A Small DIS Camping Meet Occurred Tonight

[bama_ed]

Howdy Fort campers.

In the last few trips of mine to the Fort I've made it a point to try to meet many of you DISsers in person. A Disney vacation involves a lot of planning for all of us with park days, meal reservations, and the unknown. But in between all those activities I've been able to say hello to some of you and putting a face with a name is a real treat for me. If you have any downtime on your next Fort vacation at all I'd encourage folks to find each other and build that relationship.

Although I'm not at the Fort tonight I did meet one of our Camping DISsers today. My family is spending a few days at Gulf State Park on the Alabama Gulf Coast and our poster Tiggerdad was here at the same time so I got to meet him. He fed our two families a spectacular shrimp boil and it was so good that my kids have asked me to learn how to do it. (although the "shrimp" had a slight gamey taste and there were no squirrels around his site anywhere now that I think about it ). Tiggerdad, I truly appreciate the hospitality.

I've read on here that some of you will be at the Fort around the middle of October this year and would encourage you to meet him and each other. However you can make it to visit and enjoy each other's company, I encourage you to try to make it happen. It is worth the effort.

I've enjoyed following all the DIS messages the last few days here via my tablet and hotspot phone. Ya'll keep it up and I look forward to reading more.

Bama Ed

PS - and yes, in case you were wondering, TheRustyScupper's name did come up in polite dinner conversation (there were children present). As did golf carts, rocking chairs on the TE porch, WIFI, tight sites to back into, the Fort squirrel mafia, wild parties in loop 2000, etc. It was all good.

 

[tiggerdad]

Ed,
It was an honor for me to feed you and your kind family. Figured for all the help and information you've provided for myself and others over the years the least I could do was serve you up some squir...I mean shrimp boil. (Hey, at least I didn't try to serve you that small little land slider that was stretched out at the back of the campsite)
A few things to point out:
You left the bottle of Tobasco, I'll run it by to you tomorrow.
My wife apologizes for mentioning the coyotes we saw on the beach. Just tell your wife we were mistaken, they must have just been large squirrels.

To be serious it was quite nice to once again put a face and voice with a name from the Disboards. I've been lucky enough to do this a few times over the years and even got some free coffee (Vince, I still owe ya buddy). Ed, tell your wife and kids it was pleasure. We always enjoy hosting get togethers. This evening has encouraged me to extend an invitation to all of you who are overlapping our next Fort trip in October. I will be more than happy to host a get together if we can all decide on a particular evening.

Ed, this is for your kids:
1. Corn on the cob (the frozen half-year sold at the store are fine. About 2 per person.
2. Small red potatoes (one bag usually feeds about 4 people)
3. Shrimp (I prefer large shrimp when boiling)
4. Old Bay crab, shrimp, and crawfish seasoning (I use the powder. Tonight I put roughly one oz. for each pound of shrimp)
5. Get your pan of water started on its way to a boil. Go ahead and put the potatoes seasoning, and corn in (the longer they soak the better)
6. Boil until the potatoes become soft (very little effort to cut) then put in the shrimp for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and let it all soak for another 10 minutes
8. Serve with beverage of your choice

P.S.
Scupper was mentioned several times. Ed, I didn't think about it at the time, but did you notice that every time Scupper's name came up we saw those lights over toward the airport? Just sayn...

 

[Boomer1]

Glad that you got to meet. I have had the pleasure of meeting a couple of Disers including Garneska ( with the famous Mallory and Yeti) and CdnCruiser ( Gary and Carol). It is nice to share our love of FW and WDW with like minded individuals, or for want of a better term addicts.
At present it looks like we will be arriving late on the 17th of October but if I'm lucky perhaps I too will get to meet Tiggerdad and his family in person.

 

[garneska]

Hi Boomer and Bama Ed . I agree i love meeting people at the fort. I have met quite a few with, yes Mallory and Yeti have celebrity status. With all the people going in Oct you will make me want to come then. We have our trip planned for Nov. The week before thanksgiving and leaving on thanksgiving day. I am hoping that may be a popular time and get a chance to meet some folks. I definitely think next year there will be a trip to the Gulf Shores, I may get a chance to run into Tiggerdad.

Just thought i would say hi to all my friends. Can't wait to go back to Disney, however i am not so much a fan of Disney in the summer. It is too hot.

