need help planning trip

Looking for a quiet, relaxing place for 4 or 5 nights. Hubby and I need a vacation and looking for clean, nice, quiet, away from kids place.

Beach would be main attraction.

Don%26#39;t want to be far from restaurants, attractions, but not in middle of ';strip';.

First time to gulf shore area. Looking at end of Aug. or Sept.

What about good restaurants? Anything but seafood. Thanks for your help.

need help planning trip

Really not much of a strip in either GS or OB. Check this link for all kinds of lodging options:

http://www.gulfshores.com/

Seafood is pretty much a staple in most of the restaurants on the Gulf Coast. For non-seafood there is Villagio at The Wharf, Rafter%26#39;s at the Wharf has good barbecue sandwiches, Lambert%26#39;s in Foley has fried everything, Hooter%26#39;s has Hooter%26#39;s food...

You can do a search on this forum for ';Gulf Shores restaurants'; and it will show you a lot of options.

need help planning trip

Calypso Joes is great as well. Caribean type food. Lots of chicken choices. Francos (Italian) is great to! There%26#39;s a BBQ place we are going to try our next trip...Moes Original BBQ I believe. I%26#39;ve read lots of good things about it. Lamberts is a must go for us every trip. The BBQ Pork steak is wonderful and hubby always gets the roast beef. It%26#39;s so much that we always bring 1/2 home to eat for lunch the next day. Crico%26#39;s pizza is the best to us. They have a buffet in Gulf Shores that a local told me about, but we always order in. You can get a good coupon at the Welcome Center.

Most of these places I%26#39;m mentioning are in the Orange Beach area. We are not big seafood eaters ourselves. We only eat popcorn shrimp and fried fish occasioanlly so we look for places w/ other kinds of foods! Have fun!

Within your time frame, it should be winding down unless you go during Labor Day weekend. If you go during Labor Day weekend, plan to leave on Tuesday or you will spend hours in traffic getting to I10 and getting to Mobile (if you are going that way).

Last year we stayed at Seawind in Gulf Shores over Labor Day weekend. It was busy but not ';summer'; busy. The rates were great, the place is fairly new and the condo was very nice. The elevators were very, very slow, but the price made up for it.

We have been to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach 8 times in the last 3 years (got back today) and Cosmo%26#39;s is by far the best place to eat. It can be romantic but busy (expect to wait if you get there after 6 pm but you can order apps at the bar and they have a good wine list). I am allergic to shellfish and never have had a problem there. The Filet stuffed with feta is great and so is the Chicken Roulade.

Live Bait at The Wharf is okay but mostly seafood. Don%26#39;t go to Lester%26#39;s--Ruby Tuesday%26#39;s is better and that%26#39;s not saying much. The Original Oyster House is okay but all seafood. There is a good sandwich shop at San Roc Cay but it is pricey. Avoid Bubba%26#39;s and Hazel%26#39;s.

I have more tips if you need them.

Hi! Why don%26#39;t you recommend Lester%26#39;s? It was on my possibility list. Just curious!

What about the restaurant that is at the end of road that you take next to Rite Aide. You can go left to go towards the Wharf. There is a restaurant across from that intersection that is lower then the road. We always saw a full parking lot when we went past. Is it Doc%26#39;s maybe? Is it any good? Thanks!

greeneyes,

Pretty sure you%26#39;re talking about the original Doc%26#39;s. Good seafood and a laid back atmosphere. I, too, would not recommend Lester%26#39;s and the comparison to Ruby Tuesday is a good one. It has a closed-in feeling to it and I always thought of it more as a bar than a restaurant.

It looks from your post that you may be happy staying down West Beach Blvd ( Gulf Shores). There are quieter properties down there, better for enjoying your daytime, relaxing/walking on the beach, fishing, bike riding, less traffic, etc., but not so far away from restaurants %26amp; stuff to do as is Fort Morgan area.

IMO, Orange Beach is pretty, but very crowded as it is one giant concrete highrise after another. Though the interiors of some of those condos are nice indeed, the whole thing looks like a hurricane wall.

Whatever restaurants you decide on, all these areas are close enough together, you can get to them.

Have fun,

Miller

Thanks for the info about Lesters emo. Now I know for sure we won%26#39;t go. We are not bar people at all. I think we%26#39;re going to try Docs and Bahama Bob%26#39;s for something different this trip. I can%26#39;t wait!

Wow, thanks to all who replied.

Can you recommend a nice place on West Beach Blvd for a few nights? We will probably stop for one night coming and returning home.

Not good on long car trips. That will leave us with 3 or 4 nights at the beach.

I am wanting to visit the Little Zoo. Anything else that we should check out?

Do you want something economical or all tricked out? Do you want to be directly on the beach or would you stay across the street? Are you coming over the Labor Day Holiday? Lighthouse has very nice one bedroom units but they are going to be very crowded over the holiday with lots of children. Another location with lots of amenities but not nearly as expensive is the Caribbean. They have one bedroom condos there as well. It%26#39;s also in a less congested area than Lighthouse. Just depends on what you%26#39;re looking for...

loved the lighthouse! I stayed there with my kids though. what I would get if it was just me and my hubby would be a beach house to rent. Sometimes they have nice 2 bedroom beachfront houses you can rent through companies like kaiser, youngs, etc. They should supply you with everything you need and some have pools! That is what I would do because you get your privacy more! If you are a condo person- alot of the places are family oriented and with several kids. I did notice dauphin island condos that were nice for couples but not that close to places to eat and shop!! Crystal Shores is nice and knew who went there with their two older boys in their twenties and they liked it.