It’s football season and that means Bloody Marys and cheese straws. No one does cheese straws better than Jimmy Dill. His cheese straws are so famous that he started Tailgate Cheese Straws. Jimmy and his wife Paige, decided to start Tailgate later in life and it’s been quite the ride.

It had been a pretty big night. With the sun finally shining, we dusted ourselves off and flip-flopped our way into Playa at Sportsman Marina in Orange Beach. It was the first sunny day we had experienced in a month of Sundays, literally, and chose to sit on the porch and watch the boats go by.

Stephanie Easterling is the owner of Wildflowers Floral Design in Fairhope. It’s a bustling place full of people, flowers, and merchandise for the home. Twenty-two years ago, Stephanie came to Fairhope for a Mardi Gras weekend and was hooked. Stephanie says she was inspired by the flower beds in Fairhope. “The town was absolutely beautiful, like a Norman Rockwell painting.”

As we hung up the phone, Taylor Atchison was walking into a Mobile Planning Commission meeting where he serves as one of its commissioners. At stake is the future of the Mobile Civic Center. Taylor was invited to be on this commission by Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson who based his choice on Taylor’s experience in redeveloping several successful projects in Mobile’s historic areas.

Field trippin’ along Scenic 98 is one of my favorite things to do. I like seeing what crops are ready to harvest, cows in beautiful pastures, and crossing bridges to check on rivers and bays along the way. Linda and I will run down to Bon Secour whenever we get a chance and stop by Billy’s Seafood. Situated at the end of the road on the west side of Bon Secour River, past Tin Top Restaurant, Billy’s is an authentic boat-to-market place.

The Pearl & Horn is another great restaurant in Pensacola. This weekend, we did a bit of damage at the Palafox Market Saturday morning, before putting our name on the list for lunch at a new restaurant from the folks at George’s Bistro & Bar. Chef George and his wife, Luba, gave the community something special when they opened George’s Bistro & Bar in uptown Pensacola. Pearl & Horn is their newest creation that highlights their cultural food experience and brings the area something to talk about.

U.S. Highway 98 was initially built in 1933 as a route from Pensacola to Apalachicola. It has since been extended, and now runs 964 miles southeast from Natchez, Mississippi to Palm Beach, Florida. Beginning at the Causeway in Mobile, heading east, Scenic 98 hugs some of the most beautiful coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico to St. Marks, Florida. This is a drive worth taking.

When I was a boy, my grandmother, who was a phenomenal “country-cooking-at-its-finest cook” came to visit from North Carolina, she would bring me a large tin of homemade Toll House cookies. She brought more than one tin for the rest of the family, but this one was mine, and I carried them around with me until the last one was gone. My love for chocolate chip cookies knows no bounds.

Ten years ago, a small group of young, professional, enterprising men and women from both sides of the Bay and all walks of life came together to create an organization. Their goal was to make a difference in the lives of young people, to level the playing field so to speak.

My grandfather, a dentist in Mobile, was a speckled trout fishing enthusiast, even though he was allergic to trout. Before the Dauphin Island bridge was constructed, fishing trips involved loading an outboard motor, gas tanks, trawl net, tackle, ice box, etc. into a car and driving to Cedar Point, renting a skiff, and outfitting it. A trip to Sand Island was a big day.

One of my favorite activities in the Fall in Fairhope is the Live at Five Concert Series It is so much fun to pack your cooler and your lawn chairs, gather your friends, and set up the perfect spot to experience an outdoor concert. 

I find wedding planning an interesting process. It’s chaotic and stressful on so many levels. Most planning involves the bride, the bride’s mother, the mother of the groom, and, on occasion, the groom himself. But what about the father of the bride? What’s his reward at the end of the day? He’s usually the afterthought until it comes time to pay the bills.

On a sultry, First Friday Art Walk evening in August, we met some friends at The Book Cellar to listen to some great music and to see who was out and about. As the event space for Page & Palette, The Book Cellar is becoming the go-to place for music, drink, and author events. There’s an author event this evening that I wish I could attend featuring Rinker Buck as he will tell tales of his “Huck Finn” style adventures in Life on the Mississippi. It starts at 6:00, but arrive early to get a good seat, meet friends and chat over a cool libation.

I once heard someone say, “Hurricanes are devastating, but every time one hits, we recover, and we make things better.” JR McKinny might agree. He and his wife, Barre, own It’s Tamale Time in Phenix City, Alabama. How they got there is a fascinating story.

It's so much fun to go out for drinks with girlfriends and Downtown Fairhope has many excellent places to imbibe. The newest addition to the GNO (girls' night out ) scene is The Monkey Bar on Section Street. Ellen Semple, the owner, acquired the old PNC bank building and renovated it to open Five Gold Monkeys, a boutique store specializing in fine furniture, fabric, accessories, and gifts. This is the second location of the store, the first being in Mobile.

I had never heard of Cardio Tennis until my daughter-in-law suggested it would be a good subject for a fitness article. She’s a bit of a fitness freak, so I knew there had to be something to it. Turns out it’s a real global thing. So, I checked around to find out if there were any programs in the Scenic 98 Coastal area. There are!

So, it was with the trip billed as our “Last Hoorah,” the finale in a series of adventures that began 16 years ago with a trip to Florida and the Keys and included romps through the Northeast from Niagara Falls to Maine to the Statue of Liberty, a hair-raising climb through the Rockies including Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and fishing Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, a look at the Grand Canyon and Death Valley and a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley with a trek up the West Coast into the great Northwest to a whale watching expedition in the San Juan Straits.

In 1966, my brother did his senior architectural thesis on the redevelopment of Dauphin Street in Mobile. Fast forward fifty years and the transformation is almost complete. We caught up with Charles Morgan, owner of Chuck’s Fish, Five Mobile, and El Papi Mexican on Dauphin Street to get his thoughts on Mobile’s future. First, a little bit about Charles.

Jon Robitaille founded Bay Cities Improv Company in 2013 because of his love for the art of improvisational comedy. He studied improv at Carolina Improv in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina before moving to Fairhope. At the time, there was no improv in the area at all.

We recently learned about a new 8-room hotel in the historic district of downtown Pensacola, Oyster Bay Boutique Hotel. On a recent visit to Pensacola, we decided to drop by, and we are glad we did! We met Jessica Berry, who gave us a tour of the property located at 400 Bayfront Parkway. At first sight, it feels like a place to come to relax and enjoy.

Years ago, my friend, Harris Brown, and I fished around Dauphin Island in high school and college in a 16’ Stauter. He has always been a much better fisherman than I am, and it was his boat. Since I had a summer construction job, we would drive to the island and fish late afternoons. The deal was I would buy the gas and he would charge a pair of flip-flops at Ben Burgers for both of us to avoid the sand spurs when launching and retrieving the boat. Well worth it.

There is nothing like being on the open water as the sun is setting and feeling cool breezes on your face. That’s when the sky’s colors begin to paint a magnificent masterpiece that is as brilliant on Mobile Bay as any place in the world. Middle Bay Sailing Charters helps you do just that in style.

This may be the inscription at the entrance to Hell, but it’s also the motto of Pirates Cove Yacht Club, home to the most heavenly cheeseburgers and divine Bushwackers this side of Perdido Bay. Sitting right on the water in Josephine, Alabama on Roberts Bayou, Pirates Cove is the least pretentious, best dive beach bar in the world! As one Louisiana patron says: “There are no uppity pinky-in-the-air people here.”

On a tip from Dana Proctor at FIT 360, I headed down to the Fairhope Public Beach a few weeks ago to catch up with Danial Ware, team rider and ambassador for Cabrinha Kites.