The OBA Community Website

Covering the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast (AFGC)tm since 2006!

John Mason-Smith flew onto the Stennis aircraft carrier aboard a plane like this Grumman.
By John Mullen
 
May 18, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®)- Landing on an aircraft carrier is unlike any landing 99 percent of the population will ever experience. The plane is not slowing down to gently light on the runway. 
 
Oh, no. It’s speeding up, going all out just in case. 
 
“They’ve got one chance to catch the hook so you’re accelerating into your landing because they want to keep going if they miss,” John Mason-Smith of Perdido Key said. 
 
Mason-Smith was enjoying a specialty coffee at BuzzCatz Coffee and Sweets one bright morning reveling in the memories from a trip landing aboard and taking off from the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier. 
 
Mason-Smith’s once-in-a-lifetime experience came from simply being a fan of the Navy’s Blue Angel Flight Demonstration team. Well, maybe not a simple fan. 
 
“I follow the Blue Angels,” he said. “I’m just a huge, fanatical fan of theirs. I follow them so close – I follow all the social media for the Blue Angels, the navy, naval aviation and all that.”
 

Orange Beach Alabama council gives $54,500 to OBES reading program.By John Mullen
May 16, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - Educational opportunities continue to grow in Orange Beach and the city council continues to provide a helping hand with programs for the local school which is part of the Baldwin County system.
 
Mayor Tony Kennon
During the May 15 meeting, the council voted to give Orange Beach Elementary School $54,500 to expand its Guided Reading Program. During the same meeting, the council also voted to spend $175,000 to fund the city’s free afterschool program Expect Excellence through the end of the year. That program provides tutoring, athletics and instruction in more than 20 fields at the Recreation Center.
 
 
Both actions come on the heels of a groundbreaking for the new seventh-through-12th-grade school on Canal Road in Orange Beach on May 11. The city donated 40 acres the city says is valued at $5 million to the Baldwin County Board of Education.
 
Mayor Tony Kennon said its all a part of the city’s ongoing commitment to make Orange Beach schools top notch. He was ready to move forward immediately on the reading program, one he hadn’t known about.
 

GS buildingMay 16, 2018 - (OBA®) - If you are looking for some afternoon fun this summer then look no further than Tacky Jacks in Gulf Shores. The Summer of Fun series will feature different events to include regional artists, local organizations, and musicians each Tuesday through Friday this summer beginning June 5. A monthly schedule of events is online at www.tackyjacks.com and below.
 
Tuesdays
Hands on Habitat is a fun and educational hands on nature series presented by Gulf State Park Nature Center, Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, Share the Beach, Orange Beach Wildlife Center, Birmingham Audubon and more! Kids & adults alike can learn about our ecosystem and interact with the animals that live here with us. The event is free for all ages from 11am-12pm (arrive 15 minutes early), no RSVP required.

Baldwin County is looking to develop a boat ramp and recreational area near The Wharf in Orange Beach.By John Mullen
May 15, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - The Baldwin County Commission announced on May 15 it is looking to buy a piece of property on the north side of the Intracoastal Canal and west of the Foley Beach Express toll bridge for recreational use.
 
According to post on Commissioner Chris Elliott’s website, the county has executed a letter of intent to purchase parcels totaling about 45 acres. Preliminary plans are to build 12 boat ramps with parking for 450 boat trailers and parking for about 50 vehicles. The site would also include two kayak launches.
 
A map released by the county shows some other areas for development of future amenities including picnic pavilions along the water. It is expected to be a more than $10 million dollar project paid for with money from oil and gas lease proceeds from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Securities Act to purchase and develop the land.

Orange Beach Animal Care & ControlMay 14, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL - (OBA®) - What a difference a year can make. Before September 2017, officials in Orange Beach, Alabama, didn’t have a procedure in place for addressing people’s concerns about outdoor cats. Today, the city has a thriving Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. The Orange Beach Animal Care and Control Program (OBACCP) has spayed or neutered more than 150 cats and kittens and adopted out at least 30 to date. The amazing turnaround is due to the hard work of Tom Conerly, Orange Beach’s newest animal control officer.

Conerly, a former military colonel, began his work with TNR in January 2017 — after he and his wife spotted three kittens in their driveway. Three kittens became five, and then nine. Conerly knew something had to be done. Read An Amazing ACO: Tom Conerly Changes City’s Approach to Community Cats on Alleycat.org.

