Now that we're in the beautiful Gulf Coast waters, we are almost bug-free! Therefore, it's time to give "Johnson & Johnson" a good scrubbing!
After captain and crew retire the scrub brushes, we say goodbye to LuLu's and head for another marina that is much closer to the Gulf Coast (LuLu's is about two and a half miles to the beach). This next marina is only eight miles away on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).
Across the ICW from LuLu's is another fun place, "Tacky Jacks"!
A little further along the ICW, and Captain Dave is impressed by this marina's orderly boatyard!💗
There are many nice homes that line the ICW, along with a road.
Soon we see a sign letting us know that we are exiting the beautiful Gulf Shores, and . . .
. . . entering another pretty community, Orange Beach.
Soon the ICW turns into a quiet-looking canal.
But not for long, as ahead on our starboard side is a beautiful marina, and condo building.
And they have their own shopping mall!!!😲💗👛
AND it includes a ferris wheel and ziplining course. . . WOW!!!
Soon the ICW widens to a beautiful lake area, complete with many dolphins!💗🐬
Even though our next marina is only eight miles away, we have to go very slow, because much of the ICW where we're at is no wake as the waterway is so close to many homes. Understanding the buoys is a whole other learning curve!
We are just giddy about cruising our boat around this beautiful tropical waterway! For many years we have come to the Florida area and dreamed about being the one on the water and not on shore; and now, we're here!!!
Every home is beautiful, and their docking area seems to be just as nice as their home.
Here we are very close to the Gulf of Mexico pass!
BEAUTIFUL!!!
As we make our final way to the marina after seeing the Gulf of Mexico on our port side, we see an island with many boats enjoying the beautiful day; hey, is that the Kinney?!
We pass by many more beautiful homes,
including this spectacular home!
As if the house isn't enough (17,000 square feet and all) . . .
check out their docking area!!!😲
As we pull into Orange Beach Marina, we find out from the staff that there are many beautiful bike paths around the area that connect to the marina; including one that takes us to Orange Beach!!! So, after securing the boat, we hop on our bikes and quickly find this beautiful beach!!!💗😎
As well as a beach bar right next door!
Life is good!
The marina that we're staying at has two wonderful restaurants. We meet our looper friends, Walt and Midge, at one of them where I enjoy a scrumptious dinner of fish tacos (I tried a new local fish, Amberjack . . . mmmm!).
The next morning Dave helped Walt replace his water heater; have stuff, stuff happens! I escaped on my bike to a few local establishments that I have been missing since we left! Sometimes it's the little things in life that can make a girl's day!💗💅
That afternoon, we took a bike ride to enjoy the local nature trail. Reminded us of the many bike trails at home, except this one had many palm bushes thrown in with the other vegetation!
The path leads us to our route coming into Orange Beach Marina. The "Kinney" island is in the far left of the picture, and the pass to the Gulf is right under the bridge.
The restaurant area was pretty, too!
Not far from here, we found the front of that spectacular home we saw from the water!
We end our bike ride at the local Publix Grocery Store (our favorite); since we burned so many calories biking, we treated ourselves to a slice of Publix's famous key lime pie; YUMMY!!!
Our night ends with a trip to the famous "Flora-Bama", a restaurant/bar that sits on the state line of Florida and Alabama. If you Google this place, you'll find an awesome video of Kenny Chesney singing a song about "Flora-Bama".
As we were reading this sign and about to enter the establishment, two gentlemen stopped to say hi. They asked where we were from and then stated they were from LA, to which we started asking about California. They laughed and quickly corrected us that LA around here stood for "lower Alabama"!😂 We told them it was our first time here, and they said to go to the upstairs bar and get a "Bushwacker". They told me that if I have two, I will begin to feel no pain, and after three, I would leave my bra on the line . . . say what?!?!
Okay, I guess this is a thing! Well, I did have a couple of those yummy frozen drinks, and while I did have a lot of fun dancing, I DID NOT leave my bra!😂
Festive!
And, we realize we might still be in the Bible Belt . . . church at the bar once again!😲
Kenny Chesney fans will recognize the flag in the background! "No Shoes Nation"; his theme for his Sirius radio station.
Speaking of Kenny Chesney, some really big fans of his that live in Florida, put together this display and brought it to Flora-Bama to put together. It's all of the words to Kenny's "Flora-Bama" song!!! WOW! Such a unique place; definitely a must stop! What a VERY FUN night!
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