 

[serenitygr]

Tiggerdad- when are you going to be there in October? I know it's on another post, but wanted to check in case others coming in October happen to read this and are wondering.... We will be there 9/29 thru 10/12- would LOVE to plan a get together and meet some of you!

 

[bama_ed]

Hi Boomer and Bama Ed .

Just thought i would say hi to all my friends. Can't wait to go back to Disney, however i am not so much a fan of Disney in the summer. It is too hot.

Amen sistah! Preach it

 

[tiggerdad]

Serenitygr,
October 9-18 at this point. My wife has offered to make taco soup.

(Trust me, you don't want to miss out on a bowl of this stuff)

 

[bama_ed]

So there I was this afternoon, pedaling my bike the half mile to the beach so that I could fly my expensive kite at the beach (ok so I bought it at Dollar General for $3). It was a gorgeous day at the beach: strong sun, blue sky, mid-80s, low(er) humidity, and breezy.

All of a sudden this humungous late model Ford F250 4x4 (black, tinted windows) buzzes by and honks at me almost throwing me out of my designated bicycle lane. But I made it to the beach and got my kite into the sky.



Next time, tiggerdad, please slow down before you blow past me! I'm an old guy now and don't need any surprises like that.

Bama Ed

 

[snowmedic]

Serenitygr,
October 9-18 at this point. My wife has offered to make taco soup.

(Trust me, you don't want to miss out on a bowl of this stuff)

Lets see, I have had regular tacos, and Indian tacos, but not taco soup. Just the name of it sounds delicious.

 

[tiggerdad]

Ed,
I was driving over the canal looking for alligators when all of a sudden I saw this guy in an orange shirt. It made me have a horrible flashback to my days of living in Knoxville, TN and I mistook you for that guy I used to see pedaling around in the Wal Mart in the orange suit with the radio playing "Rocky Top" on gameday. Sorry dude. Glad you had good luck with the kite. However, now that my girls heard about the kite I'm catching a lot of "why didn't we fly a kite?". Appreciate it man...

We went walking the beach. We caught several blue crabs and a couple of sand crabs. We also photo bombed a beach wedding (sorry if you happen to be on the Disboards) but that particular blue crab was rather sneaky and after he pinched me on the foot "it was on".

Tell your wife I was unable to locate that pair of coyotes again. We did spot some marked off areas where some sea turtles had made a nest though.

I did finally spot a squirrel at Gulf State Park! (I know you guys were wondering) he was down by the bath house with a towel around his neck.

 

[tiggerdad]

Lets see, I have had regular tacos, and Indian tacos, but not taco soup. Just the name of it sounds delicious.

Vince, you have no idea. That stuff is high on my list of must have foods. Right behind armadillo on the half shell (work up a mean appetite trying to catch them) and crow feather salads (don't worry, the birds aren't hurt, they're just cold until the new feathers grow back).

 

[grumpyaggie]

Tiggerdad...One of your yours? Asking for peanuts!!

 

[tiggerdad]

Grumpyaggie,
You have just provided me with a new pic to possibly add to my signature. You might be grumpy, and you might be an Aggie, but you are EXCELLENT in my book.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Sounds like y'all had a great time! Wished we could've made it, considering y'all were so close to the house, but I couldn't manage to get any time off from work. Hopefully next time we can make it...

 

[bama_ed]

Sounds like y'all had a great time! Wished we could've made it, considering y'all were so close to the house, but I couldn't manage to get any time off from work. Hopefully next time we can make it...

Randy, I like this week here at GSP which is in your neck of the woods. The kids are out of school before Memorial Day and I like to wait till Tuesday (day after MD) to come in because by then the weekend crowd has thinned out some. Temps are still late spring-like (high 80s, low about 70, not as humid as July).

We've come for several years in this week and hopefully will continue to. I suggest (to myself) to tee up this topic maybe after New Years to see if we can plan for the same period. It's a great time to relax down here. It would be fantastic for you or any DISser to be here at the same time.

Gulf Shores ain't Destin or Panama City Beach and that's why I like it.

Bama Ed

 

[garneska]

Bama Ed

Definitely bring it up here on the boards. I think we might come down. Love May camping not too hot yet.

I know I said no disney in summer it's too hot, but we might go the week of Labor Day. Hoping a new front air unit will help the heat. Just can't seem to be away from disney for so long. Plus we don't take a full week off work, just work from home/disney, and I managed to book with the late summer discount.

