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Polk Summer Vacations in Gulf Shores Alabama

Peach season is in full swing in South Georgia and I love fresh peaches.  We live in the heart of fruit and vegetable farming and fresh peaches are only a few miles from our home and we often go to Barney GA peach sheds to buy peaches and eat peach ice cream which is sooo good. 

Peaches always remind me of our family vacations to Gulf Shores. Daddy had planted a peach orchard on our farm and after mama had canned and frozen all we could eat, we sold them. Daddy would pick them before he went to work and we would put them in baskets and sell them by the peck and bushel at ridiculously low prices compared to today. 

When we had sold all the peaches, we would use the money for our summer vacation to Gulf Shores Al.  This was the highlight of our year.

Some of our friends would go to Gulf Shores, AL, others to Panama City, FL, or to the mountains. But until I was a teenager, our summer vacations were to Mississippi to visit our grandparents. This changed as we grew older and some of our grandparents died and we began the annual Gulf Shores trip.  

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There was a little motor court or motel just across the inland waterway into Gulf Shores and we always stayed there.  Can’t remember the name of the lady who managed it but she always had us a loaf of homemade bread in our cottage.  Of course, Daddy carried her fresh tomatoes and other vegetables from our garden so it was a good swap.  It was not fancy or the closest to the beach but it was not expensive and very clean.  We thought it was wonderful for we didn’t stay in motels very often.  We didn’t mind the short drive to the beach or the walk if Mama and Daddy were too slow getting ready to play in the water.

The beaches on the Gulf Coast are beautiful with white sand and blue waters and we swam and played in the surf for hours.  Mama would insist we go back to the motel about 11 o’clock, eat dinner, take a nap and go back to the beach about 3 or 4 PM.  She had this idea that you couldn't swim for about an hour after you had eaten and we would grumble a little but you didn’t argue with our mama.  So lunch and a nap it was.  

We carried lots of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and other fresh vegetables from the garden and tomato sandwiches and other goodies that Mama had baked were so good.  We seldom ate in a restaurant but that was OK with us because our Mama was an excellent cook.  The treat for the week was when Daddy would go to the shrimp boats and buy fresh shrimp for Mama to cook.  Some were fried and most were boiled for us to enjoy and eat too much.  It was good eating!!!  That was one of the highlights of the week. 

At night we would go down to the beach to the small entertainment area and ride in the bumper cars.  Daddy would have a big old stinky cigar in his mouth and would drive like a demon with a big grin on his face as he tried to bump us off the track.  He enjoyed this immensely and we would all laugh and laugh at him but he was enjoying himself and we were too.  Mama would stand on the sidelines and laugh but did not ride. Not sure why but I think she thought it would be unlady-like. Mama was a real “Southern Lady” from head to toe. 

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One of our side trips during the week would be Fort Morgan.  These are the remains of this Confederate fort which helped guard the Mobile Bay area during the War Between the State. It was always cool wandering around the ruins and chasing each other through the echoing passages.  Arvin and Sam, my brothers, would play like soldiers with sticks for guns and have battles of war.  Fun and funny because we had super imaginations and could see the bullets flying and hear the sound of the guns.  Of course, the Confederates always won.

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With all these fun activities, the beach was the main attraction and loved every minute we played in the Gulf.  Our vacation was always too short and we would hate to leave but we were anticipating the next year when after the peaches were gone, we would head back to Gulf Shores for the best week of the year.  

That’s all for today,

The Georgia Peach 

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