The (Not So Typical) Gulf Coast Vacation

Monday, June 23, 2014




Eldon and I just got home from a wonderful vacation on the Gulf Coast.  We didn't want to do the whole "stay on the beach" touristy thing so we did some looking at vacation cottages online and found one that sounded promising.  


It was a darling little cottage on the Bon Secour River in Alabama which runs into the Bon Secour Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.  The cottage was located almost at the mouth of the Bay so it was definitely an ocean feel - a bit salty water, all the ocean birds and dolphins running up the river!  Probably the biggest draw for us was that it came with its own pier out into the water!


There was even a comfortable old wooden swing on the end of the pier.  (This is the only picture I have of it - maybe because I was always sitting there?)


Our cottage was located between two large seafood stores - Billy's and Aguila's.  So, that meant that every morning we sat and watched the shrimp boats come rolling in with their catch.  And then we watched them roll out in the evenings.


The shrimp boats are such neat boats.  



Eldon did a lot of fishing off the dock.  


We did a lot of crabbing off the dock.
(I've never had so much fun "fishing" as I did crabbing!)


The cottage we rented was absolutely perfect.  It looks small from the outside, but it was plenty roomy inside and so comfy.


There was no back porch and not much of a front porch.... but not needed anyway because the pier was our porch!  


The living room was very roomy.  


I loved the little kitchen and it had everything we needed for the week.  We saved money by cooking breakfast and supper and eating out for lunch!


I didn't take any pictures of the bedrooms but there were two bedrooms downstairs and an open loft with four twin beds upstairs.  


The little community of cottages (there are seven of them) share the pier.  But the whole week we were there using the pier every morning and evening we only had to "share" it once.  And that was lovely as the elderly neighbor lady was so very sweet.  The little neighborhood was extremely quiet as several of the cottages are vacation homes and were empty at the time we were there.  

You can check out this vacation cottage here.  If you are looking for an affordable vacation cottage just a very short drive to the Gulf Shores area, this is it!  


We had a lovely week.  I'll be sharing more about the area, a few things we did, places we went, and food we ate.  So check back in a few days for more on our vacation!

7 comments:

  1. This looks like such a fun vacation! Now that our girls are on their own, my youngest will be married in 7 weeks, I dream of renting a little place on the water for a big family vacation together some day:>) I would have been in that swing all the time!

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  2. My husband sells blue crabs to Aquila seafood. You will get excellent service with a smile, from the friendly folks at Aquila!!

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  3. What a peaceful looking place! A well deserved vacation for such hard working people. You know...I've lived in FL all of my life and have never seen the Gulf Coast? sad, isn't it?

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  4. Beautiful photos Dori, what a nice vacation!

    Esther

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  5. I got to say, that looks like the absolute perfect vacation. I get the WHOLE beach thing, but sometimes when I picture a gulf vacation, I picture just what I see above! You literally found a beautiful place to vacation. Happy for you!

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  6. I agree with Darcie, looks like a nice retreat from the beach. Looking forward to more pictures from your vacation. Kathleen in Az

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