Review of Gulf Shores, Alabama: An unexpectedly beautiful place with beaches, free bike rentals, and awesome hiking/biking trails!
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| Gulf State Park, Alabama |
As much travel my wife and I have done throughout the years, one of the most overlooked states to spend time in was Alabama and quite possibly Mississippi. Why these two states? I guess there’s this unspoken rule about the Deep South as being an unsafe and uninviting place for immigrants (from South Korea) like us. Because of that, it’s a place we hadn’t seriously considered visiting as a travel destination.
Of course with our winter cross country road trip going from North Carolina to Southern California, our perception of the Deep South started to change for the better when we got to spend a week in Biloxi, Mississippi. We were pleasantly surprised and impressed by all the amazing attractions near the city even during the off-season winter months.
We truly enjoyed our time there eating delicious Po-Boys (shrimp and fish), gumbos, and various seafoods! Oh, staying at the excellent 4 star rated hotel, Beau Rivage, didn’t hurt either. We felt welcomed there, and realized our perceptions and prejudices of the place were uncalled for…
As we were planning our trip to the Deep South again during our second big road trip (winter 2023-2024) since our early retirement, we had no qualms about visiting one of the most popular destinations in all of Alabama, Gulf Shores. Located at the very southern edge of the state of Alabama in the Gulf Coast, it encompasses roughly 28 square miles.
Gulf Shores is known for sugar-white sand beaches, along with plenty of water based activities, and biking/hiking. It offers multitude of dining/lodging/shopping options all within city limits.
As we left the fun filled two days at Destin behind, with a brief stopover at the Air Force Armament Museum, we slowly moved closer to the Florida/Alabama border. We continued westbound taking Route 98, and by the time we crossed over into Alabama, passing Perdido Key, we started to notice tall high rise buildings including hotels and condominiums.
The place looked as if we were back in Honolulu Hawaii where we spent over 2 years living there, with similarly sized tall condominiums, mega resorts, and beautiful hotels. We were frankly taken aback by how developed the area was.
We drove past Orange Beach, seeing many visitors along the main thoroughfare, Route 182/Perdido Beach Blvd. It was such a quintessential summer day in a beautiful beach resort town: There were small food shacks along the main boulevard, as well as the multitude of ubiquitous tourist traps like the gift shops selling local themed clothing and knickknacks. It felt awesome to see the hum of activity on the first day of the year!
Amazed by the surroundings, we moved along until we passed the Gulf State Park. In the distance, we noticed several bicyclists riding along the long wooden boardwalk on our right, and thought that maybe we can do something similar during our 6 nights/7 days stay at Gulf Shores.
We felt giddy with excitement seeing those bicyclists riding along that beautiful elevated boardwalk. After a minute or so later, we turned right at Highway 59/Gulf Shores Parkway, then arrived at our hotel, StayBridge Suites.
We had never stayed at StayBridge Suites before, and we weren’t expecting much. The check in process didn’t help, as it was unremarkable thanks to the front desk staff member who clearly didn’t want to be there. She barely acknowledged my presence, and she nonchalantly handed me over the keys to our room. Such is the level of service these days.
I’m not surprised by lack of service. Rather, I’m surprised when the service is good. How times have changed…
We took the elevator to the second floor, then found our room, just ahead of the elevator, on left. We opened the door to our room, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice the room was!
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| Queen bed with beautiful decor |
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| Full kitchen! |
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| Sofabed as well |
The room was huge, with a full kitchen, Queen bed, a sofabed, and two large windows! We couldn’t believe how big the room was. At around $105 per night with taxes, we felt we were getting a good deal.
We unpacked, took relaxing showers, then sat on the comfortable sofa with our legs extended out onto the ottoman. Oh, I forgot to mention the two decaf coffees we had in our hands while we sat on the same sofa. Life was good indeed…
As we settled in to our new home for the next 7 days, while enjoying the warm breeze of Gulf Shores on the very first day of the year, we thought about what the next few days would bring. Let’s go, Gulf Shores!
The following morning, we decided to try our hands at the free shared bicycle rides at the Gulf State Park. After doing some research, I found out we just need to download an app called “Bloom Bike Share App”.
