As we celebrated the New Year, we realized that our three month stay in Foley was half way done and there were still a few things we wanted to do. This post is kind of a hodge-podge of our adventures from late November through the end of January. There isn’t really any order or structure to it so we apologize for the lack of organization and hope to get back to regular, chronological posts going forward.
One big thing that happened at the end of November is that I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. I went in for my regular physical and annual bloodwork and was given the news. My doctor was really wonderful and explained everything to me really well and gave me some great information about management options and dietary changes. My A1C (the measure of your overall blood sugar for the last 2-3 months) was at 7.7. A normal A1C is less than 5.7. The range from 5.7 to 6.4 is considered “Prediabetes” and anything 6.5 or over means that you are diabetic. My doctor and I decided that, with my lifestyle and my aversion to needles, we would try managing my diabetes through diet changes only and reevaluate in one month. I started watching my carbs and tracking all of my meals. John has been really helpful in supporting me and helping to find and cook a ton of diabetic friendly or Keto recipes.
Of course this would have to happen over the holiday season which made it extra hard but when I went back to the doctor on December 23 for my first follow-up appointment, I had managed to drop my A1C back to 6.1 which is in the “Prediabetes” range and a really good improvement. The doctor was impressed and we agreed to continue on the same course and do another check in 2 months. She even gave me permission to have occasional “cheat days” which really helped to get me through Christmas and New Year’s. We will still be trying new restaurants and eating good foods that we will post about but they will be healthier meals or, if they aren’t on the healthy side, those meals will be less frequent.
On the fun front, we explored the nearby town of Fairhope. We visited a huge antique shop and several smaller shops including two bookstores in the Fairhope French Quarter area. We grabbed lunch at Ox Kitchen – a Po’Boy sandwich with a side salad and a burger with waffle fries- and it was delicious.
We also visited the Henry Stuart House in Tolstoy Park. Henry Stuart was an English immigrant who moved to the area after being diagnosed with tuberculosis and advised by his doctor to seek a warmer climate. He purchased 10 acres which he named Tolstoy Park and built his circular, domed brick house in 1926. The house is about 14 feet in diameter and is even smaller than our tiny house! The house is now surrounded by an office park and parking lot but is open to the public for free. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
We also made a visit to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores. This is a smaller zoo but they have a decent variety of animals including one we have never seen in a zoo before- the New Guinea Singing Dog (which just looks like a cute regular dog). The zoo originally opened in 1989 but moved further inland in 2018 after having to evacuate its animals for three separate hurricanes over the years! They currently have giraffes, lemurs, lions, cheetahs, a wolf, a bear, the New Guinea Singing Dogs, the biggest alligator I have ever seen, and a variety of bird, reptile, and primate species.
While we were at the Gulf Coast Zoo, we also did the Lemur encounter! This was around $25 extra per person in addition to our admission and we spent about 15 minutes in with the lemurs. The staff gave us biscuits to feed them but they weren’t really interested in those. We did get to pet two handsome gentleman named Butterfingers and Avocado and learn all about them. We also got to hear them “talk”- they make the cutest little noises that sound like a cat meowing.
We realized that we had been in the area for almost two months and had only visited the beach once so we also made a trip down to one of the public beaches in Gulf Shores. The weather was only in the 50’s but we still rolled up our pants and waded along the shore looking for seashells. Because of the cooler weather, there weren’t too many people around. The people we did meet there were really friendly and we spent some time talking to them about local birds, fishing and shell hunting and even traded a few shells with one lady.
The other big adventure that happened during this time period was the snow! We came to southern Alabama rather than spending the winter at our property in Michigan so that we could avoid the snow. We have spent the past two winters on the Gulf Coast and only experienced a handful of “cold” days. Our second move ever back in November of 2022 saw snow flurries on the trip from Southern Indiana to Shelbyville, TN. We suffered through a cold snap in Jackson back in December of 2022 where temperatures were below freezing for a few days and basically the whole city shut down because water lines were freezing and bursting. In January of 2024, we had a few days in the 30’s and 40’s with nights dipping below freezing and one day in Foley when the local schools actually cancelled due to freezing rain. For the most part, our winters have been pretty mild since we started travelling.
