re: Fairhope vs Covington

My brother and his family have lived in Mandeville for the last 6 years and we just moved my mom to Covington. I live in Mobile and have friends that live in Fairhope so I have a pretty good idea about both places. Covington/Mandeville are really nice so I don't think you can go wrong living there. My brother and his family really enjoy the area. Plus you're a little less than an hour from downtown NOLA which is convenient. The one thing I don't like as much about that area is that that there's not as much direct access to the Lake in Mandeville as there is to the Bay in Fairhope. There are some neat restaurants near the lakefront in Mandeville though. That's one reason I like Fairhope a little better. Downtown Fairhope is really unique with all the art galleries, the pier, beaches, bike paths, bluffs, and the jubilees. The fact that you're 30 minutes from the beach and Mobile, less than an hour from Pensacola, and still less than 3 hours from NOLA puts Fairhope over the tip in my humble opinion.