We recently traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and had a good visit. Let’s talk about what we did and give you a few reviews of places to go. We stayed at the Lighthouse Condominiums which I highly recommend. It was our third time staying there. It’s located right on the beach and has big spacious living areas along with nice-sized bedrooms and full kitchens. You can step out on any balcony and see the beach. It also offers 2 large pools and 2 hot tubs. One of the pools has a zero-entry side for the little ones in your family. We booked our stay through VRBO and it couldn’t have been easier. The weather was beautiful during our stay and never rained. The gulf was calm with enough waves to make body surfing fun. The condominium pools were busy but not so much that you couldn’t enjoy yourself and the nice thing about them is they stay open pretty late so you can play at the beach during the day if you want and hang out by the pool in the evening. One more thing I want to add about the Lighthouse is that it’s quiet. You don’t hear other people or at least we never have. There was a group on the floor right below us that you could hear if you were on the balcony but not in your room. Big plus for us since we came to relax.
We went out the first night to King Neptune which is a long-established restaurant. Be prepared to wait both on a table and service, but that’s typical of beach dining. Our service was extremely slow so much so that we had to ask the hostess twice to hunt down our server for the check. But, I will say the oysters and grouper were fresh and delicious so that part of the evening was good.
The second night there we went to a hibachi place. Yes, a hibachi place at the beach. We were celebrating a birthday and our boys had never been to one. We ate at Mikato’s Japanese Steakhouse in Foley. The chef put on a good show and we enjoyed dinner very much. Totally worth it if you want something besides a seafood restaurant, although I did have the scallops and they were excellent.
The third night we went out for entertainment. We started at Adventure Island to play putt putt. We have teens and it’s definitely a place for younger kids with laser tag and arcade games but the putt putt course gave a bit of a challenge and was worth it. Next up we tried out the entertainment district known as the Wharf. It’s billed as having shops, dining, a ferris wheel, and a light show when it gets dark. The best part about it was the ferris wheel. You pay around $8 for adults and get a decent ride. Could’ve been a little longer yet still a good view of your surroundings and a nearby marina. The Wharf did not live up to its description just letting you know. The “shops” turned out to be a lot of businesses like a real estate office and opticians with a few scattered teeshirt and novelty food stores. There’s a pizza place for food and I’m not even sure what other restaurants were around since we were searching for the “entertainment” that it was said to offer. They did block off an area with a dj and I assume for people to dance but it was a pretty thin crowd while we were there. There were 2 entertainers dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell strolling around greeting kids. The light show advertised turned out to only be shown on Monday nights and we were there on a Wednesday so we didn’t get to see it. We did visit 2 shops that were good – a fudge one and a hot sauce place. Kilwins – the fudge shop – smelled delicious as you can imagine and they even had chocolate-dipped rice Krispie’s! The Pepper Palace had every hot sauce you can think of and had samples too. We ended up buying one that had the hottest pepper – the Carolina Reaper for our dad who is a hot sauce aficionado. So, our review of the Wharf is a little mixed. It's located at the next beach over – Orange Beach – and we can't say it's worth the drive.
After our experience at the Wharf, we hit up Mikee’s Seafood back in Gulf Shores. Family owned and operated since 1987. We had a bit of a wait but really not bad at the time of night we went which was around 8:00. I have to say the food was great. Very fresh and well prepared and the service was spot on. The server was attentive which was impressive due to the packed house and pace they were working at. So, Mikee’s gets a definite thumbs up from us.
On the way home from our trip to the beach, we stopped at Buc-ee’s convenience store. I don’t know if you can call it a convenience store since it’s huge. I’d heard about it but never got to visit. Let me tell you that it’s like a Walmart in there. You can buy everything from clothing to BBQ and tents. It’s crazy how much is there. We didn’t try the brisket on this trip, but I’d like to check it out next time. Yes, brisket. Again, so much stuff to shop for as you can see in the video below. Worth the pit stop for sure.
Gulf Shores is ideally located next to nearby towns and Orange Beach so there's even more to do. We just wanted to hit the highlights of our trip. Hope you have an opportunity to visit this area for yourself and check out the places we mentioned. Have a great summer!
