well, we drove until the map turned blue.

& even though I didn't get "knee deep in the water somewhere" (because I don't get in ocean water), I hummed Zac Brown Band while I was there anyway! 

...I apologize to all you non-listeners of ZBB because you're probably way lost on that little "joke", but you're not missing much.

We arrived at our condo around 4 on Sunday. 

We left town around 8, grabbed breakfast at our (now) LOCAL McDonalds, and headed towards the sea. I slept until we were five minutes out of Mobile, so the ride seemed to last about 10 minutes! Fine by me. 

We ate lunch at Felix's, of course, and I got shrimp & grits, of course. 

We stopped at Target in Daphne, Bass Pro in Mobile, and then we went on to the Wharf. 

After spending a little time there, we left to go check into our hotel. 

Phoenix X.

Here is your photo tour.... (this was taken on the day before we left, so we had pretty well made ourselves at home)... 

"foyer" better known as the hallway. The door you see is the entrance/exit, and the door to the left of it is mine & Mamma's room. 

Kitchen/living room area, and Mimi's room is to the left of the chair.

I didn't take a photo of our rooms/bathrooms for some reason!

oops.

I always love kitchens & bathrooms. 

photo taken and edited by ashia

Later, I met Ben, Ashia, & Austin at a public beach about 10 minutes away to take some family photos of them before dinner. It was fun to see Austin reacting to the water against her toes, and the sand under her feet. Don't ya'll love what beach wind will do to your hair? We were suffering from major hair malfunctions, clearly. Austin worked it better than I did, though ;)

On Monday, Mamma & I spent some quality time on the beach for the early part of the day, and then it started lightening. I am no joke when it comes to storms at the beach. I've watched too many storm chasing shows to risk even the slightest thunderstorm. So, we packed it up & went inside. 

Uncle Jay called a few weeks back and asked if I wanted to go deep sea fishing with he and Beau, and I have been wanting to go for quite some time, but I imagined going with Daddy. 

I like doing these types of things regardless, but I especially enjoy them with him. 

Anyway! The weather was questionable for the next hour or so, but we went to the marina anyway. 

Boats were packing up and leaving, and ours was right on schedule.

This is Curtis, our deckhand, aka - my babysitter, or so he thought! :) 

I'm kidding. He helped me get into the swing of things, and finally I started catching fish. It's just totally different than the fishing I've done in the past because of the use of different hooks, and (of course) because of the weight of the fish that are tugging on my line!

bait! 

I don't know if I had a fish or had just casted my line, but Beau kept me occupied during basically the entire trip.

Mid-day at sea.

Red Snapper was the main catch of the day, but we had one Scamp, a Black Snapper and a few King Mackerel too. The Scamp and Black Snapper are considered "bonus fish" and don't count against your limit of 10 Red Snappers.

King Mackerel.

Beau & I chatting!

Our boat was named "Chipper's Clipper" and our Captain was named "Chip". How creative!

That's our catch, too.

Mamma & I before eating at the Gulf Shores Steamer

(which wasn't all that great, but it wasn't awful either.

I will say that it was my least favorite, though.)

We usually see dolphins in the early morning, but this was after lunch sometime, and there was probably 5 or 6 swimming up near the first sandbar. 

There were ALSO two sharks swimming around near the shore. You obviously can't see them, but that's what those people were pointing at. 

Coast guards, lifeguards, four-wheelers, and rangers were everywhere. People were ordered to stay out of the water (which was clearly inforced...), but it didn't last too long.

SN: this is my new best friend. "Yes to Carrots" Coral tinted lip balm. 

I love it. 

That is all.