Fairhope/Eastern Shore request for info (Update - Trip Report)

Southern Roots at the Grand Hotel is great, alsoe the Wash House in Fairhope is great.

Thanks, PHNBK! We have rez for the Wash House. Any recommended dishes?

Will look into Southern Roots. (A local friend says to check out Bucky’s Lounge at the Grand.)

Anyone know anything about Jesse’s in Magnolia Springs?

Thank you for your response, TulaneLSU! I have enjoyed your informative and amusing posts while lurking. I look forward to perusing your suggestions.

We both love amusement parks, but I’m not sure how far our current budget will extend. We may have to save OWA for another visit, possibly one with younger relatives.

I had thought about taking a day trip across the bay on the ferry while we are over there. (Big ferry fan.) Perhaps we can combine that with an excursion to CP. His website and Insta are very intriguing. Don’t know too much about dining options on that side of the bay, though. Perhaps that will be the place to seek out someone who knows how to fry fish properly.

(Side note: The best meal of fried fish I ever consumed was at Pat’s Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant in Henderson, LA. Each article on my seafood platter was exquisitely fried to perfection. I got the impression that they used a different fryer for each item, the flavors were that distinct.)

Jesse’s is very good.

If you do go down to the Gulf Shores/Fort Morgan area, you could look into a tour of Navy Cove Oysters. One of the principals posts here. I plan to make a visit this winter on a holiday trip.

LINK

Update on our Fairhope trip: I’d like to thank the posters who responded to my request for dining recommendations. We visited several of your suggestions, and enjoyed them very much.

The trip stand-out was Jesse’s in Magnolia Springs, which was the best meal of the trip for me. Thanks to TulaneLSU’s comment, I ordered the shrimp and grits, and it was so very good! DH especially enjoyed the crab and tasso dip appetizer. The staff there was very attentive and gracious, from our server to the manager, to the young lady who changed our seating arrangements that afternoon. (Protip: the side of the restaurant housing the Cold Hole bar is significantly cooler than the other half. If someone in your party can’t handle the heat, ask to be seated in that section.) We did not make it down to Jesse’s new location in Fort Morgan (Jesse’s on the Bay), but the scuttlebutt is to visit that location for their seafood, and the older Jesse’s for steakcentric dining.

We also enjoyed meals at The Wash House, Dragonfly, Sunset Pointe, and Tin Top Restaurant in Bon Secour, where I had the best fried green tomatoes in my memory, and my husband was equally enthusiastic about his collard greens side. Our go-to spot for breakfast in Fairhope was a cute bakery/coffeehouse called The Warehouse. Everything we purchased there was decent, and the hip decor and vibe were a fun start to the day.

We also made it to Bucky’s Lounge at The Grand, and enjoyed our first few minutes there, before the bar was invaded by a very noisy bridal party. I WAS able to get out for a spin on my bike, during which I noticed music coming from two locations along the bay. The initial spot was the American Legion Tiki Bar on the Bay, drawing a very convivial crowd. On returning, I noticed that Gambino’s Restaurant across the street had taken up the baton. Both worth checking out next time.

We did not make it down to Gulf Shores, or onto the Ft. Morgan ferry, due to weather. However, we did get over to the Theodore side of the bay to visit Charles Phillips Antiques. That place is a gold mine, and my husband was just as captivated by it as I was. Anyone traveling to Bellingrath Gardens or Dauphin Island should include a stop there if you love old things. Only open Thursday to Saturday from 9:30 am to 5 pm.

We enjoyed our visit sufficiently that I look forward to the next. The most enjoyable aspect of it was the graciousness of everyone we encountered. As I mentioned in my OP, our last few visits to 30A have been unsatisfactory. It has felt as if the locals have been crowded out by strivers keen to score points in some social media hellscape, and the pleasure of the place has been undermined. Mobile and its suburbs retains the Southern graciousness we look for when we travel along the Gulf.