Summer fishing trips are a favorite pastime for locals and visitors to the Scenic 98 Coastal area. The Orange Beach Billfish Classic kicks off the Gulf Coast Tournament Fishing season every year in May, and the Zeke’s Landing Charter Boat Billfish Tournament closes the season in early September. 

Joe LaBue played running back at the University of Alabama from 1970 through 1973. This was during the vaunted Wishbone attack era that Coach Paul Bryant perfected. You may remember his more famous teammate and fellow running back, Johnny Musso, The Italian Stallion. 

Are you fortunate enough to have a job you love so much that you never want to stop doing it? David Rainer does. His situation brings to mind the old joke about wondering what professional golfers do on vacation.‍

The search for a cheap, easy weekend getaway in early June led me to the Blackwater River State Park and an overnight canoe trip with a friend who regularly visits. After a hectic work week, quickly throwing camping/fishing gear in the car, and hitting the road without even Googling the Blackwater River, what awaited me was far different than what I had expected.

Andy MacDonald has a particular vision for his guitar shop in Stapleton, the iconic Picker’s Paradise. It should have a warm and welcoming vibe, for sure, and a strong focus on vintage instruments and traditional music.

Sometimes, we meet people who’ll rescue us from that earthly purgatory of sameness. 

Who remembers the story we did called Fish Christmas? Probably not many, I’d guess… It was early in our life as a newsletter. Ever since, I’ve wanted to catch up with Dr. Sean Powers, Director of the University of South Alabama's Stokes School of Marine & Environmental Sciences to learn more about their impact on the Scenic 98 Coastal area.

For generations of anglers, sailors, and shippers, the image of Middle Bay Light, as the locals call it, means you are about halfway across the Bay of Mobile. Built “up north,” the prefabricated house arrived in Mobile in 1885. Mobile Bay itself is quite shallow, and before the arrival of the lighthouse, the channel was marked with wooden stakes and barrels. n In the early 1880s, a 17-foot channel was dredged so large vessels could reach the Port of Mobile, and a lighthouse was deemed necessary to mark the channel.