Gulf Shores, Alabama is a beautiful vacation destination on the Alabama coast. We wanted to share some places that we like to eat and some other things for you to check out on a trip to the Gulf Shores, Orange Beach area. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are two cities on the same island. There are three bridges onto the island, one in Gulf shores on Gulf Shores parkway, one in Orange Beach with a toll bridge and one at the pass connecting the island to the Florida side. There is also a ferry at the west end of the island that goes from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island and Mobile. The beaches on the ocean side of the island are spectacular with wide spans of white sands and beautiful water.
If you are driving south on I-65 to get to Gulf Shores, you will pass a couple of places that are great rest stops. The first is Peach park at the Clanton exit. Depending on the time of year, they have a great fresh fruit selection to purchase and take with you, especially the peaches. They also have a lunch selection with barbeque and sides and delicious homemade ice cream and fried fruit pies. There is also an area with rocking chairs and picnic tables.
Further down the interstate is Priester’s Pecans at the Fort Deposit exit just north of Greenville. They are known for all of the varieties of pecan products that they sell including pecan pies, pecan cakes, pecan candy and several types of roasted pecans. They also have a cafe and a very nice gift shop. It is fun to stop at these unique places rather than a truck stop or gas station.
We usually drive down late Friday night so that we are already there on Saturday morning. One of our favorite places for breakfast is Duck’s Coastal Kitchen. There are two locations, one in Gulf Shores on the main parkway and one in Orange Beach called Duck’s Diner. They serve breakfast and lunch and the breakfast is great. The pancakes are really large (I suggest a single) and delicious (they have several specialty varieties). And the stuffed french toast is excellent also. They also have standard eggs and meat breakfasts and the smoked sausage is great. (Update: the one in Gulf Shores has closed, but the one in Orange Beach is open and serving great food.)
Our house is on the canal and we have a nice screened in porch, so we love to spend time there but the beaches are gorgeous at all times of the year. The State Park in Gulf Shores is actually on the beach and has camper areas, tent areas, and cabins. They also have zip lines, walking trails, a brand new conference center and a fishing pier. There is so much to do in both Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and in Foley; which is the next town north over the bridge. There is a new amusement park in Foley, Alabama called OWA and it is only about twenty minutes from Gulf Shores. The Track Family Fun Park has go-karts, bumper cars, miniature golf, bumper boats and kiddie rides. The water park in Gulf Shores is called Waterville and has some great water slides. There are several miniature golf locations. The Wharf is a wonderful resort area with shops and a movie theater and an outdoor amphitheater with an excellent schedule of artists. There are also plenty of stores for beach items and souvenirs and great boutiques for beach clothing and gift items. And for serious shoppers there is also a Tanger Outlet mall in Foley.
One of our favorite local places to eat is called Kitty’s Kafe. They have a great breakfast and lunch menu. They are known for comfort foods and menu choices of meat and vegetables. Their pork chops and roast beef are excellent along with wonderful sides like fried stuffed potatoes, lima beans and macaroni.
On this trip we went to a movie and you have two movie theaters available. The theater in Gulf Shores is in Pelican Place shopping center and the Wharf has a movie theater also.
For dinner on this trip we went to Tin Top Restaurant which is another local favorite, known for steaks and seafood and oysters. Their West Indies salad is an excellent crab dish and the steak and crab legs are really good. For dessert the strawberry bread pudding is delicious.
We make several trips here every year, so check back for more posts on other great restaurants and things to do all year round.