Alabama's Gulf State Park feels like home

Alabama's Gulf State Park feels like home

By LYNN GRISARD FULLMAN
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/30/08

Gulf State Park, Ala. - How we vacation can be peculiar. We want to leave home, yet when choosing a place to stay, we look for places like home.

Home has luxuries and amenities that we've grown to enjoy, including enough bedrooms (and, yes, even bathrooms) for all those gathered.

If we're lucky, sometimes we find that spot, with a spacious kitchen, living space and separate dining space, a deck and screened porch.

When vacationing with our grandsons along Alabama's Gulf Coast, we found our home in a rustic, Southern setting.

At Gulf State Park, we overnighted in one of the newly built cottages. Like the other 10 cottages surrounding ours, it had a full kitchen (stocked with quality cookware and standard-size appliances), three bedrooms (each with a queen-size bed), three baths (one attached to each bedroom), two screened porches, a wraparound deck, cable television - and view across placid Lake Shelby to the coastal skyline.

The living room, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a television, had a large storage cabinet. Had I not been traveling with a 3-year-old, it would never have occurred to me that the cabinet could serve as a child's respite for an afternoon nap. Be advised, however, that the haven can be short-lived if your older brother discovers where you have taken refuge with your beloved, tattered pillow and blanket.

But, not to worry, the cabinet has room enough for two if you're small enough and want a napmate.

Built in 2006, the cottages in Gulf Shores boost the overnight accommodations at Gulf State Park, which has 20 modern cabins and 496 improved campground sites with modern bathhouses.

Two brick chimneys near the cottages are reminders of the power of Mother Nature.

Hurricanes Frederic, Ivan and Katrina, in turn, stomped across the coastline, tossing toilets and appliances into vacant lots, ripping roofs from buildings and toppling walls. Once the winds had blown to sea, locals scratched their heads and wondered when - or if - rebuilding would come.

Yet, the coast began rebuilding, and the state of Alabama began piecing together the torn parts of its 6,150-acre park that has two miles of sandy beaches.

Damaged and aging structures were replaced by new places, far finer than their predecessors. The park's 18-hole golf course reopened, and work began on a $16.3 million pier that, when completed next spring, will measure 20 feet wide and 1,512 feet long, making it among the longest in the Gulf of Mexico. (The previous pier was 14 feet wide and 875 feet long.)

The park's recreational vehicle campground, with 496 campsites, was refurbished in 2005 with new sewer lines, electricity and water. The sites, all paved, can accommodate a 45-foot motor home.

Opened last year, the Hugh S. Branyon Back Country Trail, a project with Orange Beach, stretches 2 3/4 miles through a bog and palmetto forest.

The cottages themselves provide a quiet setting, playground and a pier (shared by cottage and cabin dwellers) that juts into Lake Shelby. The park also offers free daily activities such as videos and guided beach and nature walks.

For those who remember to pack their gear, the cabins' shared pier is ideal for fishing. (A license is required.)

We did not fish from the pier during our stay, but we did watch a young girl wet her line a few times. While we watched, she never pulled anything from the lake. Yet she, like the four of us, netted a memorable catch: laid-back days, fond memories and time together, each in our own bedrooms with room to sprawl.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

Gulf State Park is at 20115 Ala. 135, Gulf Shores, AL 36542. From Atlanta, it's about 345 miles or a 5 1/2-hour drive.

About the park

A three-bedroom, three-bath cottage rents nightly for $233.10 from March 1-Sept. 8, and $209 from Sept. 9-February. If staying from Memorial Day until mid-August, you'll be required to stay a minimum of seven nights. Plan ahead as these dates fill quickly. Reservations for seven or more nights are accepted up to one year in advance. Also 496 campsites. Reservations may be made on weekdays (except holidays), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Eastern Time. www.alapark.com or www.outdooralabama.com ; 1-800-252-7275 or 251-948-7275