Outdoors
Sponsored by

Looking for recs and tips for Orange Beach / Gulf Shores

1,932 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by Col. Steve Austin
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
The wife and I will be pulling our travel trailer over to the Redneck Riviera on 9/1 and staying (in Orange Beach) until 9/13. We have some things penciled in for the general area including Mobile and Pensacola but always like to get recs from others that have been for things to see/do (or to avoid) plus restaurants.

We'll be taking our fishing poles and plan to hit up Gulf State Pier plus some surf/wade fishing as far East as Perdido Pass and as far West as Fort Morgan. Not sure if we will do a charter. Any tips on particular spots to try along with tackle, bait, etc. would be appreciated. I guess it's kind of late in the year for pompano but there should be reds out by Fort Morgan.
magnumtmp
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola for dinner. Pretty cool place. I love their Prime rib steak with horseradish dipping sauce, and they have their own brews.
sawemoffshort09
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I am actually headed there next week, we have a condo rented in Ft Morgan from the 23-30th! We love to eat at Lulu's in gulf shores and I always have a good time at Flora Bama
spadilly
How long do you want to ignore this user?
S
The Blue Angels practice weekly at NAS Pensacola

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/blue-angels/
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
The Naval Aviation Museum and Blue Angels practice are definitely atop the list.
gigemaggies88
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eat at cosmos and get the sea bass
dr_boogs
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Pensacola naval aviation museum is a must. Flora-bama is quite the experience.
spud1910
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Fort Pickens is a pretty cool place to visit if you have time.
DannyDuberstein
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Alligator Alley in Foley (about 20-30 minutes north of Orange Beach). They've built a big boardwalk through a swamp with hundreds, maybe thousands of gators. You can buy a pail of food for like $20. Pretty cool to feed gators that are just a couple of feet below you and growling at each other.

Bahama Bob's for good burgers. janino's for great pizza. Wild Hog BBQ is good. Although a chain, we are fans of Shrimp Basket. Then there is Lamberts - locally famous home-cooking. It has long waits in the summer, which I don't think it's worth 1-2 hours. In general, I think Lambert's quality has slipped over the years we've been visiting that area. But a lot of folks love it.
DannyDuberstein
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
On the surf fishing, I seem to have luck with a pompano double-drop rig and fresh dead shrimp from a local place. I'll usually load up on shrimp drom a place like Seafood Market, woth some for grilling and some for bait.

That said, I've heard good things about J&M Tackle. Stop in there and ask about spots as well as bait/tackle for what's around at that time. I have not been to GS in Sepetember.
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Good stuff Danny and all!
DannyDuberstein
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Another activity is taking the Ft Morgan-Dauphin Island ferry. There is a gulf aquarium on dauphin island that is about a 5 minute walk from the ferry. So you can walk on the ferry at Ft Morgan for cheap instead of taking your car, check out the aquarium, then grab some food at a snack bar where the ferry will pick you up. It's a rinky dink gulf-focused aquarium that only takes 30-45 minutes to see, so I wont oversell it. But between riding the ferry, seeing the aquarium, and seeing some of the Ft Morgan structures, it's not a bad 2 hour-ish excursion.
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
OK, cool!
LSB_2002
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My advise..............ride another 2 hours and take in the beaches around Destin. Water and sand are much better!
schmellba99
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
magnumtmp said:

McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola for dinner. Pretty cool place. I love their Prime rib steak with horseradish dipping sauce, and they have their own brews.
I've not eaten at the one in Pensacola, but hte one in Destin is nails. Hell of a good steak, great whiskey selection and atmosphere. Not cheap, but not obscenely expensive either.

Mobile is a cool town - not massive huge, but good sized with a good downtown area and great feel to it. Love the Mobile River estuary on the east side. Last time there we stopped at Moe's BBQ - meh. Thought it would be better honestly based on what I was told. Wasn't bad, just wasn't all that great either. Battleship Alabama is a good tourist attraction, Felix's Fish Camp Grill not far from it is supposed to be pretty solid on the seafood front as well.

