Fairhope Pickers

I spent 5 days in Fairhope Alabama with high-school friend Elin Shallcross and her wife Trudy of 30 years (only legally married recently in Iowa). They were gracious hosts, opening their home to me and Tucker, the ShihTzu who shares my life. Their two little girl dogs (Tess and Tucker) put Tuck in his place but by the by the 3rd day, he was able to play with their toys and their little Tucker sat on my lap.
Trudy is quite musically talented, adept at many instruments and she invited me to join her pickers group. There were 20 people attending, playing various instruments: mountain dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, saltry harp, harp, and cello. We all jammed together for the first hour, broke for coffee and snacks, then shared our talents in an open-mic forum. Was such fun and wished my Blueberry Pickers in Maine were playing with us. Trudy also included me in a singing group and to her small Saltry Harp group, as a listener.


Tuck and I explored the town of Gulf Shores, however, dogs were not allowed on those beaches, not even in the State Park along the Gulf. So I plan B'd it and drove out toward Ft. Morgan. Along the way I took a right turn into a housing development, just to check it out. I saw a woman on walking her dog and asked her for directions to the Gulf Shores dog park. I found it and Tuck met another Shih Tzu that he mostly sniffed. A man there gave me directions to the beach where dogs are allowed.


It was beach, spare of people, where I could let him run free if I chose. He loved digging holes in the sand; wasn't too crazy about the surf that ran up to him. We went to this beach on two different days; the last day was sunny and warm so we stayed there for nearly 3 hours. Having left Maine when it was 2 degrees above zero earlier that week, I drew in the warmth and sound of the crashing waves with a feeling of joy and peace. There were giant jellyfish washing onto the beach so I only went in the water up to my hips, but it was lovely and warm. An interesting starfish was lying on the sand and I scooped it up. But a man passing by held it in his hands and said it was still alive. I wanted to bring in home with me, but couldn't bring myself to allow it to die. Its arms were curved and long and it was colored red and white. After I tossed it into the surf and walked past the area later, I saw it enjoying itself in the surf and figured I'd done right by it.


Craving a southern breakfast with real-to-goodness southern grits, my hosts took me to the Biscuit King. Wow, those biscuits were the size of a Frisbee and delicious. One-half of the owners, the husband end, is a long distance marathon runner, in his 60s. He is a serious Christian man who loves to sing hymns while whipping up them biscuits. Ironically, on Friday nights when he has bands performing at his restaurant, he dresses in drag and performs as a woman. I wonder if he wears dresses at home as well.


Besides beach walks and music I mostly ate and the gals knew where to take me. At Big Daddy's I had fried oysters and soft-shell crab. Then on my last night there we went to the Original Oyster House and I hedonistically sucked up 6 raw oysters and a platter of grilled flounder and shrimp scampi. Oh, I almost forgot about the scrumptious Key Lim pie. Whew!


I love southern Alabama and will consider it a potential winter nesting spot for me and Tucker. The only thing that cautions me about living there is that the land abounds with the poisonous Cottonmouth and corral snakes. On the positive consideration, the air smells like flowers, the Camelia and wild honeysuckle were blooming, birds sang in the morning, Mocking birds cooed and tree frogs trilled at night.