.

The outside dining area of Cobalt overlooks Perdido Pass and a sunset dinner has the built-in entertainment of watching the boats come in from a day of fishing and the sun sinking over the horizon. There is also an outdoor bar, stage and plenty of room for sitting and listening to live music with your favorite cocktail. The restaurant opened in December of 2008 and has all the kinks ironed out.

I can talk for days about food and the great restaurants the Alabama Gulf Coast has to offer, but I’ll save some for another time.

post provided by Luanne Burnett

Golf & Gladiolas

It started with a field of gladiolas. That’s right, gladiolas. R.C. Craft, owner & founder of Craft Farms, had 870 acres of gladiolas and a dream of building a world class golf facility with home sites. Who to call? None other than the King himself, Arnold Palmer. As they say, the rest is history.

Today Craft Farms is home to two of the finest golf courses on the coast, Cypress Bend and Cotton Creek. Cypress Bend is links style course that features wide open spaces for the occasional errant shot. However, with water in play frequently, and numerous bunkers, it can also be challenging for a mid to high handicapper (like yours truly). The greens are generally spacious and gently sloped. The par four #2 generally is the toughest for me, a good drive and second shot are required to reach the green.

Cotton Creek is generally considered the more challenging of the two courses. It has fairways that are a little more confining and requires better shot making to score well. My favorite hole is #6, which requires two shots over water to reach the green.

The clubhouse houses the Cotton Creek Grill, a well appointed restaurant and locker room facility by anyone’s measure. They serve a full menu, but the Cotton Creek Club sandwich is my favorite. The clubhouse overlooks a lake and the 18th green of Cotton Creek. They also have several big screen TV’s, perfect for viewing the college football games during your after round meal. The food and the atmosphere are strictly top shelf.

If you’re planning on visiting the coast in the fall (and you should , the weather and the golf around here is unbelievable) make sure you pack your golf clubs and hit one of our excellent local courses.

Love this weather

We had our first little “cool spell” this past weekend and it reminded me again how much I love our weather. When an afternoon high of 65 degrees makes you look for a winter sweater, you know you are in the right place. Of course, by mid-week, our temperatures will be back in the high 70s and short sleeves and shorts will replace our sweatshirts and shorts.

Fall is a great time to visit the beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast. The temperatures are moderate, the sand is still sugar-white and the gulf waters sparkle as the sun circles the earth a little more to the south. Speaking of the sun, in the fall and winter, the sun rises and sets over the Gulf of Mexico. It is a great time to get up early for sunrise pictures in Orange Beach with breakfast afterwards at the Island Pancake House in Gulf Shores. The best view of the Gulf for breakfast on the island.

Walking on the beach is great this time of year. A late afternoon beach walk has the extra benefit of a beautiful sunset over the water. Just before sunset, the world takes on a new hue. It almost takes my breath every time I am on the beach at sunset. The water turns a beautiful, deep turquoise blue just before the sky is painted with the glorious colors of the setting sun.

The summer crowds have gone home to wait for their next vacation and the local people come out of hiding to enjoy the many amenities the area has to offer. Some of the best eateries offer specials for lunch and dinner this time of year and a table with a view is easier to come by.

More about great food and where to find it next time…

post provided by Luanne Burnett

Sausage Festival & Halloween Happenings

This year, there is a special treat on Halloween on the Alabama Gulf Coast. The Elberta German Sausage Festival is October 31. This free, twice-yearly festival is a great way celebrate fall.

The Elberta Fire Department owns the special recipe and orders 7,000 pounds of the German sausage each festival. It is almost as much fun to watch the firefighters cook the sausages as it is to eat them. They have a great system in place and can serve the more than 30,000 people without much of a wait. The festival is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the sausages usually sell out by 3 p.m., so plan to arrive early to get your taste of Germany. There are other food vendors as well as music, dancing, arts and crafts, children’s rides and games.

After your German Sausage Festival experience, be sure to check out some of these spooky happenings in the area:
• Annual Halloween BooLu’s Haunted House, Gulf Shores – LuLu’s recruits local middle and high school students to create an amazing haunted house at the world famous restaurant on the Intercoastal Waterway. There is a spooky maze for adults and older children and age-appropriate Halloween games for the younger kids. All proceeds go directly to the art departments of several local schools. For info: 251-967-5858.
• Maizing Family Fun Farm, Elberta – This farm has something for everyone and incorporates a little history in with the fun. They are open until midnight Halloween and will have a haunted corn maze, hay bale maze (for little ones), hay rides, u-pick garden, pumpkin patch, antique tractors, live farm animals and a corn cannon (you can shoot ears of corn at targets across a field). For info: 251-747-1368
• Trick or Treat TangerStyle, Foley – Tanger Outlets is holding a “spooktacular” event for Halloween with trick or treating and costume parade. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. with the parade and a prize for all children who participate. Trick or treat “TangerStyle” in participating stores from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
• Scream for the Arts! Haunted House at The Wharf, Orange Beach – This haunted house takes you into the bayous and beyond. You’ll experience what really happens to the pirates and scoundrels when they’ve turned away from the light to live in the shadows. The event benefits the Fine Arts program at Gulf Shores High School. Located across the street from the Ferris wheel behind Sand Dollar Lifestyles, spooky family fun (all ages) from 6 to 8 p.m. and spine tingling scary (not for small children) from 8 to 10 p.m. For info: 251-224-1015.

post provided by Luanne Burnett

October Fishing Report by Capt. Randy Boggs

Inshore the flounder are being caught on a regular basis on jigs and live bait in almost all areas of the bay and around shallow water reefs.

Some red fish are showing up as well as trout. Red fish are being caught on cut bait around the Perdido Pass Bridge and rocks. There are quite a bit of blue fish and Spanish mackerel too. Spanish mackerel are being caught on jigs or slow trolling a silver spoon usually with a planer. There have been some really large Spanish mackerel being caught – 4 lbs to 5 lbs. Be very careful to make sure that they are not small King mackerel as the enforcement officers are doing a great job of checking catches.

Red snapper are being caught around almost any structure on cigar minnows and live bait. This is catch and release only as the season is closed.

There have been a lot of trigger fish show up from little bitty ones to very nice ones. The small ones are quite a nuisance stealing bait. Don’t forget the new size limit is 14” fork length.

Vermillion snapper are being caught in the 100’ to 150’ depths. They bite best on good quality white squid or cigar minnows cut into small rings about ¾ of an inch in size.

Gag grouper, red grouper and scamp are starting to bite this fall. Rocks or wrecks in 200’ depths or deeper seem to be the best.

Some really nice amberjack are being caught on the oil rigs offshore or deep water rocks. Live bait is the key with a lively blue runner being the top choice.

Offshore at the oil rigs there have been good reports of black fin tuna being caught on diamond jigs. Yellow fin tuna have been being caught chunking or trolling.

There have been some good reports of Wahoo about 45 to 50 miles due south of the Perdido Pass Bridge. The top color choices for catching Wahoo seem to be purple and black or red and black.

Capt. Randy Boggs

Reel Surprise Charters @ SanRoc Cay Marina

www.reelsurprisecharters.com or www.sanroccay.com