The drive down 90A/Beach Blvd. from Gulfport to Biloxi is a pretty drive. Great beach and water, and the old houses facing the water are beautiful to look at.
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
We will most likely make a day trip over to Destin.

USS Alabama is definitely on the activities list.
NoahAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Would be a good idea to sticky a Gulf Shores thread, as it comes up frequently.

We (wife, kids 8 and 11) were there last week (4th year to go). First 3 times were post-Labor Day trips, and we stayed in GS. This was planned at the last minute, and we stayed in Orange Beach. Timing was perfect, as nearly all Alabama counties had started school the previous week. We almost had the beach to ourselves.

We got to do some new things this year:

-Visited the USS Alabama. Just happened to go during the 75th anniversary, so they had a pretty cool reenactment with "enemy" aircraft and folks in period uniform.

-Stayed one night in downtown Mobile, which is actually pretty cool. Especially Dauphin Street. There are a couple of marine museums that we didn't get to yet.
GulfQuest
Exploreum
[url=http://www.exploreum.com][/url]
-There's a cool little nature center in Gulf State Park. Also a pretty big trail system (mostly paved) if you're into biking/hiking. A nice park staff member helped us get started on our first go at geo-caching.

-There were a couple of Loggerhead turtle nest near our condo. Unfortunately, they didn't hatch while we were there. One of them has surely hatched by now. Learned a lot from the volunteers who help out with this.

-Saw the Blue Angels practice. Awesome. The whole aviation museum is great.

-Caught a few blue crab while just playing on the beach (ate one).

Some favorites:

-Sea N' Suds is your basic fried seafood, but eating out on the beach is relaxing. I'm also a Shrimp Basket fan.

-For "nice" meals, Ship's Harbor is really good. We also like GT's by the Bay (formerly Cayman). Lulu's and the Hangout are fun for the atmosphere. Still a lot of places we haven't tried yet.

-Lambert's is worth going to once for the experience. The "free" rolls and family style sides are fun, but overall the food is like a more bland Cracker Barrel.

-The little zoo is fun. Small, and easy to see everything. Check the website for their current animal encounters.

-Renting a kayak on a calm day.

-September is fun b/c college football has started, and GS is like the Mecca of SEC vacationers.

We could make much shorter drives to Galveston or Port Aransas, but GS is much more enjoyable, especially w/ kids. It's just cleaner. Don't have to worry about stepping on dirty diapers, or dealing with punks blasting their music on the beach. People are nice. It's SEC country, so you're bound to see rednecks, but not white trash.

tl;dr - I like GS a lot.

DannyDuberstein
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Agree with all of this. We've gone 4X over the past 9 years. 3 of the times we rented a house on the beach (W Beach Blvd) for a week, and once we stayed in a condo at Beach Club in Ft Morgan for a week. Some of the areas around Destin have gotten so congested that it takes a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me. And just on a personal preference note, while it's just a few hours longer, there is sort of a magic line where I'm cool with 9-10 hours, but that extra 2-3 just crosses a line and beats me down. But to each his own. Yeah, the beaches and water get a little nicer as you keep going, but I think GS holds up very well. And I've found most everything else about it to be more enjoyable.
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Wow! Noah unleashes the mother lode of visit info.
Old School Brother
How long do you want to ignore this user?
we were there a month ago and ate at a fairly new restaurant called Big Wave Dave's.....food and service were great. Try the short rib grilled cheese.
NoahAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
HumbleAg said:

Wow! Noah unleashes the mother lode of visit info.
Yep, my mind is still there. Not ready to be back at work.

One thing that the are is lacking is walkup snow cone stands. We couldn't find one that was open. Even drove past the FL/Bama line.
Col. Steve Austin
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
NoahAg said:

HumbleAg said:

Wow! Noah unleashes the mother lode of visit info.
Yep, my mind is still there. Not ready to be back at work.

One thing that the are is lacking is walkup snow cone stands. We couldn't find one that was open. Even drove past the FL/Bama line.
LOL, not too concerned about lack of snow cone stands. It's probably been a few decades since I had one or even really desired one.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.