Orange Beach, AL. Oct 16th - 22nd

I'm pretty pumped up about this post!

This was week one of approximately seven weeks that we'll be on the coast of Florida. Yes, technically we were in Alabama but Orange Beach is only 6 miles from the Florida border and it's a laid back coastal city. Lots of high-rise condos on the beach with beautiful homes lining the waterways and canals. A few luxury waterfront hotels as well. Very clean and safe. Really fun town with plenty of restaurants and eateries to choose from. More on that in a minute.

Buena Vista Motor Coach Resort is top notch! You gotta check out the pictures in the "Pictures" section. It doesn't have direct beach access or a restaurant on-site but the beach is a 5 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride. What does it have? Three pools, a hot tub, and a lazy river. Gated entrance. No dirt. All roads and sites are brick pavers. All lawn areas are well manicured. Each site is individually owned but managed by the on-site rental agents. Our site had plenty of room for Betty, a covered outdoor eating area with a gas bbq and pizza oven, and our own private pool. We used everything! Great place to call home for the week but we also ventured out.

One day we boarded the dogs for the day and headed out on bikes. Stopped for cocktails before reaching our main destination, Flora-Bama Bar and Yacht Club. I'm sure some of you have been there. It's iconic and definitely our kind of place. The epitome of beach bar! It sits right on the border or Florida and Alabama, hence the name. It also sits on a peninsula so the Yacht Club and it's bar are on the bay while the main bar is on the beach. It's safe to say that the Yacht Club is not an actual yacht club in the traditional sense of private membership only clubs. It's come one, come all and bathing suits and t-shirts are the dress code. Pull your boat right up on the sand where you get food, drinks and live music. We started with lunch at the Yacht Club and then meandered to the beach side to continue our day. There we found three levels with different music on each level. Grabbed a Flora-Bama Bushwacker since it's their official drink. I'm not sure exactly what's in it, but I know it's got vanilla ice cream and rum. Of course we added a Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey floater. Duh? Headed out to the beach where they had another entertainer playing for the afternoon. Several more bushwackers and we made some new friends. Eventually we made it back to our bikes for the 6 mile ride back, which included a stop for one more drink and an appetizer along the way. Capped off the day with steaks for dinner at the coach. What a fun day!!

Another day we made the 45 minute drive to Pensacola for lunch and a walk through historic downtown with the dogs. Pensacola was actually one of the first European settlements in the US and is currently home to the Blue Angels. We stopped at The Wharf on our way home. It's an entertainment and shopping area with a marina that was only 10 minutes from our resort.

Of course we had a beach day. Took our chairs, umbrella, and lunch for total chill time!

Yet another day we just hung in the pool, made chicken nachos, watched football, and listened to reggae music. Sweeet!

We enjoyed sunset dinners at Coastal Restaurant and The Gulf. Both restaurants are waterfront and The Gulf is dog friendly so the girls joined us.

We had great weather but we did get a pretty good deluge of rain one night and I didn't see any water seeping into the coach. 👌😎

We're gonna miss Orange Beach, AL but more adventures await. Today we made the short (97 miles) drive to Miramar Beach, Florida where we'll spend the next four nights. This stop is one of the first ones we booked when we started planning our year. We're big country music fans and Luke Combs is one of our favorites! He's doing a three day festival here so it should be a great time. Giddy Up!

Stay tuned!