BEACH!

I haven't had a beach vacation since....well December for our honeymoon. But that doesn't count. It was SO cold.

So let me begin again, I haven't had a beach vacation in 2 years! We went with my family in 2009, but skipped 2010 because we were saving for the wedding. We opted to not go with the family because we didn't think we could afford it, because we were still recouping from the wedding. However, my husband made it happen!! We went for a week! July 16-23.

We stayed at the Phoenix East tower in Orange Beach, AL. It was very nice. We had a one bedroom, one bathroom condo (which was the perfect size for just us.)

When we arrived on the 16th, we unpacked, did some shopping, and ate at a little Mexican restaurant. We went to bed ready to hit the beach the next day....

...not. It was rainy! BUMMER. We went down anyway to put our toes in the sand and waters, but it was not a day to lay there. So, we decided to go ahead and get the shopping part of our trip done. I love going to Gulf Shores because it is so close to Foley. Foley has an amazing Outlet mall called Tanger Outlet. I had good luck in stores like Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, Rack Room, and COACH. We shopped until about 6, went back to the hotel and changed and went to dinner at the Original Oyster House. They had yummy food, including their famous cheesy grits. Yup, grits with dinner! Here is Chris and I after dinner...

So on Monday, the weather cleared and we had our first full day at the beach. It was nice. Not too hot and breezy. Here was my view for the day...
Monday was also Chris's birthday. He enjoyed the day relaxing on the beach with me and then we went for a nice dinner at Lu Lu's. It's Lucy Buffet's (Jimmy Buffet's sister) restaurant. Such a great atmosphere. Of course I'd leave my camera at the condo on this night. I did get a few pictures with my iPhone though!

Lu Lu's

A prize for my mom in this bag...

Chris's birthday brownie....yummmm

Tuesday was a sunny day as well. Chris and I were a little red in areas so we were careful in the sun. However we still got plenty of it! We spent the morning looking at the beach...

The middle building is our condo.


The water was so clear!


Sportin' the tankini to cover up the burnt tummy!

We spent the rest of the day Tuesday jet skiing! I don't have any pictures because....well the camera would get wet! It was a blast though!! That night we went to Tacky Jacks for dinner. It was a really cool atmosphere too. It's right on the water and they also had a really neat pier to check out while you wait.


Wednesday was another beautiful sunny day. We spent the morning at the beach.

Isn't that a great panoramic shot? I love this function on my camera! After the beach, we went on a dolphin cruise on a glass bottom boat! It was fun, and we saw lots of dolphins!

Chris and I waiting for the ride.


This was another boat identical to ours in the water with us.


We saw lots of dolphins! You can really see it in this picture.

Our boat driver took us to Bret Farve's house. It is amazing! It's a trillion dollar home. He had to buy four houses just to tear down to build his. If you look in the picture, the house to the left is a two story house...look at the difference!

That night we ate at a cute little place called Gulf Island Grill. Great food!

Thursday...another great day at the beach. We spent ALL day there. I got sun, read a book, and just soaked it all in! That night we went to Lambert's. It's famous for throwing rolls. We waited for almost 2 hours! It was worth it, and was fun...but geeze!!!

That night we also met up with Mandy, Tim and Houston. They just so happened to be in Gulf Shores the same week we were. So neat!



So great to see them!

Well, I didn't know Thursday would be my last day at the beach, but it was....bummer. It rained again. But actually, it turned out to be a really fun day! Chris and I went down to the Wharf and shopped and even took in a movie. We saw Friends with Benefits. IT WAS HILARIOUS. You have to go see it. So we did our last minute shopping, ate at a little Italian grill and headed back to our condo to pack up. Perfect ending to our trip.

But I have to say...I'm already thinking about when I'll be doing this again.........

Time to get back to work! Hope everyone's summer was great!

Mrs. KB