By Gina Lanaux

It’s late September, my weather app says the wind is blowing 17 MPH out of the Northeast, it's 76 degrees and it feels chilly. (Full disclosure, a hurricane in the Gulf exacerbates these conditions.) My first visit to May Day Park at the end of College Avenue in Daphne blows my mind and the wind blows my hair and the Spanish Moss in the ancient oak trees.

A delightful spot right on Mobile Bay, the park has a bandstand, pier, playground, picnic tables, and a boat launch. This is the setting for the Brown Bag by the Bay Concert Series, sponsored by the City of Daphne. 

The late Catt Sirten started the Brown Bag Concert series in 1985 in Mobile, with shows in Daphne soon after, and it is one of the longest-running concert series on the Gulf Coast. Every Thursday during September and October, from 11:30 to 1:30 pm, happy people bring their lunch and enjoy music for a middle-of-the-day treat. 

This day, Eric Erdman is on the bandstand playing original songs for a diverse audience. There are working folks on their lunch break, young mothers with babies in wagons, and neighborhood residents, all picnicking at tables or spreading blankets and chairs on the grass.  

Eric engages the crowd with love songs, my favorite lyric about a lover's quarrel, “We’ve been down this road before, and I've enjoyed the drive.”  More and more listeners arrive, and I revel in the fact that this is another free, fabulous community event that makes the quality of life scale go higher and higher. It is no wonder why everybody wants to move here. 

A plaque at the park reminds visitors that this coastline has been inhabited as far back as 9000 years by native people. As I sit in a swing on the beach, enjoying nature and music, two of my favorite things, I am thankful that the City of Daphne has preserved this natural endowment for us to enjoy. Another visit is on my calendar. 

The musical lineup for upcoming Thursdays will be: 

October 3: Symone French

October 10: Eden & Raul

October 17: Camm Lewis

October 24: Emily Stuckey

October 31: Red Gate Road

With the weather cooling off, and October’s bright blue skies on the horizon, grab your friends and coworkers, pack or get a take-out lunch, and experience the pleasure of music and nature together. Your lunch hour will be better for it!