Fairhope, Alabama

I promised you a Fairhope story today. I love the name of the town. It makes me smile.

Fairhope is located on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. We headed there Sunday morning a week ago. The weather was a little drizzly with a pervasive mist in the air when it wasn't thick enough to form drops.

We found the town without any problem, but although we'd been told that Fairhope was a must-see, from the highway it looked like any other small town. A sign pointed toward the downtown area, and we followed the road.

OMG!

Mounds of flowers everywhere.

Great little shops - most of them closed on Sunday. Anything you wanted. So we window shopped only by necessity. Antiques. Clothing. Eateries. Galleries. Jewelry. Pubs. A bookshop called Page and Palette.

We arrived about ten-thirty and parked near an OPEN - hallelujah! - coffee shop. One like this (but not this one because it was closed):

As we were coming in, a couple with a baby carriage was packing up to go out. The baby was six pounds of four-day-old cute-and-cuddly. Her name was Stella, and the couple were Stella's maternal grandparents. It seems Stella's Mommy called them, FRANTIC, because sweet, beautiful, and sound-asleep Stella had kept everyone awake all night. Grandma and Grandpa to the rescue!

We ordered coffee and settled in for a little people watching. People came over and talked to us - wanted to know where we were from. We struck up a little conversation with three ladies from Louisiana. From the North Shore - that's the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, one told me. One day I'm going to write about them.

They said they make it a point to go to Fairhope as often as they can. These ladies were in full make-up and nicely dressed. Watching them, I felt as if I were viewing an outtake from Steel Magnolias. I could've stayed and listened to them all day.

But, we wanted to see the town, rain and all, so we said goodbye. Here are some of the things we saw:

This mural extended almost the entire block

anchored by flowers at the corners.

I think more water was on the streets than in this fountain!

My favorite shot.

So I'll pass it on . . . if you're ever in coastal Alabama, go to Fairhope. It's a must-see.

You won't be disappointed.