While visiting us in Alabama, C.J.’s parents went to a cute town called Fairhope. They recommended that we go check it out sometime, so on Satuday, December 2nd, we did just that. Fairhope is about a 50 minute drive from Gulfshores. This town is failry small with a population of roughly 22,000 people, but it is full of things to do.
Arriving around lunchtime, C.J. and I stopped for lunch at El Mexicano Mexican Restaurant. The food was amazing and there were plenty of great vegetarian options. After lunch, C.J. and I stopped by the Fairhope Museum of History. I’m not a huge fan of museums, but it was free to enter and it turned out to be pretty interesting! It was cool to enter the old jail cells, read about the town’s history, and appreciate the art.
The museum is pretty small, so after our quick self-tour, we walked over to the town square, which is full of shops and bars. Our first stop was the Bay Breeze café, where we enjoyed some drinks and listened to live music. Right next to the Bay Breeze is the Pins & Pints bar, which is full of alcohol and pinball machines. C.J. and I had a lot of fun playing pinball and competing against each other.
The shops on the square varied from boutiques, to art galleries, to my favorite: consignment shops. I’ve been to a lot of thrift stores, most of which you really have to dig through to find the good stuff. But the consignment shops in Fairhope were stocked full of designer/higher end brands such as Kate Spade, Free People, and even red bottom Louboutin heels. I managed to find some cute items from Revolution Resale and Back on the Rack Upscale Resale.
While strolling through the town square, C.J. and I spotted a friendly cat sitting on a car. Being the self-proclaimed cat whisperer that I am, I just had to befriend this stray. After giving sufficient head scratches to the cat, C.J. and I continued walking around. Shortly after the cat encounter, we found a bench full of cat beds and treats. The note on the bench explained that Fancy, the cat we met, is a cat who has lived in the streets of Fairhope for the past ten years. It appeared that the town of Fairhope took good care of their community cat.
As the shops started closing, C.J. and I found our way to the Little Whiskey Christmas Club, which is a bar that keeps their Christmas theme year round. It appeared that this bar was slowly going out of business; my guess is that Christmas isn’t a sustainable year round theme. Despite all that, C.J. had fun trying many of their whiskeys. After the Christmas bar, we got dinner at The Ravenite Pizzeria; the Italian food there was great! This concluded our day in Fairhope. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the town and would love to go back again someday!
Until next time!
-Jess May