HEAD TO THE BEACH!
Sugar-white sand and clear, turquoise water entice loads of visitors to Alabama’s Gulf Coast beaches. Seafood and beach food — from crab shacks to dress-up dining — feed hungry visitors. Festivals celebrate music and food. Cruise to fish or visit dolphins, parasail, jet ski, kayak or sail. Or just while away the hours at arcades.
PARK IT
Gulf State Park offers beautiful beaches, trails and newly built cabins around nearby Lake Shelby. Visit for a day, camp or stay in the Lodge at Gulf State Park. Beyond the beach, there’s geocaching, bike trails, a nature center, educational programs, the Beach Pavilion, a butterfly garden and more.
CAST A LINE
Alabama’s Gulf Coast offers inshore and offshore saltwater fishing, with chances to catch blue marlin, yellow fin tuna, amberjack, cobia, red snapper and more. And there’s freshwater fishing as close as Lake Shelby.
EXPLORE NEAR THE SHORE
The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, running between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, offers hiking and biking along marshes and lakes with great birding opportunities.
NATURAL LOOK
Visit Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, where you can see live animals or walk forested boardwalk trails within 6,600 acres of protected estuarine habitats. Or try the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, which has 7,000 acres of wildlife habitat and provides a haven for more than 370 species of migratory birds, nesting sea turtles and the endangered Alabama beach mouse. And the Graham Creek Nature Preserve in Foley boasts hundreds of acres of natural habitats and provides protection for rare plant and animal species. The preserve also offers a canoe/kayak launch, hiking trails and bird watching. And don’t miss the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center for a close-up view of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta before it opens out into Mobile Bay.
O-WOW
The Owa entertainment complex in Foley is part amusement park, part water park, part dining and entertainment, part hotel and RV park. Created by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Owa continues to grow.
TIME TO ZOO
Forced to rebuild after a hurricane, the 25-acre Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo now offers more spacious and pleasant accommodations for its 199 species.
ARTS ABOUND
The Coastal Arts Center in Orange Beach has a gallery and gift shop showcasing local artists, as well as a public glass-blowing studio and pottery studio.
SHOP ON
Foley’s Tanger Outlet Center is a shopper’s destination and it’s surrounded by other shopping options. Don’t forget downtown Fairhope for boutique shops.
FORE!
The Gulf Coast has a variety of signature golf courses, designed by some of the greatest names in golf and featuring scenery from coastlines to wetland preserves and rolling hills. Lakewood Club at The Grand Hotel Golf Resort and Spa is part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
BATTLE SITE AND MORE
History comes alive at Fort Morgan State Historic Site, a Civil War-era fort that guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay. Or head north to the Blakeley State Park for more Civil War history, or even farther north and farther back in history to the William Weatherford Memorial at Little River, a monument to the Creek Indian chief. Nearby is Fort Mims, site of the battle that ignited the Creek Indian War in 1813. Another notable historic attraction is the Baldwin County Bicentennial Park, a 367-acre area in north Baldwin County to preserve the county’s rich cultural heritage. Inside the park is the Historic Montpelier Methodist Church, built in 1895.
ECOTOUR
Coming in spring 2025 is the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism & Sustainability, a new environmental and outdoor education facility located next to Gulf State Park. Classes and camps already are underway, including an Ambassadors of the Environment Gulf Coast program developed by legendary oceanographer and explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society.
Festivities & Events:
ORANGE BEACH SEAFOOD FESTIVAL AND CAR SHOW — February | The Wharf
FAIRHOPE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL — March | Fairhope
FESTIVAL OF ART – March | Orange Beach
STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL — April | Loxley
HANGOUT MUSIC FESTIVAL — May | Gulf Shores
NATIONAL SHRIMP FESTIVAL — October | Gulf Shores
THE ORIGINAL GERMAN SAUSAGE FESTIVAL — October | Elberta
FREEDOM FEST AND BAMA COAST CRUISIN’ CAR SHOW – October | Orange Beach
This article appears in the May 2024 issue of Business Alabama.
