Brown. Is coffee. It’s not supposed to be brown. Sand is supposed to be white…beautiful, sugar white…not brown. These beaches have long been famous for their beautiful white sands, but not anymore. They are now brown. And that’s sad. Gulf Shores, Alabama isn’t a ghost town, but it’s definitely not the touristy place it usually is during the summer. And that’s even sadder. The BP oil rig disaster has changed things here, and not for the better.
I’m in a condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama, here for a week of fun in the sun for the next 4 days. I came for the long awaited Jimmy Buffett concert… the free concert he was supposed to have on the beach to support the local economy. The idea was that if he gave a free concert and brought people like Kenny Chesney, The Zac Brown Band and others, people would come. Mass. And they stayed in the hotels and condominiums and went out to eat and spent their money. It was a great idea. And then came Hurricane Alex. It’s not heading straight here, but it will be close enough to cause some high tides. High tide that could be dangerous for singers and bands on stage. So the concert has been postponed. So the crowds of people are not here yet. I am goal.
The oil has stained the water. It has been gushing from the shelf under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico for more than 2 months. They have managed to put a plug on it, but oil continues to come out. It has spread from the Louisiana coast, through the waters off the Mississippi coast and now into Alabama, and is reaching Florida. It’s pretty nasty. Yesterday, from our balcony, it looked good. The sand was brown, but the water looked fine. When I went down to the edge of the water today, I saw that the foamy water had turned from white to beige. There are patches of soft brown stuff here and there…the tar balls, as they’ve been called. The water itself doesn’t look brown like I heard on TV…seems like it normally does. But from the looks of the whitecaps and tar balls, it’s obvious that the oil is there.
Restaurants have changed. The Original Oyster House, one of the area’s most popular restaurants, has no waiting list. Unheard. I’ve eaten there many times, I can’t count, and there’s usually a wait of at least 45 minutes to an hour. Even in the winter. Now you can just walk in, no matter what time you go. Sea and Suds, another popular oyster bar on the beach, is visible from our balcony. By now, in the late afternoon, people are usually scattered everywhere, and they also have a waiting list to get in. We watched for a while and saw some small groups come out of the boardwalk to eat. When we approached to eat, 11 of the 18 tables were occupied. Our waitress said this was an improvement over the night before and the lunch crowd that day.
Shopping has changed. The stores are almost empty, everyone is doing great specials to get rid of stock that is normally sold out and back on order this late in the summer. There are only a couple of employees in the stores (and restaurants)… the college students who usually spend the summer here working in stores and wait staff are having a hard time finding work.
Other industries are also affected. On the way down, we stopped at Burris Farmer’s Market in Loxley, Alabama. It is located on Highway 59, which is also known as the Gulf Shores Parkway. Burris is a landmark for those heading to the beach…everyone stops to stock up on tomatoes, peaches, watermelons and other fresh produce and homemade baked goods to take to the beach. And they stop again on the way home. We usually have to sit and wait in the parking lot to get a parking spot. It was almost empty when we got there. They hire local high school students to work for the summer. The young lady we spoke to said they’ve cut hiring in half this summer. She said it really hurts her feelings when they send her home early on days when there isn’t enough business to keep all the staff present, and that has happened on a couple of occasions. Beach umbrella companies have been reduced to one employee on the beach. There are not enough people to make it worth their while to have two or three workers on the beach.
The Beach Patrol is busy. They stand at intervals up and down the beach, informing people that dispersant has been put in the water to help clean it up, and that it’s bad for you…worse than oil, but it IS cleaning up oil. So don’t go to the gulf.
But that’s just the water. Away from the water, closer to the hotels and condominiums, the sand is whiter. Most of the people are still on the beach. Bathers are in chairs and under umbrellas, couples stroll hand in hand up and down the shoreline, and children run around everywhere. They are all doing things on the beach…flying kites, playing volleyball and building sand castles. One or two have braved the water, against the Beach Patrol’s warning, but most stick to the sand or pools. Everyone is still having fun, after all, they are at the beach. How can they NOT have fun?
It’s still the beach. I have been coming here since I can’t remember when. Nothing has changed, from the tourists’ point of view, except that we can’t get into the water. But there have been other times that I can remember…seaweed, jellyfish, hangovers, shark scares…lots of things that have kept us out of the water. It wasn’t a big deal…we just found something else to do. And that is still the case.
Come to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. There is too much to do. Waterville, The Track and Happy Harbor Water Rentals provide fun outside of the gulf. Pink Pony Pub, The Hangout, Flora-Bama for your wild side. Shops and restaurants galore…too many to name here!
It’s still the beach…even if you can’t get in the water, it’s still THE BEACH! Don’t let it go to waste! I overheard a lady sitting by the pool saying to someone on the phone, “Hey, it all depends on how you look at it… I’m not at work!”
AMEN sister!