A rendering of the future Wolf Bay Bridge in Orange Beach, Alabama.
A rendering of the future Wolf Bay Bridge in Orange Beach.
Orange Beach, Alabama, Mayor Tony Kennon.
Mayor Tony Kennon
By John Mullen
 
May 4, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) – Mayor Tony Kennon wants a Wolf Bay Bridge and he wants it now. But he’s not is so much of a rush to move forward without making sure all parties are on board and understand the process.
 
Orange Beach is poised to spend a little over $3 million on survey work as well as design, engineering and permitting to kick off the process leading to construction of the long-awaited span. During the May 1 work session, the council also discussed funding for the Expect Excellence after-school program through December.
 
Kennon said before moving forward with the preliminary spending to start the bridge project he wants to sit down with property owners George Barber and David Lawrenz and officials with the state.
 

Bubba's Seafood House on beach road in Orange Beach, Alabama.
 
By John Mullen
May 3, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - Jay Schenck has been serving up scrumptious seafood platters in Bubba’s Seafood House on beach road since 1998. And while he wants the seafood to draw ‘em in, he wants them to have fun during their visit.
 
“We wanted it to be just a good ol’ place to go,” Schenck said. “Everybody knows a Bubba.”
 
But the veteran restaurateur knows it’s more than food bringing people in the door and keeps ‘em coming back. He has been running restaurants in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach for the better part of 30 years and has owned or been a partner in a dozen or more. Today he’s pared it down to Bubba’s.
 
“There are four or five things in the restaurant business you have to do to be good,” he said. “Your food has got to be good, but the food is the third or fourth thing. The first thing is the presentation and environment of the building outside.”
 

orange beach banner logoMay 2, 2018 - Ornage Beach, AL (OBA®) - Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler and City of Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon invite citizens to the groundbreaking for the new Orange Beach Middle and High School on Friday, May 11 at 10:30 a.m. The architectural renderings will also be unveiled during the ceremony at the construction site.
 
The public is invited to the event​ at the site off Williams Silvers Parkway at the entrance of the Orange Beach Sportsplex. Th​e address ​for parking ​is 23908 Canal Road​.
 
“We are ecstatic to ​reveal the artist renderings and to break ground​,” said Superintendent Tyler. "T​​his is a historic, exciting moment for Baldwin County Public Schools​."​
 
Mayor Tony Kennon ​called the new county school facilities a ​"​game changer for the citizens of Orange Beach.​"​

Fresh avocado toast from the Orange Beach Cafe.
By John Mullen
 
Orange Beach Cafe ham panini.
Orange Beach Cafe ham panini.
April 30, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®)– Bobbi Heithoff’s forte is wine.
 
“I’m originally a wine sommelier,” she said. “I was managing restaurants & teaching the staff how to serve and talk about wine as well as helping customers navigate the wine list.
 
She’s taking that experience – plus a wealth of experience in restaurants of all types – to the new Orange Beach Café in Palm Plaza Shopping Center on beach road in Orange Beach.
 
She’ll just be talking coffee instead of wines.

Mullet Toss 2018
By Flora-Bama
 
April 23, 2018 - Perdido Key, FL. (OBA®) - Tens of thousands of folks from throughout the nation & all walks of life will descend upon the crystal white sands of this iconic roadhouse for a three day frenzy of food, fun and frivolity to throw fish at the 34th Annual Interstate Mullet Toss & Gulf Coast's Greatest Beach Party, April 27-29th. Designed to attract tourism during the "bumper" season, it's now a 3-day event and one of the busiest weekends of the year contributing over $10 million to the local economy while raising over $25,000 for local schools and charities.
 
The week long event starts off with the Mullet Man Triathlon Saturday, April 21st benefiting Leukemia Lymphoma Society and the Mullet Swing Golf Classic Wednesday, April 25th benefiting Multiple Sclerosis Society. A special performance brought to you by 95KSJ with the James Barker Band keeps the bash going in the tent Wednesday night. Then the party kick off to Mullet Toss begins Thursday with people flocking in to listen to the popular sounds of Wes Loper, Red Clay Strays, Velcro Pygmies, and Lee Yankie & The Hellz Yeah.

By John Mullen
April 19, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®)- Finally, all seemed to be in order for the transfer of land. And then it wasn’t.
 
Since a meeting in December, an action to transfer land from Orange Beach to the Baldwin County Board of Education has been ever present on every city council agenda. And every time it was postponed.
 
Also, during the April 17 regular meeting City Administrator Ken Grimes announced an upgrade in the city’s bond rating to AA1 by Moody’s Investor Service, one step below the top rating available.
 
When land transfer came up, Councilman Jeff Silvers began a motion the council has approved every meeting since Dec. 12.
 
“Move to postpone consideration …” Silvers began but was interrupted by City Clerk Renee Eberly and City Attorney Wanda Cochran. 
 
