Gulf State Park remix! We last took a trip to Gulf Shores for Spring Break 2016, and we decided to make our return this summer for our family trip. We looked around and different campgrounds but knew we wanted to be on the coast. GSP has almost 500 sites and they were all booked forever. One day I happened to find ONE spot open for the days we were wanting to go, so I snatched it up!
This was an absolutely great trip … other than the heat and humidity. As usual, we had a rough go the first day because we were getting into camp mode. We left early Saturday morning, made good time, and checked in around noon. We set up, sweated a lot, walked around, sweated a lot more, and eventually sweat even more. That evening we spent some time at the awesome pool and then went down to the beach for a bit. The kids love going at night so we don’t have to worry about sunscreen … and Kelly and I enjoy that too. They played, splashed, ran from waves, built sand castles, and did kid things. We headed back, put the kids to bed, woke up a few times for nightmares, and made it to the morning. Since it was so hot again we decided to spend most of the day at the pool. This pool is so great and the kids loved being there. Cora even got to take her life jacket off for a bit and practice swimming. It was really good for her. We also found time to make it to the Nature Center for their 10:00am show. We were treated to some baby alligators, tarantulas, and an owl. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals.
After a full day at the pool, we went to the beach after dark to hunt for some crabs! This was a first for the Clayton crew and happens to be one of my favorite all-time memories. Seeing the kids run from crabs and squeal when one came close was just too much fun. Also tossing one on Kelly’s leg was a little more fun than I could handle. :)
The next morning Carter had me back on the tennis courts. It seems like we went out there 10 times over the course of the weekend because Carter had the tennis bug. The girls came a few times as well and played Hatchimals. We spent even more time at the pool this day and then had some quiet time at the camper. Lastly, we took a drive and ate dinner at The Shrimp Basket. We also took the kids to Alvin’s for their first beach souvenir experience. Carter and Cora bought beach necklaces and Caroline got … you guessed it … a stuffed animal.
The last morning was our typical process. Pack up, do a few more fun things, and then hit the road. This one will go down as one of the better trips. The kids had a lot of fun and the park was just great. It was so much better than we remembered the first time.
