New Orleans/Orange Beach Trip Report: Day 7

Day 7: Friday May 1, 2015

The sun woke me up early again this morning. I didn’t care though. It was so nice to see the sun. Yeah, it was a LONG winter.

Once Nick and I were both awake, we got ready for the day. Since breakfast was so boring at the hotel, we decided to go out for breakfast this morning. So we drove over to Another Broken Egg.

We were seated quickly, and service was very Southern in terms of friendliness. Surprisingly efficient too. Nick got the cinnamon roll french toast. I got Hawaiian sweet bread french toast. Both were delicious! Presentation on mine wasn’t bad either.

Once breakfast was over, we hopped back in the car and drove out to Fort Morgan. Fort Morgan is an old fort that was used heavily during the civil war, and used moderately right up through World War 2. It sits right on Mobile Bay. It was about a 30 minute ride from where we were, down roads that made both of us announce that we would be perfectly ok with retiring to this area. Absolutely gorgeous.

I’ve been to a couple of old forts in NH, thanks to New England’s history. They’re pretty cool, but they don’t necessarily take a ton of time to see. This was really the only thing on the agenda for the morning, so it really didn’t matter how long we were here, but I wasn’t anticipating staying very long, particularly when I first drove in. You really can’t see the fort from the parking lot. We actually went first over to the bay side to check out the oil things. We couldn’t figure out if they were oil rigs, refueling stations, or both. 

But we easily spent almost two hours at the fort. It was pretty interesting, and, in some places, pretty picture worthy.

Once we had thoroughly explored Fort Morgan, it was time for lunch. We had driven by the Gulf State Park pier a few times, and couldn’t help but notice the sign for “Butts on the Beach BBQ”. We had to eat at a place with a name like that.

When we arrived at the pier, we discovered that this was the secondary location for Butts on the Beach. So the menu was VERY limited. But, it was ON the pier, overlooking the remainder of the pier, so it was a no-brainer. We both got pulled pork sandwiches (that were very good), and ate them enjoying the view.

Once we finished eating, we paid the fee to walk out on the pier (worth it), and wandered down the very long pier, checking out the sting rays that were preying on the fish bait and swimming around the pier, and keeping our eyes peeled for other marine life. The view was great, and it was very interesting to see some of the (intense) fishing set-ups, and some of the fish that people were reeling in. We got up close with an angry looking pelican too.

The Gulf State pier was destroyed in Hurricane Ivan a few years back, and now that it’s been rebuilt, is the longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a fishing pier, and absolutely designed for that, with fish butchering stations, and short hoses frequently to wash down the mess that people reel in. (We learned that sting rays flop a lot, flinging blood all over if they’ve been caught.) But they do allow sightseers on the pier too, which is nice, because it provides a great view.

Once we were done wandering down the pier, we went down under the pier for a bit more picture taking. I’ve always liked seeing others’ under pier shots. Unfortunately, given that it was just rebuilt, it wasn’t nearly as picturesque as some of the wooden post piers that still exist elsewhere. But it was neat, and a nice reprieve from the hot sun (not that I was complaining). We saw some more sting rays too.

Picture taking done, we hopped in the car to find Souvenir City. We’d driven past it, and, as tacky as it looked, we needed to go inside. Souvenir City seems to be a big chain in the area, but the one we chose to go to was one where you walk through a shark head to get into the store.

Once inside, we couldn’t believe how big this place was. They had just about every souvenir imaginable. We were there for awhile, before finally making our purchases. For a place with such a tacky exterior, they had some great souvenirs. I was able to find some great beachy decor for my flip flop bathroom (although, I like it so much, it may end up in the bedroom instead).

Shopping done, we headed back to the hotel, where I promptly went back down to the beach. I didn’t stay quite as long this afternoon. Since it was Friday, the chair nazi had arrived. The hotel has some nice chairs outside with umbrellas and shade things. Seems that on the weekend (probably all week in-season), this little dude in fluorescent green shorts and t-shirt, runs around kicking people off the chairs, or getting them to pay to sit. I get it, but at the same time, half the chairs were empty. The beach wasn’t quite as empty as the previous day, but there still were very few people on it. So I took a walk, found some shells, waded a bit, and then headed up to the balcony.

All too soon it was time for the nightly dinner decision. After much debate, we decided to go to Island Wing Company. Think greatly expanded Buffalo Wild Wings menu. We got the new girl. At least we hope that’s her excuse. Actually, we’re pretty sure it was, because all of the other servers were checking up on her and us.

Island Wing Company advertises that they bake everything rather than fry. So our mozzarella sticks were baked, the wings were baked, and the fries were baked. I liked it a lot. Nick liked the sauces (Like Buffalo Wild Wings, there is a lengthy list of wing sauces), but didn’t seem to be as crazy about the “baked” factor. Oh well.

Once we were done with dinner, we decided that the best way to wrap up our time in Alabama was with another slice of Hope’s Cheesecake. So off we went. I think I tried the apple crisp cheesecake this time. I think Nick tried the red velvet cheesecake. Once again, it was an exceptionally difficult decision. We made sure to get a brochure, because they will ship. We’ll only be ordering for VERY special occasions, though. But it’s really THAT good.

We took our cheesecake back to the hotel and put it in the fridge for a bit while we started packing. Once we were ready for a break from packing, we settled down to eat our cheesecake. We tried eating out on the balcony again, but someone was out smoking on their balcony, so that didn’t work. But we still enjoyed the cheesecake!

Once the junk food had been inhaled, we resumed packing in earnest. It turned out to be a real challenge. Apparently I had collected too many brochures over the course of the week? Those hurricane glasses posed a challenge too. But, eventually, the packing got done, and we collapsed into bed.