Wandering America
Alabama
| October 2006 - Gulf Shores While in
Lambert's Cafe is located in Foley, Alabama and is known for its unique dining experience. First of all there is the "13 Golden Rules" which guide the restaurant's operation. We won't list them here but will say that they all contribute to your dining pleasure. You'll not leave the place hungry since they serve wonderful homemade food and the waiters continually dish helpings of potatoes and other vegetables as you are enjoying your meal. "But what about the food fight?", you ask. Well, Lambert's is the "home of the throwed rolls". Don't expect someone to just hand you a 5" diameter hot right out of the oven roll. No siree, ya gotta catch'em. Lambert's Cafe was founded in Sikeston, Missouri by Earl and Agnes Lambert. They added two more restaurants located in Ozark, Missouri (just outside of Branson) and Foley, Alabama (right on the way to Gulf Shores). But what's with the "throwed rolls"? Well, you might say out of necessity! As stated by one of the Lamberts, "In 1976 while still in our old building, I would try to pass out our hot rolls in the traditional manner. You know, real nice like, by saying, 'Would you care for a hot roll?' This was really awkward and uncomfortable to me so on an extremely busy day, when getting through the lunch hour crowd was impossible, a customer said, 'Just throw the d*** thing!' I did and everybody else joined in. We started throwing rolls May 26, 1976 and have continued ever since." So, if while dining at Lambert's, you get a "whack upside the head" then you'll know that someone didn't catch their "throwed roll". By the way, these are home made yeast rolls hot out of the oven and just as good as mother Patterson used to make, mm-mm good! Can't wait to get back to Lambert's Cafe for another roll or two.   February 2007 - Gulf Shores The weather improved (not quite so cold) so we decided to start seeking biking trails in the area and found a very pleasant trail that runs from Gulf Shores State Park to Orange Beach. Currently it is only about a five mile trail but once it is completed it will be over seven and a half miles. We walked two and half miles of the trail and decided that we wanted to come back with our bikes. Dick and Jodi, some people from Manton, Michigan that we met at the park, went with us and we had a fun afternoon biking the trial.   February 2007 - Magnolia Springs Just about every small town has one, a little eatery that is back off the beaten path. On route 49, just south of Magnolia Springs, is a nice little restaurant called Jesse's. Charlie Houser, who was a successful businessman, wanted to return to his childhood home of Magnolia Springs so he purchased the old Moore's Grocery and the old town hall next door to create some nastolgia as well as a pleasant dining experience. The grocery store is filled with lots of unique foods, wines, and fresh meats while the restaurant has a wonder atmosphere with very reasonable prices. We went with a group of twenty-six people from the park to celebrate our friend Heidi's birthday. Judy had the shrimp po-boy and Darrell had the oyster po-boy both of which were as good as the one's we had at Suire's Grocery and Restaurant in Abbeville, Louisiana. February 2007 - Fairhope Much to our surprise, Mardi Gras is not just a New Orleans thing. It is celebrated around the world and Mobile, Alabama was celebrating Mardi Gras some forty years before New Orleans. Mardi Gras is french for Fat Tuesday which is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday that begins the period known as Lent. It is so named since it is the last day of feasting on fats (and other goodies) that are to be fasted during the Lent period. Carnival takes place over a period of ten to twelve days prior to Ash Wednesday and concludes on Fat Tuesday. Carnival is orchestrated by Mystic Societies known as Krewes and is celebrated with parades and parties as well as other ceremonies. The primary colors used in celebration are purple (which stands for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power). "Throws" are tossed out from the floats by Krewe members as the parade proceeds down its route. The primary "throws" consist of beads, duobloons (these are aluminum coins that identifies the parade on one side and the sponsoring Krewe Society on the other), and moon pies that are representative of King Cakes. Other things such as frisbees, little footballs, stuff animals, etc. are thrown out as the parade watchers yell out "Throw me something, mister!" Mardi Gras in most cities and towns is a family event and not the drunken brall with bare breasted women that we read about in the news. We attended two parades in downtown Fairhope, Alabama with Randy and Terry Guiler and Dick and Pat Schellin who are new friends that we have made while staying at Rainbow Plantation. Did we ever tell you that the best part of fulltime RVing is the people you meet and the friendships you build while traveling across this land? Fairhope is a quaint little tourist town along the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay and has lots of pretty flowers planted next to the sidewalks. The first parade on Saturday afternoon was for pets, primarily dawgs - have you ever tried marching katts in a parade? Saturday evening was the Knights of Ecor Rouge parade which had marching bands, floats, horses, and ended with a firetruck. It lasted about 45 minutes and they were definitely not stingy with the "throws". 
     Between the parades we ate lunch together at the Old Bay Steamer restaurant. This was the first time that we had ever had gumbo and it was absolutely delicious. Did we ever tell you that the second best part of fulltime RVing is the different dishes you get to try? Along with the seafood gumbo Judy and I split a shrimp po-boy (we've gotten hooked on these things and plan to go back to Jesse's to have another one before we leave Alabama). It was great fun dining out with new friends while enjoying new foods - as Katie and Alex would put it, "It was just a purr-fect day!" |
