We visited Alligator Alley in the nearby town of Foley. What did I learn today? An alligator grows one linear foot every year for the first six years of its life. I did have to add the word “linear”; otherwise, it might read that by the time the poor alligator was six years old, it would have ten feet and forty toes. Except for the one alligator that only had three feet and twelve toes. (I would venture we could guess what happened to this other foot.)  They said most of the alligators that haven’t been born at the park are nuisance alligators that had been removed from populated locations. Some of the gators are huge, weighing up to 700 lbs. and can live to be 30-40 years old in the wild and 70 years old in captivity.

I did venture back into the water today. And what a difference a day makes. The waves were small and gentle and you could just float along with them. I put a string on my sunglasses so I wouldn’t lose this new pair I bought. Unfortunately, they are not reader sunglasses so be able to read my phone, I have to wear both pairs of glasses. I think it was a rather snazzy look. Who knows, it might catch on.

After showering, we took a walk on the Gulf Shores State Park Pier and saw sharks and dolphins and stingrays and other fish whose names I know as “fish”. I choose to believe the smaller sharks we saw swimming beneath the pier, a half a mile away from where we have been floating, were going to stay there. To end our evening, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

We had dinner at the Sunlighter Diner. They played my kind of music from the 50s and 60s. My son and I tried to see how much we could embarrass my granddaughter by singing along and using arm gestures. She doesn’t know what she’s missing by never having seen Animal House. But then again, it’s probably better she’s never seen it…might give her ideas.