Our Stay in Fairhope AL

Fishing boats moored in Fly Creek



Beautiful sunset on Mobile Bay

Loopers at the Thanksgiving Feast
(Bob and Vicki in the front)

Look at that dessert table!

Having a meal with fellow loopers at Moe's BBQ

Chuck the cat making himself at home



Cool artwork in downtown Fairhope



Boat house? along Fly Creek



Our stay in Fairhope AL at the Eastern Shore Marina has really been a pleasant one. There are so many Loopers here that is seems like a mini-rendezvous! We arrived here early Monday afternoon and plan to stay about a week. Looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with all our Looper friends!

We have spent the last couple of days relaxing in the sun and enjoying the view of Mobile Bay. We've eaten dinner at the Fly Creek Café a couple of times and have even taken a great dinghy ride down Fly Creek. It is just a little creek that goes down by the marina. There are several houses along the creek and lots of live-aboard boats. Some are rather interesting……!

Joleen finally got here about 9:30 on Wednesday night. Just a little later than planned - she said her GPS got it wrong. Hmmm! Just kidding – just glad she made it. We've had a great time visiting and catching up on everything.

Happy Thanksgiving! What a great time we've had at the Looper Thanksgiving Dinner! A big THANKS goes to Bob and Vicki Riggs for opening their beautiful home to all us. What an extremely thoughtful thing to do. This is the first Thanksgiving that Mike and I have been away from our family. Being able to share this day with others was very special. Of course, we all ate too much as usual. Isn't that what it's all about!!

Black Friday! Today Mike, Jeff and Jim went to West Marine in Orange Beach. They dropped off Joleen and me in downtown Fairhope to do some shopping. It was a great day! The weather was beautiful. Fairhope is a great little town with a French Quarter feel and has several little specialty shops. I even bought a few Christmas presents. This evening several of us went to Moe's BBQ in Daphne. Great food and great company! This place is a local favorite and there's no doubt why. The sign on the tip jar by the order window read:

"Remember: every time a tip's not given – a young child receives a mullet"

Now, that's funny!

Saturday, Joleen, Dale and I did some more shopping. It's nice being able to get off the boat and actually do some shopping that isn't in the grocery store! We had more fun! I bought some Christmas decorations for NautiNell. Can't believe I'm buying Christmas decorations – when I know that I have boxes and boxes in storage back in Joplin. Oh well….. It's also hard to believe that Mike and I will be spending Christmas on our boat in Florida! You do know it's warm there! Right? This will be the first Christmas in my entire life that I didn't spend in Joplin. Can you believe that?! Hope Santa knows where I am!!!

After we got back, Mike grilled burgers and we kicked back and did more catching up. It really turned cold and the wind was blowing. We had planned to go out to dinner in the dinghy, but we nixed that when we stepped outside! Here we thought we'd made it to the warmer climate – guess we better keep boating further south!

Sunday morning it was pouring and it was even colder. We fixed a great breakfast of waffles, bacon and eggs. Why not! Had to show Joleen that we are really making NautiNell our home. What better way than to have the smell of bacon frying on a Sunday morning!! Later that day – taking advantage of having a car available on our own terms, we decided to go to Sam's, etc. Mike needed something from Lowes. Doesn't he always! LOL! Anyway, after a visit to Lowes, Sam's and then a stop at Publix we had filled Joleen's car to the brim. Hey, I'm getting my Christmas shopping done while I can! I'm just going to relax in the sand when I get to Florida! HA!

When we got back, Chuck decided to pay us a visit. Chuck is the marina's cat. He's 15 years old and one COOL cat. He goes from boat to boat looking for some attention and possibly a handout. The marina warned us to be sure to check our boat before we head out because Chuck has been known to be a stowaway. Some of the Loopers haven't been too happy about needing to return to the marina from the Bay because Chuck showed up after they had left out. Poor Chuck! He definitely has some stories to tell. Being the cat lover that I am, I wish I could take him with me. I really did enjoy his company.

Sunday evening we played the fun game of Mexican Train Dominoes. We had a ball – laughed so hard my side hurt! BTW - the winds were blowing like crazy and with the tide coming in – NautiNell rocked like crazy. All night long! I thought Joleen – being a non-boater- might not like it - but she didn't mind it one bit. Maybe it was the whiskey that helped – not sure!

Joleen left early Monday morning. We had planned to leave as well. However, the weather had something different in mind. It was cold, wet and windy. According to all the weather gurus – the Bay would be rough. A small craft warning was out so we decided we'd stay in. All the boats decided the same thing. It didn't even get to 60 degrees! And with the wind chill you definitely knew it was winter! Glad we are at least near the Gulf though – snow is being forecasted for northern and central Alabama for tonight! Possibly 2 inches accumulation! Sheeh!

It looks like we all will be here till Wednesday. The forecasters still say that the Bay is going to rough tomorrow. The winds will still be blowing out of the west – so no sense in pushing it. We're in no hurry. Well, maybe a little – it sure would be nice to be warm and in Florida! Soon I hope!!??

When we do finally leave we will be heading to Pensacola, Panama City and then on to Apalachicola where we will feast on oysters while we wait for the perfect weather window to cross the Gulf over to Tarpon Springs. The crossing is about 170 miles and will take us about 17-19 hours. There is no place to stop along the way, of course, so we will all be doing a boating marathon. Not looking forward to it, but it's better than trying to go along "The Big Bend" because that area of the coast is really shallow.

Till next time!

Admiral "C"

Joleen and me
"Old Friends"!