Orange Beach, Alabama / recreation (bike trails, parks, arts), dining, Happy Hours

November 2018, 7 nights

This post contains information about some of the places we visited by bicycle or on foot from Grand Pointe Condominiums. You can also click on the labels at the end of this post, or on the Orange Beach recreation links for 2018 and 2017  for further information about area bike rentals, trails inside Gulf State Park, Happy Hours, dining, parks, boating, and more.

Orange Beach Waterfront Park

Bicycle trails, Orange Beach Waterfront Park, Coastal Arts Center

In addition to biking and walking in Gulf State Park, we rode our bikes from Grand Pointe Condos to the bay on the north side of AL-180. There is a bicycle lane alongside Perdido Beach Blvd., and then most of the remaining route is a designated trail. We turned off Perdido Beach Blvd. onto the road to Cotton Bayou Boat Launch just east of AL-161. There is a trail from the boat launch that connects to the bicycle trail, which runs parallel to AL-161. Next, we turned toward the police station just before Al-180, and then crossed AL-180 at the crosswalk at the end of Callaway Drive. The screen shots below can be enlarged by clicking on them to view this detail.  

The turn from Perdido Beach Blvd.

The turns just south of AL-180

Orange Beach Waterfront park, located on Wolf Bay, has restroom facilities, picnic pavilions, BBQ grills, bicycle racks, a playground, and a fishing pier. There are also benches and swing seats in the grass overlooking the bay, and an area to launch canoes and kayaks. When I first looked at the canoe map in the park, I got excited because I mistakenly thought it was a bicycle trail map showing a different route we could take back. Silly me - the map clearly says "canoe" trail! I labeled our "GP" condo on the canoe map below to show where we started.

Orange Beach Canoe Trail

Coastal Arts Center, located adjacent to Orange Beach Waterfront Park, offers art classes, hot glass blowing demonstrations, pottery demonstrations, an art gallery, and a gift shop.

Metal yard art at Coastal Arts Center

Dining and Happy Hours

There are several dining options along Perdido Beach Blvd., Canal Rd., at The Wharf, and along Al-59 in Gulf Shores. Following are a few of the locations we visited.  

We visited Perdido Beach Resort for Happy Hour, and it was not as good as it had been in 2017.  Not only had the prices increased, we were also overcharged during one visit. We were charged for 4 beers when we had only had 3, and we were charged full price for our burgers, rather than the discounted Wednesday burger price. Unfortunatley, we only noticed the extra beer, which we had removed, before we paid. It had taken a very long time to have the beer removed, so we decided it was not worth it to have the burger overcharge corrected when we noticed it after our credit card had already been run through.

Sol Y Mar Cantina

Our visit to Sol Y Mar Cantina at The Wharf on Taco Tuesday was just as fabulous as it had been in 2017! Great service, delicious tacos, fabulous margaritas.

Bushwhacker from Tacky Jacks Orange Beach

We visited Tacky Jacks in Orange Beach on a Tuesday because Bushwackers are half price that day ($4, instead of $8). The location in Gulf Shores has the Bushwacker special on Wednesdays. This visit was a huge disappointment, and I would have felt as though we'd been robbed, if we had paid $8 each for our drinks. Service was lousy, and the drinks did not have much flavor; they tasted mostly like crushed ice.

Bar sign at San Roc Cay

We did not visit San Roc Cay in the evening this year for music and a fire (located directly across the street from our condo). The sign by the bar said they have live music Thursday - Saturday; however, we did not hear anything Friday evening after Thanksgiving. We had been able to hear the music when we walked outside at our condo in 2017.

Let me know if you have any questions or information to share!