Weekend Getaway to Orange Beach

Scott has a work schedule that's called a 9/80, meaning he works 9 hour days Monday through Thursday, and then he has every other Friday off. The Fridays that he does work are 8 hour days. Last weekend was one of those wonderful 3 day weekends for us so we decided to see what Orange Beach, Alabama was like. It's only a 3 hour drive from where we are and the sands are white and the water is warm. It felt wonderful... as long as you were in the water. We didn't have a big beach umbrella so laying out on the towel was toasty hot, sweaty, humidity goodness. The heat is intense down there right next to the gulf!

The only thing about the area is that there were a lot of little fishes that you would accidentally step on, or they would nibble at you. And there were even these little jelly fish looking guys and I got stung on the arm by one. (No worries, nothing happened except a stinging sensation that lasted for about 10 minutes). Now there were some speed boat racing going on right out in front of us, so I can't decide if they were stirring up the water and causing all the fish to come closer to the shore, or if that's just normal.

 Quaint little place to stick a restaurant don't you think? We loved it.

We weren't sure what to do for Saturday, and we knew we didn't want to go back to the beach because we had already checked out of our hotel, so I searched online and found another little gem hidden away.

Behold the Bellingrath Gardens and Home.

Walter Bellingrath was one of the first to open a Coca-Cola Bottling Company in the southern area, and let's just say he made a pretty penny from it. He and his wife ended up creating a beautiful garden that covered 65 acres, with the help of an architect. They opened their garden to the public in 1932 just for one day, but it turned out to be quite the attraction. It's been open ever since and now you can also tour their home that was built around the same time. 

The house was built in a "U" shape with this courtyard in the middle. They had no air conditioning yet so the shape of the home helped the air flow better through the house.

The gardens were amazing, and completely worth the humidity. :)

They had many different themed areas. The couple traveled to Europe at one point and was very influenced by the English style gardens. They had an area for that, an Asian garden, a Bayou, a large rose garden, and a few others. The garden is most popular for all of the azaleas and camellias that grow there.

Their house is on the edge of the Fowl River so naturally they would need their own huge private dock. 

It was a fun little weekend getaway. I think the next one we'll hit Pensacola Beach and see which one we like better. They're almost right next to each other but we heard Pensacola is more crowded. Orange Beach was nice though. We'll be back for sure!

And the Bellingrath Gardens and Home, was so lovely. I love learning about people and what they did and the stories about them. When Scott and I were in Oregon, we toured Captain Flavel's house as well. I think I see a pattern starting to emerge... haha find me some old houses please!