With that important information we headed out towards the park, and parked where the park headquarters /visitor center was. At the information desk, a friendly staff member told us where the shared bikes are located.
We found out the closest one to the park office was right next door, at the Woodside Restaurant. We walked on over to the restaurant, then found the shared bikes right in front of it.
After downloading the Bloom Bike Share App using the QR Code right on the bicycle handle bars, we created accounts. We found the app bit buggy, as my wife’s shared bike wouldn’t release the lock automatically the first time. At least I was a luckier with mine…
After fighting with the app for several minutes, reinstalling the app, then retrying it, it finally worked! We were finally on our way to explore the beautiful bike trail we had seen on our way to the hotel.
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| Shared bikes at the Woodside Restaurant |
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| One of the bicycles we rented |
We took off along Route 2, not caring which way we would end up. Lucky for us, we chose the right path, that takes us towards the beach and that nice elevated boardwalk we had seen the previous day.
The trail was fantastic with only few riders/joggers/hikers visible that day. We counted our blessings that we were riding bicycles on the second day of the year, with temperatures in the 60’s! Wow…
With nice refreshing wind in our faces, we slowly rode our bikes, enjoying the sunshine, the fresh air, and the views. We made several stops along the way to check out several points of interest, like this below.
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| Nice views from an observation deck |
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| Gulf Shores high rises visible on left |
At the observation deck, we met up with a nice couple who were residents of Alabama, spending few days at the Gulf Shores. We all commented how beautiful the park is, especially on bicycles, and of course, on how the nice weather was, which is not the case in the Northeast this time of the year.
After saying goodbye, we went our separate ways. We continued on the trail, then encountered a fork in the road. Option One was to continue going straight along the same road, or Option Two, was to cross the road and take the trail that seemed to go left of the road.
We decided to go straight, crossing over a small bridge over a stream. After about 5 minutes or so, we noticed the trail abruptly ended, and we now had to get on the road along with automobiles. No big deal.
We were about to hit the main thoroughfare, Route 182/Alabama Coastal Connection. We crossed the road, and ended up at the Branyon Beach.
We got our first taste of the Gulf Shores, with its white sands and the awesome blue-green ocean! We were so glad we were in Gulf Shores!
We carried on after few minutes to check out the Gulf State Park’s Pavilion, just about two minutes away from where we were. We got there in no time.
As we approached the Pavilion area of the park, we finally figured out where the elevated boardwalk was located. It was across the road from the Pavilion, using the walkway. Nice!
We stopped for a quick pit stop at the park, then sat atop a wooden swinging chair by the sign below. It was nice to stop and carelessly swing away on that chair while taking in the surroundings for awhile…
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| Gulf State Park Pavilion |
We got back up to start to head back to where we started. We crossed the road using the elevated bridge/pedestrian/bicycle walkway to get on the boardwalk. It was awesome!
We picked up some speed as the bridge descended on to the other side, then kept going. Scenery was epic with marshes filled with birds and dragonflies. Air was crisp and fresh on January 2nd, and we were enjoying this beautiful weather on a Tuesday morning, very thankful we no longer need to work.
We passed a RV park/campground with close to 20 RV’s settled in, with people hanging outside their vehicles enjoying the sun. We pressed on, getting back on the same trail we had started out from. Along the way, we stopped for a short break at a rest area with nice views. See below.
After this final stop, we got back to the same place we borrowed the two bikes, then followed instructions to return the bicycles. Returning the bicycles were easier than taking them out, and we were done in under 2 minutes. Nice!
What a fun day of riding free shared bicycles at Gulf Shores. It was something we’ll never forget.
In conclusion:
We were very impressed with Gulf Shores. Our first impression was that of Honolulu with high rises, hotels, and restaurants along the main drag, but it continuously got better the longer we stayed there.
The beaches were clean and beautiful with that unforgettable white sand. Gulf Shores is a truly wonderful beach resort town that is upscale, well maintained, and has plenty of attractions nearby.
One of our favorite attractions there has to be the free shared bicycle program at the Gulf State Park. We got to enjoy the area for close to 3 hours, riding along designated bike trails with fantastic views along the way.
It was a great introduction to the area, and we will surely be going back there in our future travels. Thank you for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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