Winter planning discussions always revolve around whether to head west or head south. We both love the west except for how far it is. Plus driving through Texas isn’t our favorite thing to do. It’s not that it isn’t a great state or that the people aren’t nice, it’s just that it’s a total of 890 miles from east to west to cross the state. That’s a lot of miles when compared to our home state of RI, the smallest state in the US where the distance from the western border to the eastern border is only 37 miles! Although there are some scenic spots, it’s mostly miles and miles and miles of monotonous prairie and scrubland with a few tumbling tumbleweeds thrown in. When traveling only a few hundred miles a day, Texas seems never ending, taking up to five to six days!

As you may have already guessed, the end result of our discussion was a decision to head south once again, returning to one of our favorite areas, the Gulf Coast of Alabama with its beautiful coastline, a multitude of great restaurants and a myriad of things to do. Although there have been a lot of new RV parks, after doing research, when renting a site for a month or more, Bella Terra Motorcoach Resort in Foley not only offers a cheaper daily rate but also a variety of amenities as well. It would be our home for three months, beginning on December 3, 2024 until March 10, 2025.

We’ve always loved this area particularly in the early days of our RV adventures. The area was quieter and much more low key than either of the Florida coasts. Boy have things changed! This year we were surprised at all of the construction (residential, business and road), resulting in a lot more traffic and congestion.

During our stay at Bella Terra, we occupied two different sites, lakefront site #765 (we had stayed on this site last winter) for the first month

and site #444 (less expensive) for the second two months.

So our stay was sprinkled with fun times with friends, enjoying the local cuisine, visiting a few familiar places and exploring a few new ones!

But first let’s talk about the weather…
It was a mixed bag – warm days, chilly days, cold nights, rain, and a tornado threat thrown in here and there.

But the biggest surprise was the forecast of snow on January 21st. Say what???? We came all the way to Alabama to beat the snow, cold and ice in the Northeast and this happens? What’s with that?

Being New Englanders, six inches certainly isn’t a big deal for us but not so for our Southern neighbors! Without the proper equipment to deal with snow (plows, sanders, etc.) or the experience of knowing how to drive in the white stuff, everything shut down for almost a week – roads, businesses, schools, government offices, etc. Wow!

And then there was fun with our Entegra friends…
Betsy and Nancy arrived at Bella Terra early in December, staying for a month, allowing us to celebrate both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve with them. As always lots of laughs!

In February, our friends, Stu and Cindy, arrived for a month long stay. Since Stu has had both hips replaced, he provided a lot of information and reassurance to me for my hip replacement surgery scheduled for May 6th. Another great visit!

Friends Jim and Julie arrived in February as well. Although they were staying at a different resort, we enjoyed several lunches with them but more about that later. Always enjoy their company!

Besides visits with friends, some sightseeing…
We’ve been in this area so many times, you’d think that there was nothing left to see but we managed to find a few new things to do.

Lady In The Lake, Barber Marina, Elberta, AL
Located on the Intracoastal Waterway at Day Marker 74 is the world class Barber Marina, which was was founded by George W Barber, Jr., an American businessman, racecar driver, real estate developer, and philanthropist from Alabama and is located just north of the City of Orange Beach in Alabama.  But besides that, it is also well known for a giant fiberglass sculpture known as the Lady In The Lake created by artist Mark Cline (a foam and fiberglass artist from Virginia and creator of Foamhenge). She appears to be bathing in the bayou with just her head and her bent knees being visible above the water. Wonder where her soap is? Definitely an interesting sight but a little freaky too!

But the Lady in the Lake isn’t the only sightseeing opportunity at Barber Marina. First, there’s a traffic circle surrounding a beautiful, authentic Italian Renaissance fountain. The fountain features Neptune, the Roman god of water, and the mythical seahorses that pull his chariot through the sea. As lovely as it is, it doesn’t exactly blend in with the neighborhood!

Then there are the Knights in the Woods which are little bit hard to find since there are no signs or markings.

And then along came a Giant Spider… Followed By A Few Dinosaurs…

Wow, who would have thought that a Marina would be the home to so many funky attractions!

Fairhope Pier
No trip to the area would be complete without a trip to Fairhope and a walk along the pier and this year was no different. Arriving there, we were surprised to see a lot of construction underway.

According to their website:

The $10 million project includes, bulkhead/seawall repair and improvements at South Beach Park and Pier Landing; pedestrian safety, including improving and upgrading existing facilities and traffic flow to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; fountain repair and upgrades; pier upgrades to include restrooms, handrails and decking; and new restroom facility at South Beach Park.

It was a little more difficult finding a parking space but luckily after a few minutes one became available. The new handrails and decking had already been installed and the dockside restaurant, The Blind Tiger, was now open. As always, the distant views of Mobile were awesome!