“We’re ready,” Cochran said. 
 
Cochran said the deed was prepared and the conditions of use agreement was ready to go as well. But the councilmembers hadn’t received those documents.

Franco's Italian Restaurant in Orange Beach, AL.
Clorinda Bassolino Meadlock and family.
By John Mullen
April 18, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - Clorinda Bassolino Meadlock wants you to feel like you’ve stepped into a cozy family place when you visit Franco’s Italian Restaurant. All over the walls are pictures of her family – parents, grandparents uncles and cousins from the 1930s to the present.
 
It’s her family’s tradition that continues today. On a recent afternoon, she following her toddler daughter around the restaurant and chatting up a tableful of diners who were exchanging smiles with the youngster. 
 
At Franco’s you could easily think you’ve stepped into a ristorante tucked away in a borough of New York City. Precisely the feeling Clorinda wants you to have visiting Franco’s.
 

Joe Gilchrist of the iconic Flora-Bama beach bar.
 
By John Mullen
Fish will be flying, Joe will be smiling and a good time will be had by all. Just like Joe has wanted and expected since he took over a shack on the beach and turned it into one of the world’s most famous beach bars.
 
Happy 76th birthday to Joe Gilchrist, the lifeblood, heart and soul of the iconic Flora-Bama Lounge, Package Store and Oyster Bar. After Joe took over in 1978 the Bama has started and grown several must-see events, parties and holiday celebrations.
 
One of the most famous, the Interstate Mullet Toss, is just a week away. It’ll be a 4 day celebration of the mullet – the fish and the hairdo – also known as the Gulf Coast’s Greatest Beach Party. It’s also been likened to an adult spring break.
 

Gladys B sunk in gulf

by Alabama Marine Resources

April 13, 2018 - Fort Morgan, AL (OBA®)- The 102’ tugboat Gladys B was built in 1937 and donated to the Alabama Marine Resources Artificial Reef Program by Steiner’s Shipyard from Bayou la Batre, AL. The Gladys B was scuttled in the Tatum-Winn North reef zone approximately 20 nautical miles south of Fort Morgan, AL in 100’ of water with the superstructure of the vessel at approximately 62’ below the surface.

CoastAL is a new Gulf Shores restaurant brought to you by the Flora-Bama owners and Cactus Cantina.
John McInnis of CoastAL.
 
By John Mullen
April 10, 2018 – Gulf Shores, AL (OBA®) – CoastAL, a new sprawling, family-friendly space with live music, exciting events and great eats is now open in Gulf Shores.
 
John McInnis of Flora-Bama fame and an investment group recently bought the Sawgrass Center and Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo property on the east side of Alabama 59 at 12th Avenue with plans for a diverse format. The center was the former home to both Nolan’s and Doc’s Seafood Shack.
 
CoastAL will have three components including a restaurant featuring a popular local chef, an ice cream shop with a variety of cold treats and a retail store in the space closest to Alabama 59.
 

 
 
April 9, 2018 - Gulf Shores, AL (OBA®) - Picnic Beach is bringing something fresh, healthy and new to Gulf Shores, Alabama! Picnic Beach restaurant focuses on fresh, clean ingredients, from premium smoked meats and BBQ - smoked onsite in the smokehouse - to healthy green drinks, organic cocktails and smoothies.
 
Picnic Beach will offer something delicious for the whole family in a relaxed, beachy environment. Gather family and friends around a picnic table at the casual indoor/outdoor picnic-themed restaurant with gulf views in the heart of Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Orange Beach Red Snapper

 

From the Governor's Desk...

April 6, 2018 — (OBA®) — Montgomery, AL - Governor Kay Ivey on Friday announced that the National Marine Fisheries Service has granted Alabama’s request for an Exempted Fishing Permit, thereby allowing the state of Alabama to manage the recreational red snapper fishing dates for 2018 and 2019.

Pleasure Island Tiki Bar in Orange Beach
 
By John Mullen
 
April 5, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - If you travel the Western Caribbean and the Mexican Caribbean you’re likely to encounter an endless number of palapa tiki huts on the landscape. But on the Alabama Gulf Coast, you’ll find just one.
 
Tiki Bar Hostess“There’s nothing like that in Orange Beach, nothing that’s actually an authentic tiki bar,” Sportsman Marina General Manager Brian Wells said.
 
Pleasure Island Tiki Bar at Sportsman was Wells’ brainchild and is getting ready to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The square structures are centered on a huge center king pole and the roof is layered with almost two feet of thatched, dried palm leaves. 
 
