Happy Birthday, D!!

Today is my sweet husband’s 27th birthday, so for something different this year I took him on a surprise “Destination Unknown” birthday trip. We left Friday morning and headed to Orange Beach for a quick beach weekend and to see Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan in concert at The Wharf.

It was sooooo much fun! My granny and I used to dance around in our nightgowns to Willie in her living room when I’d spend the night with her. I think she’s seen him like 10 times or something crazy like that, so of course I had to call her when he played. Yep, I drunk-dialed my grandmother. Not that she could hear anything he sang or anything I said, but I had to do it… :)

The concert was great and the weather even better… it rained on and off all day Friday and was even raining when we were walking from our car to the amphitheater. Then it cleared, cooled off a bit and had the most beautiful sunset just as Mellencamp took the stage. It was perfect.

Saturday we ate a late breakfast at Tacky Jack’s down the street right on the water as it was raining. We thought it was going to be an ugly day, but then the sun miraculously came out and we were able to get some sun at the beach Saturday afternoon. Here is a pic from Saturday…

We ate dinner at this great little restaurant Saturday night. They had a guy singing with just his guitar outside while we waited (which was a very long time for a table for nine), and he was so much fun! He even gave Derek a birthday shout-out and played Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” which was our wedding song. Our long-awaited table ended up being outside right in front of the guitar guy, so I think we entertained him as much as he entertained us during dinner. Here is a pic from dinner… Katie and Derek were playing a drinking game to "Roxanne." Look at Neilbert... he wasn't amused. :)

Of course, no trip to Orange Beach is complete without a trip to…

THE FLORA-BAMA! I had never been, so it was an experience for me… that place is huge! It was fun, but we were totally worn out from a crazy couple of days and nights, so it wasn’t a super late night for us.

Sunday we left one beach and took the ferry across Mobile Bay to another beach to eat lunch with Meme Lou and PawPaw Billy on Dauphin Island. It was a nice little visit, and she even made Derek a birthday cake. We hit the road about 2 and couldn’t wait to make it home to our own bed. We were totally exhausted, but it was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Derek! I love you and hope you had a great one!