Roman Street is the creation of two brothers, Noah and Joshua Thompson, who grew up on the Eastern Shore. Noah, now 39, picked up the guitar at the age of 15. He started taking classical guitar lessons in Mobile and auditioned for a scholarship to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee after graduating from Daphne High School.

Meet Courtney Dombroski, a self-described environmentalist who found a business she would love to own, and made it happen.. Born in Mobile, she spent three to four weekends a month during the summer with her parents in Gulf Shores at the beach, boating, and riding jet skis.

Linda and I have occasionally done business with Eastern Shore ACE Hardware in Spanish Fort over the years. Linda first discovered it while looking for nice wharf chairs for friends in Point Clear. I remember her telling me how nice the owner was, She did indeed have some chairs made and delivered, and they were a big hit, and are still in use today.

Did you know that there are 15 million people who live close enough to drive to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in a day? That’s a lot of folks who can enjoy the beautiful white sand beaches and warm temperatures for pretty much the entire year.

At the end of a long, hot summer, a group of eight friends journeyed to Italy and France in late August for a fantastic two-week experience. I will not bore you with all the details, but we were fortunate to have a seamless vacation with no problems with air travel, local transportation, food, or accommodations. We are very thankful for that!

It’s been my experience with so many Southerners possessing a discerning palate, that your average restaurant will be just a flash in the pan, or part of a conversation that goes something like, “What was that place before it became whatchamacallit?”

I thought about telling our three adult (and married) daughters, “If your dad ever retires, we’ve decided to move to Alaska and become homesteaders” just to see their reaction. Would they just roll their eyes, and talk among themselves about how their parents had lost their minds?

I’m beginning to better understand the nuances and relationships of the many organizations involved with conservation efforts in the Scenic 98 Coastal area. One that has been on my radar for a while is Coastal Conservation Association-Alabama. I met to get up to speed with its Executive Director, Blakeley Ellis at The Sloop in Gulf Shores.

With the high school and college football seasons in full swing, I could feel the excitement in Gerhard Mathangani’, the latest member of the sports teams at WKRG. He arrived in March 2023, just in time to get a good look at which Region 1 area high school teams have the potential to go the distance in this year’s state football competition.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded,” Yogi Berra Long-time professional baseball player and manager, Yogi Berra, famous for his jumbled sayings that always made a point seemed to say it best. “It ain’t over til it’s over,” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” are some of my favorites.

There is an old adage that goes something like “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” For Donnie and Lottie Barrett, this saying fits them to a “tea” (pun intended).

I met artist Melanie Grein at a First Friday Art Walk in Fairhope while listening to the Leavin’ Brothers entertain at The Book Cellar at Page and Palette. Sitting with some friends, she is a regular there, either with coffee in hand from Latte Da or taking in the music on a Monday night at the Book Cellar.

My good friend, Jeanie Miller, called me one day and asked if I would like to do a story about an enterprising young lady who started her own business from chicken scratch. I said, “Sure! Tell me about it.” Jeanie drives to Barnwell to pick up fresh farm eggs from the business owner, who happens to be eleven and recently entered the sixth grade.

One of the hallmarks of living in the Scenic 98 Coastal area is the abundance of great live performance venues. Nothing beats the real thing. Whether it's a beach bar, an outdoor amphitheater, a play on the Bluff, or a small community theater, there is plenty of great entertainment to enjoy throughout our communities.

Portside Advertising, located in Fairhope, Alabama, is focused on helping small businesses grow and expand by building a brand, clarifying their message, and effectively reaching a targeted audience.

“Living a creative life is exhilarating” “I believe in living a creative life. There is creativity in each of us — we just need to be open to the opportunities to tap into it.” says Suzanne Damrich, a native Mobilian and artist who “lives in the moment.”

When I think of healthcare in the Scenic 98 Coastal footprint, the first person I think of is Quint Studer. If you are not familiar with Quint, I encourage you to do a little research and hear his story. Now a resident of Pensacola with his wife Rishey, he is described as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-owner of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He is much more than that, I promise.

Remember all the essays we wrote in school comparing and contrasting various topics? We used those “blue books “ with lined pages and got cramps in our hands from writing in cursive. Do children even learn cursive anymore? My essay for today compares and contrasts beach destinations in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and our beloved Scenic 98 Coastal area.

Did you know that one of the strangest and most fascinating museums in the world is in Foley, Alabama? The Holmes Medical Museum, on the corner of Highway 59 and 98 in Foley at 111 West Laurel Avenue, is listed in Atlas Obscura as one of the top 15 strangest museums in the Yellowhammer State.

When two lifelong friends stumbled into a glass-blowing studio class simply because they needed one more humanities credit to complete their requirements at the University of South Alabama, they never imagined that it would lead them to launch a business they love.

“It’s All About the Weather “ Whether you like it or not, the weather dictates your landscape needs. I sat down with Jeremy Gilbert, owner of Southern Lawn and Landscape in the Scenic 98 Coastal area, to discuss the challenges of keeping a beautiful landscape beautiful.

The restaurant business can be a fickle enterprise, with lots of ups and some downs along the way. We have, in the Scenic 98 Coastal area, a fellow named Harry P. Johnson, who is an institution in the restaurant business, and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

After the extreme heat of summer that seems to have encompassed the world, a couple of weeks ago, we had a weekend respite in New Orleans. My Father’s Day gift this year was for Linda and me to be treated to dinner followed by a concert by Jackson Browne at the Saenger Theater. My three sons, Zeb, Bryan, and Matthew, took care of everything.

Victor Wright has spent his entire life in and around the waters that surround Pensacola. As a kid living in Pensacola Beach, he attended school in a house that a resident, Harry Gownes, let the Pensacola School System use. It was the only school on Pensacola Beach. In the 8th grade, his family moved to Gulf Breeze so that he could attend middle school.