(Ed has met me - so you are welcome for that image!)
My ears were tingling....
Oh Marty, Gulf Shores (and its neighbor on the coast, Orange Beach) pride themselves on being family friendly. Our little corner of the Redneck Riviera was made for family fun.
First, there is plenty to do to occupy a family with teenagers. The locals have lots of talent in separating pale Yankees from their hard earned dollars during a trip to the beach. You can always hit the local tourism website
www.gulfshores.com.
Here are my thoughts in the order they come to me in:
- GS/OB are family friendly to the point they take extra measures during spring break time. A couple years ago, the college crowd over in Panama City got a little rough with some ladies in daylight on the beach and booze was a factor. PC cracked down with restrictions and laws over the winter and the crowd looked for someplace else to go like GS/OB. Our locals were caught unprepared but passed a no-alcohol-on-the-beach law and other policies to discourage the college crowd and for the recent years the college crowd has been going elsewhere. It is strictly enforced. Here is a recent story for GS/OB.
http://gulfcoastnewstoday.com/stories/gulf-shores-approves-spring-break-alcohol-ban,55627
- what would a family vacation be without going to the outlet mall to shop? The town just north of GS, Foley, has the Tanger Outlet Stores. You could easily spend a day (and some coin) wandering around there saying, "ooh, I need one of those" or "hey, I don't have that yet". Just mention tiggerdad's name and you'll get the Valet/Club Level treatment if you spend over $300 there (tiggerdad's statue is reportedly being planned for center court by the bench next to the merry go round).
https://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley
- a small amusement park has been built to be a fun destination for kids and families in Foley. It's only been open a year or two and with older kids, I have no direct knowledge of it. But it's right next to the mega complex of soccer fields and indoor building that attract sports kids tournaments (and families). It's called The Park at OWA.
https://visitowa.com/
- in Gulf Shores down by the beach is a small water park and some amusement type rides. It's been around for over 40 years. Waterville. Near it is a small zoo.
https://watervilleusa.com/ .
https://www.alabamagulfcoastzoo.com/
- If you're a history buff, you might enjoy a visit out to Fort Morgan (about 20 miles west of GS), an old Civil War fort across the mouth of Mobile Bay from Fort Gaines over on Dauphin Island. It's pretty deserted out there but interesting and because it's more removed, I have found that the beach at Fort Morgan is excellent for finding shells (some big ones). It was here that Admiral Farragut uttered the phrase, "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead".
http://fort-morgan.org/
Next to Fort Morgan is the Mobile Bay Ferry dock which will take walk-on and drive-on passengers over to Dauphin Island, a small barrier island/town on the western shore of Mobile Bay. About the only tourist thing is the Estuarium (an estuary is a body of water [Mobile Bay] where the salt water ocean meets the fresh water river. It has some touch tanks and is interesting if you are into what lives in the local waters. It's small but interesting.
http://www.disl.org/Estuarium .
http://mobilebayferry.com/
- Not far away from Gulf SP is Pensacola Naval Air Station (Pensacola NAS) which is home to the Naval Aviation Museum (P-NAS is the home of the precision Navy flying team, the Blue Angels). It's a nice museum and best thing is it's free (your tax dollars at work) to visit with only an up-charge for the 3-d movie, etc. Check the schedule at the museum website to see if you can catch the Angels on one of their practice days there at NAS.
https://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/
- We have our share of go-cart tracks, putt putt courses, ice cream shops, and seafood restaurants. We got tacky t-shirt stores and silly souvenir stores. Movie theaters, sports bars, even a ferris wheel over at The Wharf in OB. It's shop-dine-entertainment (mostly shop but they have an amphitheater that brings concerts acts in).
https://alwharf.com/
- Of course I love my Gulf State Park especially now with its pool and walking/bike trails. It looks like now they limit to booking one year in advance. We have our DISMeet in the front part where Bobcat/Sumac/Live Oak roads are (sites 1-103 basically). I like the sites on Live Oak Rd, either the lake front sites (14-21) which are full sun no shade but have an unobstructed view of the lake, the Beach Pavilion beyond, and a beautiful sunrise. In March those sites are great. Or across the road from the lake on Live Oak (where I like to camp) under the big old oak trees (sites 8-30). Book as early as when you know your dates. Gulf has a fishing pier (free access for campers) and it's fun to walk out there and watch the professionals catch fish.
https://www.alapark.com/gulf-state-park
https://www.alapark.com/gulf-state-park-campground-maps-site-specific
- There is a network of publicly accessible bike/walk trails that are attached to the campground that make for a great place to bike in the cool weather. It's referred to as the Backcountry Trail.
http://backcountrytrail.com/
- There are some marinas over in OB that access the Gulf and me/DW want to try a dolphin cruise from there.
- There is a small but active seafood/fishing community in Mobile Bay based around Dauphin Island (on the western shore far from GS) and also in Bon Secour (on the eastern shore near GS). As in, the boat ties up to the dock and they sell their catch right there in a little store (plus supply the local seafood stores and restaurants). Think Forest Gump catching shrimp on the Jenny and selling it off the dock. I'll drive out to Bon Secour to Billy's Seafood (there are a couple out there) and pick out something fresh to cook on the grill. It's a little cheaper than the shops around GS/OB and, of course, fresher. Bring a cooler and they'll throw in the ice. Or take a cooler full home with you.
http://www.billys-seafood.com/
Other than that, I got nothin' to tell ya.
Bama Ed
PS - okay DISMeet buds and bud-ettes, what did I forget?
Ed you nailed this! 
and then I'll create the Gulf DIS Meet #4 thread.
