Our last night in Gulf Shores

Miss D. and I have just returned from a fun, relaxing evening - our last in Gulf Shores before hitting the road back to Tennessee tomorrow morning.

I started our evening by taking a picture through the car window as we passed the neon sign advertising Lartigue's Seafood Market.  I've laughed every time I've driven past it during our vacation.

The red neon crab is (probably deliberately) designed so that from certain angles as one drives past, it resembles not only the seafood variety of crab but also the outline of the infamous crab louse.  This lends a whole new angle to "getting crabs at Lartigue's", doesn't it?

We started with a round of mini-golf at Pirates Island.  It's one of the most interesting mini-golf courses I've played, with lots of fun hazards and fiendishly designed holes (I took a guesstimated 27 strokes at one, and the total may have been higher).  We giggled our way around it, having a great time.  We didn't bother with a score-sheet or other 'official' paraphernalia - we were having too much fun.

We were hungry by the time we finished, so we decided to end our stay here by visiting Cotton's Restaurant, another of the places recommended to us by blog readers and commenters.  The food was excellent, although the server apologized profusely because a number of their regular dishes weren't available (apparently they'd been unexpectedly busy for a midweek evening in off-season).  We didn't complain.  Both of us were sated with seafood, so we enjoyed ribeye steaks grilled just right.  We've added Cotton's to the short-list of restaurants that are well worth a return visit if we come back here.  For the benefit of any readers who come to this part of the world, the list now includes (in alphabetical order):

Aji Sai Asian Cuisine, Gulf Shores, AL

Cotton's Restaurant, Orange Beach, AL

McGuires Irish Pub, Pensacola, FL

Ribs and Reds, Gulf Shores, AL

They're all very good indeed, and both of us recommend them.  Aji Sai in particular has really caught our imagination.  It's the kind of place where, if we find ourselves driving within a hundred miles or so of its location, we might just make a special detour to eat there.  It's that good.

We're back at the condo now, pleasantly over-stuffed.  We're ready to head home.  Two weeks has been just about the perfect length for this vacation - our first proper holiday together since we got married four and a half years ago.  We were both pretty stressed and nearing burn-out.  Our time on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico has been just what we needed to relax, unwind and chill out.  Swimming, eating lots of really good food, and plenty of things to see and do . . . what's not to like?

We'll hit the road early tomorrow.  It's a full day's drive to get home;  if you're so inclined, say a prayer for traveling mercies for us.  We're looking forward to seeing our cat again, and I'm sure she's looking forward to letting us know that she didn't appreciate being abandoned to the tender mercies of our friends while we were away!

Peter