 

[tiggerdad]

We are for sure sold on this week at GSP. It was really nice. We came in on the Thursday before Memorial Day and had our pick of which site on the road we were on. By Friday evening, before the crowds started rolling in, we were able to do most of the typically crowded things we wanted and were able to just sit on the beach when the shops and restaurants were full. Ed was right, when Memorial Day was over, the crowds dropped off again for the remainder of the week and it was easy to get around. We will for sure be back this time next year.

Ed, my kids are still going on about that fudge you brought back from the cheese farm. We really want to look into that when we go back down to GSP in July.

 

[bama_ed]

Bama Ed

Definitely bring it up here on the boards. I think we might come down. Love May camping not too hot yet.

I know I said no disney in summer it's too hot, but we might go the week of Labor Day. Hoping a new front air unit will help the heat. Just can't seem to be away from disney for so long. Plus we don't take a full week off work, just work from home/disney, and I managed to book with the late summer discount.

Kris,

It really is a low stress/relaxing place. The motto for the town of Gulf Shores is "Big Beach Small Town". One thing for you to consider though. I know sometimes on your trips to the Fort you've mentioned that you are officially "working" while you are there and I'm assuming it is via the Internet. Be forewarned that Gulf State Park has NO WIFI and all I had was my cell phone data connection.

The funny thing is there are WIFI poles and antennas all over the place but I've been following the progress for years. The hop from your laptop in the RV to the WIFI antenna is no problem. The connection to the outside world internet is the problem. They have tried and tried every which way to get it. The campground is about 3 miles in the wilderness from the nearest town and the telephone copper cable is too small and too old to handle internet pipes. It would take a new fiber cable (or so I was told this week) and of course being a state agency with annual funding the way it always is, nobody has the money to pay for it. GSP tried to use a microwave shot to a big condo tower within site of the campground (line of site, closest hop) but negotiations never passed GO (I was in touch with one side of the negotiations through my job). You should have seen the fiasco when the pool was built (first contractor went bankrupt, waited a year to get a second one, waited a third year for him to finish it). But it's done and nice now.

So there is no WIFI and no broadband. My DW this week considered the Gulf Shores Public Library in town which has free WIFI for her on-line learning requirements but it's a typical library setting. The library is used to folks (guests, visitors, snow birds) from the campground looking for internet connectivity but if you would "work" at GSP that's a hurdle to work around.

Bama Ed

PS - I see a plan for a meet next year as a possibility....

 

[bama_ed]

We are for sure sold on this week at GSP. It was really nice. We came in on the Thursday before Memorial Day and had our pick of which site on the road we were on. By Friday evening, before the crowds started rolling in, we were able to do most of the typically crowded things we wanted and were able to just sit on the beach when the shops and restaurants were full. Ed was right, when Memorial Day was over, the crowds dropped off again for the remainder of the week and it was easy to get around. We will for sure be back this time next year.

Ed, my kids are still going on about that fudge you brought back from the cheese farm. We really want to look into that when we go back down to GSP in July.

Just google "Sweet Home Farm" and "cheese". They have a FB page but me no FB. Used to be in summer they were open Wed-Sat but with the 7/4 holiday you might want to call to check hours (used to have a voice recording). The cheese is around $15/pound and the fudge cheese little chunk is pre-packaged and about $5. They saran wrap the wedges they cut and that's fine if you want to eat it in the next few days. They will vacuum seal if you won't it eat until after a week or longer for free. They do take out-of-town checks.

SWF is on the east side of Elberta. Take the Foley Beach Express north, take a right on Hwy 98 coming across from Foley, go through Elberta, past the elementary school, go about a mile, take first left on Breman Road and then first right on Schoen Road (they have small signs at these turns). They have about 8 cheeses always available (like the Tuscan [pizza] cheese I gave you) and then another 6-8 that are seasonal (I brought back a wedge of Garlic Gouda - I love all things garlic).

I'm sure it's all on Google/FB/internet now but it's a small great place. They have a chicken house/coop out where the cars park too. It's about 35 minutes from the campground. After you cross the bridge by the GS airport, turn onto Country Road 4 to get to the Foley Beach Express.

Bama Ed

 

[MotherRunner]

Does the Gulf State Park in Alabama allow tents? That's sounds like a good halfway point for us to the Fort.

We like a good shrimp boil while camping too. Cooking over the firepit takes a little longer, but it's worth it!