'I didn't expect pine trees and lakes': First impressions

When we crossed over the state line from Tennessee to Alabama on Feb 3, I was taken aback by the countryside.  We were driving south on what was at various times called the War on Terror highway, the Hank Williams highway, and plain old I-65.  From this vantage point, it seemed as if the entire northern third of Alabama consisted of pine trees and lakes.  (I was foolish enough to think that pine trees didn't even grow this far south.)  This is not what I expected.  What did I expect?  I guess I thought it would be much more rural – with small dirt fields and modest housing.  It was anything but that.  Maybe if we would have turned off onto the smaller roads it would have been different, but from this highway we saw a sum total of one farm.  

View from our balcony

We arrived Perdido Key that evening.  It was raining softly, and we unpacked with a sigh of relief.  The condo we have is even nicer than its pictures.  The ocean is much closer than we thought -- right off our patio, and the condo’s rooms are larger and prettier.  It will be a delight to stay here for the month of February. 

One "hold-out" house

On Super Bowl Sunday, you found us everywhere except in front of the TV.  We drove around our new neighborhood (i.e. Orange Beach, Gulf Shores).  Primarily high-rises now, you can still catch a small cottage or two representing how it once must have looked.  Jim and I went for a long walk along the water.  The ocean here sounds like a battalion of jet plane engines, giving a small sense of the strength of the ocean.  The beach is very uncrowded at this time of the year.  It stretches for miles, and there were maybe a total of twenty people I could see.  There were a few fishermen - and diving birds - out trying their luck.  Then, there were the lazy (or smart) birds.  I especially liked this heron that was sticking mighty close to this couple – waiting for his fish to be served up on a platter, I guess.  

Pristine white "sugar sand"

One tuna steak, please!

We also went out for our first groceries.  I mention this because the store was really fun to poke around in.  Store items – and displays – were markedly different than those up north.  For example, there were miles and miles of fresh shrimp - and tuna steaks that looked as if they had just been carved 15 minutes before.  Cajun-flavored items abounded in both the meat market and the deli.  Fresh shrimp boil ingredients were packaged together ready to go into a boiling pot.  The frozen vegetables were primarily okra, varieties of peas and all kinds of greens.  After looking around, we bought mostly old standbys, with a few exotic items tossed in the cart:  a jambalaya rice mix, dill pickle flavored roasted peanuts which turned out to be great, and sausages made from alligator!