Grand Hotel, Point Clear
After a drive around the town, we headed back to another attraction we wanted to see. How many times have we driven to Fairhope and have passed by the Grand Hotel in Point Clear? Many, many times! But finally this time we stopped!

In 1847, the Grand Hotel opened as a two story hotel with 40 rooms, offering fresh air and beautiful views of Mobile Bay. It quickly became a popular retreat for travelers. Over the years, it served as Confederate hospital during the Civil War and later as a training site for military officers in World War II.

Today, the luxurious Grand Hotel resort is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, offering championship golf courses, a world-class spa, waterfront dining, 405 rooms and the hotel’s signature daily cannon firing at 4:00 p.m. each day, a tradition that honors its military past.

Wow! What a surprise this was! Beautiful, meticulously manicured grounds with fountains, a man-made lagoon and huge blooming azalea and camellia bushes greeted us as we strolled the grounds!

And the paver pathway along Mobile Bay was absolutely beautiful!

To honor the military connection and the service of American veterans, the hotel instituted the daily cannon firing as a tribute. Just before 4:00 p.m., two men, both dressed in period military clothing and one playing a drum, the other carrying the American flag, marched from the hotel along a pathway to where the cannon was located.

Before the actual firing, the gentleman who had carried in the flag spoke about the history of the firing of the cannon which dates back to the 1800s. However, the firing of the cannon became more formalized during and after World War II, when the hotel served as a training base for the U.S. Army Air Corps. Known then as part of the War Department Redistribution Station, the Grand Hotel was used to rest, retrain, and reassign soldiers returning from overseas duty. The hotel instituted the daily cannon firing as a tribute to honor the military connection and the service of American veterans.

After the cannon is loaded with gunpowder, the countdown begins and the cannon is fired. Awesome! Check out this YouTube video posted by another visitor to the hotel.

Walks along the Beach
One of our favorite spots to walk along the beach has always been in Gulf Shores along the paved walkway. Parking is free from December 1st to February 28th.

There’s always a lot of sand sculptures on display

And this year it was fun watching a volleyball tournament…

A Day Excursion To Pensacola and Fort Pickens

No stay at Bella Terra is complete without several excursions to the Pensacola area to one of our favorite seafood restaurants, Peg Leg Pete’s. We had a delicious lunch, details to follow in our next post.

After lunch, we headed to Fort Pickens, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, located on Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, Florida. Constructed between 1829 and 1834 as part of the Third System of U.S. coastal fortifications, a network of forts designed to protect key harbors and naval yards after the War of 1812. Its strategic location guarded the entrance to Pensacola Bay, an important deep-water harbor and home to a major naval yard.

Named after Brigadier General Andrew Pickens, a Revolutionary War hero, the fort is built primarily of brick and mortar, using over 21.5 million bricks. Its five-sided design was typical of the era and featured thick walls, gunrooms, and a moat for defense.

The fort served military purposes during the Civil War and interestingly, it is also known for being one of the places where Apache leader Geronimo was imprisoned in the 1880s after his surrender. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it continued to serve its military purpose with modernized batteries added for new coastal defense technologies. By 1947, however, advances in warfare made it obsolete, and it was officially decommissioned and vacated by the military.

We had stayed in the campground back in 2014. Read about our previous adventures here in our previous posts – Next Stop – Fort Pickens National Park, and Exploring Fort Pickens and more. Needless to say, it was fun re-exploring the historic grounds where as expected being a historic site, nothing much had changed.

Finished with exploring and with a 1 1/2 drive ahead of us, it was time to head back to Bella Terra. As we left Fort Pickens, I spotted an eagle perched in a tree near the beach. How cool was that!

In between all of the sightseeing, there was plenty of time for enjoying the amenities at Bella Terra,

soaking up beautiful sunsets from site #765,

visiting some of our local favorite spots like Billy’s Seafood for a few pounds of Royal Reds

and catching some rays at Perdido Key National Seashore.

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games! Rob managed to spend some time working on projects, some minor and not worth mentioning. Unfortunately our dryer decided to call it quits! Oh, no! Since we’re not particularly fond of this dryer (no low heat setting), we thought maybe we could replace it. But alas, we couldn’t find one that would fit without major mods, so the next alternative was to figure out what was wrong with the existing one. Troubleshooting would be challenging because it would involve removal from it’s very tight quarters and position atop the washing machine. Rob had to remove the doors and all of the wood trim around the dryer. He then built a platform from $9 worth of wood from Home Depot, so he could slide it out allowing him to access the top and back of it. No easy task! Once out in the open, troubleshooting quickly resolved the culprit, a $2 thermal breaker accessed from the back of the machine. While he was at it, Rob replaced the two thermostats. The new thermostat turned out to be adjustable so we have been able to lower the heat output and reduce scorching of our clothes.

It seemed like we had just arrived when all too soon it was time to leave! Guess the saying “time flies when you are having fun” holds true. But there’s still more to write about before our departure, stay tuned for our next post about the area.