Vacation at the Yellow Cottage



Several months ago Eldon and I went on a much needed vacation.  We were at a place in the house progress where we could get away and the cherry on top was that it was our 30th Anniversary!  Eldon had seen on the news, just out of the blue, an article about a town called Magnolia Springs in Alabama that is the last place in the United States to receive mail year-round via river delivery!  He read the article to me and it sounded very enchanting.  We filed it in the back of our heads and when we decided to get away for our Anniversary, Eldon remembered the town.  We did a google search and found a cottage to rent, we booked it and away we went. 
 

It was the sweetest place to stay.  Just a little old cottage with original hard wood floors, old doors, darling little kitchen and bathroom, fireplace, and front porch.  All the things I love in a little cottage!  Its always a little scary to rent something over the internet, pay your money, and then get an email that says:  "The key is on the back porch sitting inside the ceramic frog's mouth"!  We needn't have worried.  It was perfect. 
 



The first thing we did after unloading our car was to walk the block to the river and check out the canoe unloading point.  The little Magnolia Springs River was absolutely gorgeous. 
 

The cottage even had a canoe for us to use!
 

The community of Magnolia Springs was established in 1891 - it was named after the ever flowing springs and the towering canopy of Magnolia trees.  Some of the homes along the river are original to that time.
 

 Every house had a dock with a mailbox.  Even though we knew that was part of the history, it was still pretty cool to see that.  I wanted to see the mail boat come, but we didn't manage to time it right.

There were also some very, very old boats. 

The water was so calm and so clear that the reflection was beautiful.   It was perfect water for canoeing; not so much of a current that you couldn't turn around and canoe back!  We went until it widened way up and we could see that we were heading into Weeks Bay.  At that point I got scared and said, "take me back to the little yellow cottage"! 

Speaking of Weeks Bay.  I guess I failed to mention that Magnolia Springs is right on the Gulf Coast; just a very few short miles from the ocean.

 

Yep.  That ocean...  the one with the perfect crystal white sandy beaches! 

I'm getting ahead of myself.  I need to finish telling you about Magnolia Springs.  Just a block from the yellow cottage was the village market.  They sold a few simple groceries and had a wonderful restaurant next door called Jesse's. 

The little town had some very beautiful old buildings.  Gorgeous old Magnolia trees lined the streets.

And speaking of old buildings and architecture.... one day we drove across the Bay and walked miles around the downtown of Mobile.  It is a gorgeous old city.  We loved just walking and looking at the buildings.  I guess I never realized how old the city is.

I think our highlight of the day in Mobile was the A&M Peanut Shop.  They still roast peanuts from the old original roaster - it was almost like a museum inside the little shop.  We each got a bag of fresh roasted peanuts and snacked on them all day. 

 Eldon enjoyed his very first oyster for lunch; I passed!  But the ambiance of Wintzell's Oyster House was the best fun!
 

Have you heard of the island called Dauphin Island?  I've always loved the sound of it.  Well, here we are:  the second car on the ferry ready to explore the island and do some "shelling"! 

I've never been one to enjoy swimming or sunbathing, but I could walk the beach for miles and miles.  And we did.  We actually walked the beach til we came to the end of the island and could go no further.  I collected some very fun shells to take home to Jillian, my grand-daughter.

That's the end of our vacation in the little yellow cottage.  We went home revived and ready to get back to work on the house building again!  If you ever find yourself needing a quiet place to go and regroup - Magnolia Springs, Alabama is it!

(If you are interested in more information on this vacation rental you can click here.)