“The way the leaves are weaved, at a certain wind velocity the wind just goes through them,” Wells said. “The Caribbean is where they developed this type of structure so that when the wind comes, they lose a few leaves. All the stuff that’s in it may be in the backyard, but they still have the structure.”
 
Local and visitors alike have gravitated to the sultry breezes off Terry Cove and the breath-taking views of the islands of Perdido Pass and beyond to the Gulf. There they enjoy cold drinks, good times and music with friends and a menu that has evolved into one of the tastiest on the coast.
 

By John Mullen
April 4, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - A determined mayor and Orange Beach City Council began the effort to limit expansion of vacation rentals in residential areas in December. And, that determination did not wane through meeting after meeting and opposition from national and state Realtor organizations.
 
On April 3, two new ordinances breezed through with hardly a whimper with no speakers in opposition but two surprise votes against from Councilman Jeff Silvers. The measures, one to establish a short-term rental category of 14 days or less and another to establish a $500-per-year business license to operate one, each passed 5-1.
 
Also, during the following work session, the city revealed final plans for landscaping in the medians along Alabama 182, or beach road.
 
“You’re opposed to it?” Mayor Tony Kennon asked Silvers. “The vacation rentals we’ve been talking about for two months?”
 
“I’m opposed to it,” Silvers answered.
 

 Sea Turtle volunteers on the Alabama Gulf Coast have distinctive green T-Shirts.
 
By Mike Reynolds
Share the Beach
 
April 2, 2018 - Orange Beach/Gulf Shores/Ft Morgan/Dauphin Island, Al - (OBA®) – The Alabama Gulf Coast is expecting some special visitors in a couple of months. Every year as the days get longer and the soft sand heats up along the Gulf Coast, female loggerhead sea turtles, some weighing as much as 400 pounds, pull themselves from their watery habitat onto our sandy beaches to lay their nests. When complete she will use her large front flippers to scatter sand around to hide her work then make her way back to the Gulf. The 2018 nesting season starts on May 1st and volunteers are needed to patrol the beaches at sunup to locate the nests laid the night before.
 
Share the Beach, Alabama’s Sea Turtle Conservation Program has been working for more than 16 years to protect the nests and nesting habitat. The Program has a new home this year with the Alabama Coastal Foundation (www.joinACF.org) serving as the host organization. The volunteers help mitigate the effects of human development such as lights on Alabama’s beaches. Sea Turtle nesting season starts on May 1. Most sea turtle nests are laid by the end of August, but the hatching will continue until through the end of October. Last year, Share the Beach documented over 170 nests in Alabama, our second-best nest count since the start of the program.
 

Easter Brunch at Fin&Fork on beach road in Orange Beach.
By John Mullen
 
March 30, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - The latest restaurant concept from Gulf Coast culinary veteran husband-wife team Matt and Regina Shipp, Fin&Fork, opened March 30 in Orange Beach.
 
There are new items and some items similar to ones from their former restaurant at Sportsman Marina.
But there was no doubt about the return of a popular house-made dressing.
 
“We’re going to have some tomato-feta dressing,” Regina said. “That’s one thing Matt said we’re not changing because that’s everybody’s favorite. That’s good stuff.”
 
After a fire at the Terry Cove restaurant and the sell of that business, the pair recently renovated the old Wintzell’s Restaurant on beach road enclosing the outside bar to create a fun space for a bar and live music. There’s also a large sand play area to entertain the kids.
 

By David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

March 30, 2018 - (OBA®) - Those who wonder why anglers off Alabama catch more than 30 percent of the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico despite having only 53 miles of coastline should have attended the Red Snapper Conference in Mobile last week.

The key to Alabama’s phenomenal red snapper fishing is the more than 1,000 square miles just off the coast that are designated artificial reef zones.

Easter in Orange Beach

By City of Orange Beach

March 30, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - For those spending Easter weekend in Orange Beach, there is no shortage of family activities.

For children, Easter egg hunts are planned in and around the city. Here are some of the options:

U.S. Navy Blue Angels

Below is the 2018 Blue Angels Air Show Schedule current as of March 29, 2018. Note that schedule is subject to change and weather events may cause shows to be postponed or cancelled. 

Orange Beach Toy ShareMarch 26, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL - (OBA®) - Anyone who has visited the Alabama Gulf State Park’s public beach accesses in Orange Beach the past two summers has probably seen the colorful turtle signs with handmade wooden boxes at their bases. The words on the boxes say it all: “Need a toy - Take a toy. Have a toy - Leave a toy.”
 
