With Waco, TX as our next extended stop, our route from southern Georgia into the heart of Texas took us along the Gulf Coast. We’ve had little experience exploring that particular region of the United States, with the exception of a couple trips to New Orleans in the past and a handful of work excursions for Ashley to Corpus Christi while we still maintained our desk jobs.

As our established pattern clearly indicates our preference for state parks, I searched through potential candidates until discovering three choices along the way. Through a combination of timing with spring break and changing locations on a weekend, spaces were limited at our first overnight destination in Gulf Shores, AL.

We booked just one single night at Gulf State Park since every site was taken for the weekend, arriving on a dreary, overcast Thursday afternoon with the forecast threatening storms later in the evening. Driving over the bridges into Gulf Shores conjured images of the Florida Keys, with water spanning either side, pastel-hued buildings clumped together along the shore, and private RV parks scattered along the way. The skyline boasts taller hotels than the Keys and our early impression stirred memories of the beaches back east like Ocean City and Rehoboth. With plenty of time to spare before the designated check-in time at the park, we stopped at a grocery store in town to restock and decided to snag lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Moe’s Original Bar B Que was founded in Colorado in 2001 by three men from Alabama, and has since blossomed into over 60 locations throughout the US and Mexico. We normally shy away from chains, but Moe’s smokes a variety of meats on premises and makes all sides in-house, so we thought we’d give it a shot. Plus, I was hungry for barbecue anyway. The Gulf Shores location feels distinctly like a mom-and-pop kind of place, with a small dining area and counter-service ordering station inside. A large sand “beach” area behind the restaurant features picnic tables and an outdoor stage for bands. Nothing was happening outside early on a Thursday afternoon, so we ordered from the fairly crowded interior and took our food to a picnic table outside to enjoy the fresh air.

We ordered a pulled pork sandwich, loaded with tangy sauce, coleslaw, and pickles, a fried shrimp po’ boy, and homemade corn bread dressing with cranberry sauce and okra with stewed tomatoes on the side. The food was great, flavorful and well-portioned, while offering a taste of the local culture. The prices were reasonable, especially considering we were in a clearly tourist-oriented area. If you’re visiting Gulf Shores and in the mood for barbecue or just a quick lunch, check out the Orange Beach location of Moe’s Original and grab a seat outside to eat with your toes in the sand.

Having filled the refrigerator and then our stomachs, we steered the RV back onto the road toward Gulf State Park. We knew we wouldn’t get a fair impression of the park with only one night scheduled for our stay, so we tried to remain open-minded as we pulled in and saw an RV storage lot beside the ranger station. Apparently people park their RVs in a rented space for short-term storage, then arrive on the weekends in their cars, move their RV to a campsite, spend a couple of days by the beach, then move their rig back into the storage area before driving back home. This was the first time we’ve seen this at a state park, but we’re still novice RVers so maybe this practice is more wide-spread than we are aware. It also explains why I had a hard time finding a vacant site for the weekend (although I didn’t make reservations very far in advance, to be fair).

Gulf State Park is massive, with 496 full hook-up sites and 11 primitive sites. We parked in site 490, close to the park entrance and along the canal offering boat access to Middle Lake. This was the most expensive state park we’ve visited, understandably so thanks to its proximity to the ocean just a short walk or bike ride away from the campground. Visitors can access the beach by traveling out of the park and crossing a single road before following a boardwalk across the dunes leading to the ocean. A second boardwalk in the campground leads across the boat canal and to what appears to be bridge access crossing the road and to the beach, but this was under construction and closed to public access during our visit.

We barely saw any of the park itself, since our site was close to the entrance and our time was limited. The campground was quiet overnight, but our site was in an isolated finger so I can’t comment on what the more populated loops might be like. The facilities were clean and in good condition, and the park boasts volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, and a swimming pool (none of which we saw in person). The park has free WiFi, which was pretty slow, and I think our Verizon service worked fine – but again, we didn’t really use the connectivity much during our single night there. Park visitors gain access to a fishing pier located outside of the main entrance, the usual fee to use the pier waived for overnight campers. We strolled the boardwalk in the campground on the evening of our arrival, then enjoyed a walk on the beach the next morning accompanied by freshly-ground French press coffee made with beans from Baby’s in Key West that we keep stashed away in the RV. The attraction of Gulf State Park is clearly the location, with miles of sandy beach across from the campground and easy access to the touristy downtown area. The park also offers numerous trails through the marsh and back country, which we hope to explore sometime in the future.

This visit was a departure from our traditional view of what to expect in a state park. We weren’t in the woods surrounded by trees, although the park is certainly located in a picturesque environment of marshlands, waterways, and sand dunes. If we were visiting Gulf Shores as though taking a vacation, the state park would be an ideal place to spend a week and soak up sun on the beach. We certainly enjoyed our brief overnight stop, and recommend Gulf State Park to other RVers with the condition that we had limited experience here and saw only a tiny peek of the park at large. Depending on your route to the park, Gulf Shores Parkway tends to get congested on the weekends so people recommend the Foley Beach Express in and out of Gulf Shores. The expressway does have a toll bridge just before entering town, but if you exit early (or enter later?) you can avoid the bridge and not get stuck paying the toll or wasting a bunch of time sitting in traffic.

Our route along the coast continued into Mississippi, with that tale coming up in Part 2 of this series, but we made one more stop after leaving Gulf State Park. Heading west out of the park and then turning north toward the town of Foley, we made a pit stop at Big Beach Brewing on the way out of town (haven’t mentioned any brewery visits lately, so it seems we’re a bit overdue). Big Beach is the southernmost brewery in Alabama, located a short turn away from the Gulf Shores Parkway. The brewery has a moderately-sized gravel parking lot, and we didn’t have any trouble parking Cecil shortly after lunchtime on a Friday.

The brewery features year-round classic styles from brown ales to IPAs, as well as a handful of more unique seasonal offerings like a hefeweizen, a cream stout, and even a sour ale. Ashley and I shared a flight while enjoying the sunny taproom and chatting with the brewer for a bit. The brewery serves beers onsite in a tank to tap system, meaning the finished beers are stored in 300 gallon vessels that feed directly to the taps – no kegs involved, at least for the year-round offerings. They do keg their beer for distribution to local bars and restaurants, however, the beer served at the brewery pours fresh from the storage vessels in the main brewing area. We eventually decided on a growler fill (I chose their IPA, which was light enough to drink a couple at a time while having enough hop character to remain interesting), and Ashley adorned said growler with her handmade granny square growler sweater. The brewery features live music and special events, and I can only assume it draws a sizable crowd on the weekends especially during tourist season. Check it out if you’re in town and looking for solid brews of traditional styles.

Our journey along the Gulf Coast continues in the next installment. See you then!