The Gulf State Park Tradition...

[wabbott]

The 52nd Annual National Shrimp Festival is taking place in Gulf Shores this weekend. It was originally started to support the local shrimp fisherman and industry and has kept that purpose. We went to it and camped at GSP in 2022. I came across this article that the Festival uses DNA testing on the shrimp served at the festival to ensure they are local and not foreign imports.

https://www.gulfshoresnews.com/dna-testing-has-been-effective-at-national-shrimp-festival

The year we were there, testing was done and only ONE vendor used local shrimp. However the test used back then took DAYS to get the results back. This year the test being used returns results in a few hours.

The vendors sign a contract with the festival to use local shrimp only.

Good for them (the festival). BTW, this time of year the Gulf Coast has beautiful weather.

Bama Ed

PS - DNA testing shrimp sounds pretty high tech to me .....

Agree with your opinion on the Gulf Coast fall wx. We're headed to Destin/PC Beach in 10 days.

 

[bama_ed]

As it turns out, after the Shrimp Festival the Shrimp DNA test was applied to local restaurants claiming to offer "local" shrimp. Turns out 57% of the 40+ locations WERE local shrimp but (to me) an alarming 43% were imports. Who knows if the restaurants knowingly made the false claim or if they were duped by their suppliers.

The article linked below does name names of who passed the 2025 test and also who failed a 2024 test but improved/passed a 2025 test.

https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2025...-results-in-this-alabama-gulf-coast-city.html

I would like to know who failed the test (not named in the article) in one or both years so I could boycott them when I visit.

Bama Ed

 

[team bradfield]

deleted

 

[bama_ed]

deleted

 

[wabbott]

Agree with your opinion on the Gulf Coast fall wx. We're headed to Destin/PC Beach in 10 days.

Caught this PC Beach sunset Friday.

 

[bama_ed]

WHALL, Whall, whall .....

Two things:

1st a big box wholesale store (BJ's) is coming to Foley (south of the outlet mall) to compete with any Sam's or Costco's (I have no idea if those are anywhere near LA); but here is the link:

https://www.al.com/business/2025/07/bjs-wholesale-closes-in-on-a-spot-in-foley.html

The article is from this summer but there is more recent news if google is your friend.

2nd is a new location of the Sunliner Diner in LA. One is in Gulf Shores (a second is in Pigeon Forge, TN). But a new one is opening in Orange Beach.

https://www.obawebsite.com/sunliner-diner-in-orange-beach-honors-local-heroes

Personally I'm not headed back to LA until 3 months from now.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Planning continues to extend the "Express" highway portion of Baldwin County roads to the Gulf Coast area (Baldwin Beach Express II).

https://www.gulfshoresnews.com/plan-to-connect-baldwin-beach-express-from-i-10-to-i-65-is-accepted

Brief history lesson: access to the AL Gulf Coast into the 1990s was down a narrow 2 (later 4) lane highway (Hwy 59) from Bay Minette off I65 to the T on the Beach Hwy (where the Hangout restaurant is today). Lots of red lights going through all the individual towns so traffic could really drag especially in summer, spring break, and Friday/Sunday weekends. While facilitating tourists with spending cash is one consideration, the other is/was being able to evacuate the coastal communities northward in case of an approaching hurricane on short notice. The 2-lane (later 4 lane but still red lights) was not going to work.

So the first Express was the Foley Beach Express which split off from Hwy 59 just north of Foley to the east (left as you drove southbound) to avoid the traffic and light through Foley and the Outlet Stores area) and finished with the toll bridge over the ICW into Orange Beach. But even that plan required a ride along Hwy 59 still through the towns between Foley and Bay Minette so the Baldwin Beach Express I was hatched nearly where the Foley BE came off Hwy 59 and ran north-south in parallel with few lights (but plenty of police with radar guns) to I-10 where the famed Buc-cees is today.

This plan is about going north from the Buc-cees exit at I-10 and building a new highway east of Bay Minette to get to I-65. See, you can get people to I-10 but it runs east-west primarily. People evacuating for a hurricane want to get away from the coast which requires a north-south escape which is what I-65 basically is. So this is a new highway plan to run from I-10 to I-65 directly and offer people easy access in all 4 compass directions N-E-S-W.





I remember when our kids were little and we tent camped at GSP on a 3-day fall or spring weekend, we would leave out after work on Friday evening from the Birmingham area, drive in the dark to Bay Minette and follow Hwy 59 to the coast. A handfull of times we got green lights ALL THE WAY south because there was so little traffic on the road that late at night in the off-season. Memories.

Bama Ed

PS - a direct connection up to I-65 would be terribly convenient but as I say, there is a TON of memories on the old north-south routes.

 

[bama_ed]

Had a short 3-night weekend at Gulf State Park (home today).

Word on the street is that the new RV Luxury sites (my word) being built up by the former GSP golf course will open in the April-May 2026 time frame (I guess b4 the summer rush). There will only be approx 100 sites aiming to be wider, more spacious, and more amenities. The current GSP campground has 500 sites.

What the new addition won't have is the sound of the ocean surf I heard in the evenings from my campsite (GSP campsites are across the beach highway from the shoreline but within walk or bike ride (or drive)).

In a similar vein, the Canal Road (south side of ICW) was closing for this current week to finish bridge construction and surface paving along Canal for the southbound bridge being built and coming down into a round-a-bout on the southern side of the ICW. Wonder if they'll get that done before Memorial Day 2026 as well.

Bama ED

 

[bama_ed]

More Gulf Shores news regarding new roads and accessability.

The state and city have been working to more easily and quickly move traffic between the main North/South arteries of Hwy 59 and the Foley/Baldwin Beach Express. It's most easily described with the photo that overlays the new roads.



For reference, the yellow lines are the new south-bound portion of the highway going over the ICW and terminating in a round-a-bout along Canal road. The former toll bridge in Orange Beach (purchased recently by the state and tolls eliminated) is out of sight to the right of the photo for north-bound traffic. The north/south traffic come together in the existing Foley Beach Express about halfway to Foley/Hwy 90 big interestion (east-west).

Used to be that Cotton Creek Dr used to be a main connection for me and @tiggerdad between the Express and 59 but it was overused so the blue line has been under construction and the red has been approved. Also, Baldwin County Hwy 8 has been fully widened now to 4 lanes east-west a little north of this between Express and 59.

https://www.gulfshoresnews.com/city-prepares-for-connecting-road-from-expressway-to-airport-hwy-59

So lots of effort being made to help move tourists in and out of Gulf Shores where they can spend money. This year the following will open:

- the new bridge (yellow line) to Canal Road.
- the new 100-site deluxe campground area at the former Gulf SP golf course (entrance to Canal Rd?).
- the new pedestrian only bridge over the ICW near Lulu's.
- the blue/red line hwy above south of the GS airport
- the elimination of the former pedestrian lane of the south-bound Hwy 59 bridge (foot traffic will move to the new pedestrian only bridge) so a 3rd south-bound lane can be established (NB already has 3 lanes since no pedestrian access on that side).

The median construction along Hwy 59 from the beach highway up to the ICW bridge has been finished as of my trip last month which provides concrete turn lanes ONLY in certain places in the 59 median. Now if they could just reset the timing on all the traffic lights on 59. Seems like I caught ever red light coming into town at lunch time on a Friday.

Bama Ed

PS - hey, now at least I qualify for a senior citizen discount on the GSP campsite - 15% off ain't nothin' to sneeze at, @Teamubr.