The turtle boxes have been a success since being introduced at the end of the summer of 2015. City Administrator Ken Grimes said the idea all started with early morning walks he would take on the beach in 2012, before the “Leave Only Footprints” clean beach initiative was introduced in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Grimes would collect plastic toys he found on the beach, soon having bags full.

By David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

March 23, 2018 - (OBA) - A little rust was evident after a long hunting season. The first tap at the end of the line meant a fish was interested in the bait, but the reflexes hadn’t been tested for a while. By the time I set the hook, I had felt the second tap. I knew that, in all likelihood, the hookset was a futile attempt to overcome my dormant fishing senses.

As suspected, no resistance was felt on the hookset and I reeled up a clean, bronze Kahle hook. I’d been robbed by one of the best bait thieves in Alabama’s coastal waters – the toothy, tasty species known as sheepshead.

After putting a chunk of fresh-dead shrimp on the hook, I tossed it near the structure. As soon as I felt the first tap, I set the hook and the fight was on. With its vertical body and large fins, sheepshead can stress your tackle. With the drag set correctly, a few runs later, the fish finally tired enough for me to bring it alongside the boat and into the landing net.

OBPDMarch 22, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - On March 22, 2018, at approximately 11:00 am Orange Beach Police and Fire responded in reference to an unresponsive person on the ground at the North end of Cypress Street on Wolf Bay. The person, is identified as a white male in his 50’s who was the victim of an apparent gunshot wound. This matter is being investigated by the Orange Beach Police Department as a homicide. This will be the information released at this time pending notification of
the next of kin and further investigation of the case.

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the Orange Beach Police Department at (251)981-9777 or email Lieutenant Carl Bradley at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

WKRG Debbie Williams reporting from the scene...

Congratulations to Jeanne Fitzgibbons for earning the city’s “Above & Beyond Award” for her tireless work each year in helping organize the Orange Beach Seafood Festival and Car Show.

By John Mullen

March 21, 2018 – Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) – The chances of bringing fiber technology to Orange Beach households may seem dire, but Councilman Jerry Johnson still has hope.

“We’re going to have the numbers and I’m confident we’re going to have the numbers by the end of this year putting in fiber,” Johnson said.
 
In August, the city announced a plan to partner with Centurylink to bring fiber internet to the city if a threshold of signups were met. The number was 1,000 but as of March 20, less than 300 residents had put up a $25 deposit to signup for fiber if it comes to town.

From left are Jana Lilayuva, Emeril Lagasse and Leck Lilayuva.
By John Mullen
March 20, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - When Leck Lilayuva, who owns iconic Big Fish Restaurant & Bar with his wife, Jana, was a kid his dad would wake him up at the crack of dawn to help handle the truckloads of fish that arrived daily at his fish distributing business.
 
“As a young boy he would wake me at 4 in the morning banging on my window because the house was right behind the restaurant,” Lilayuva said. “It wasn’t a restaurant at first, just a shop. He’d wake me up to come shovel ice, pack fish.”
 
His dad was also later the owner of a Niki’s and there Leck would put on an apron and work wherever needed in the restaurant.

If these walls could talk book cover

March 19, 2018 - (OBA) - Chris Warner, a resident of Perdido Key, Florida, and author of five books about the noted haunt on the Alabama-Florida Line has lifted from the scribbled walls of the iconic pump house a collection of over 500 brief, brilliant bursts of life…“If the Walls Could Talk.”

“The Flora-Bama has been aptly called, ‘A museum of bad decisions.’ Patriarch Joe Gilchrist always referred to it as ‘My little insane asylum by the sea.’ Whatever the descriptor or moniker, the Flora-Bama remains the quintessential bucket list destination for revelers far and wide.”

Warner has also authored “Bushwhacked at the Flora-Bama,” (History of Flora-Bama with Joe Gilchrist), “Saved at the Alabama-Florida Line” (Nominated: Best Piece of Fiction by an Alabama Author, Alabama Library Association, 2017), “They Met at the Alabama-Florida Line” (Novel number two) and “Food N’ Fun at the Flora-Bama” (cookbook).

Alabama Recovery Council

By City of Orange Beach

March 14, 2018 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA®) - On March 7, 2018, the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council held a public meeting to vote on projects for inclusion in Alabama’s Draft Multiyear Implementation Plan (MIP) and Draft State Expenditure Plan (SEP).  The council selected 48 projects to receive more than $315 million for infrastructure, economic development and ecosystem restoration in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. Eight projects are in Orange Beach.

Once fully developed, the draft plans will be released for a 45-day public comment period.

Click on the following link to view the meeting presentation and to learn more about the selected projects:  Draft MIP and SEP Projects.