Imagine our surprise when the forecast was calling for snow! It was originally estimated to be between 2 and 4 inches. We were already unhooking our water every night while temperatures were below freezing and then hooking back up the next day when it got back above 32F but the day the snow was supposed to hit showed a high temperature of below freezing. Having grown up in Ohio, we are both very experienced at driving in the snow so we knew that we would be okay in an emergency if we had to go out but the thing to remember is that this area does not usually see snow. They don’t have road salt, they don’t have a whole fleet of plows, and their drivers are NOT experienced when it comes to driving in the snowy and icy conditions. We stocked up on a few essential groceries and planned to stay home to ride things out.
Harley and I started the morning by sitting outside and taking a walk around the campground just like we always do. The snow started around 11am and we walked outside to experience the first few flurries and delight in the fact the we were seeing snow for the first time in over two years.
We returned to the house and curled up on the couch while the snow continued to fall. We watched it build and build and build as it slowly covered the ground. The next time we went out, you could just barely see the tips of the grass as it poked through the growing layer of snow. We walked around, amazed by the fact that snow was collecting on the palm trees!
When everything was said and done, we ended up with almost 8 inches – an all-time record for this part of Alabama. The owner of our campground actually had to text John to shut off water to the whole park for him for the night because he had gone to check on his mom and they had closed the bridges so he couldn’t get back to the campground that night! Thankfully, it began melting the next day and was completely gone two days after that but it sure was magical and crazy while it lasted.
Before it all melted, John and I did make one more trip to the beach. We drove down to Orange Beach and had a snowball fight on the shore and built a little snowman looking out over the gulf. It just absolutely broke our brains to see patches of the snow sitting on top of the sand while the waves just kept rolling in.
While it was definitely fun to see the snow and play in it again, I am glad that it is over!
I want to end this post with a few amazing meals that we have enjoyed over the last few months. We have eaten at these places a few times each and really want to mention how amazing they are. The first is a place we have written about before called Lambert’s Cafe. We have visited the Foley location on previous visits and twice while we have been here this year and we visited one of the Missouri locations last year. This restaurant is home of the famous “Throwed Rolls”- giant, fluffy dinner rolls that are served to guests by being thrown to/at them from across the dining room. Bread isn’t great for diabetics but if I plan ahead I can eat a half of a roll at each visit and it is soooo worth the planning and extra work. We had the privilege of dining at Lambert’s with some friends that we made in Michigan last summer who were also wintering in the area and it was so much fun to watch them experience it for the first time!
The other two restaurants that we are kind of in love with right now are the Wacked Out Weiner (Foley location) and Cheeseburger Randy’s. The Wacked Out Weiner is only open for lunch but we have made sure to find the time to visit twice (hello, cheat days!). They have pretty much any topping imaginable that you would want to put on a hotdog. We both really love the Wacky Macky (macaroni, bbq sauce, and bacon). I also enjoyed the Beach Dog (pineapple, bacon and bbq sauce) although it is really wet and the bun ends up falling apart. John’s favorite is a custom dog with liquid cheese, jalapeno and bacon while I enjoy liquid cheese, bacon and onion on mine.
Cheeseburger Randy’s is a tiny little hole-in-the-wall that offers a bar and a few tables for dine-in but also does a lot of business in carryout orders. We ate there on our first visit but then have gotten carryout twice more. We don’t have a lot of pictures of their food because either the camera on the phone malfunctions resulting in just a black screen or we eat the food before we remember that we need a photo. I like the Cheeseburger with Randy style onions and John likes the JBC (jalapeno, bacon and cream cheese). They only offer a couple of burger options and for sides you can get onion rings, fries or “frings” (a combination of onion rings and fries). The menu may be small but everything is cooked to perfection and is absolutely delicious. Because their menu isn’t super diabetic friendly, we usually just get a burger from there and a side salad from Texas Roadhouse then eat it all at home. If you are going to cheat and eat a lot of carbs, an order of “frings” is the best way to go, though!
