Day 178 - Saturday May 7, 2016

Day 178 - Saturday May 7, 2016

We decided to attempt to hit Foley for the Gulf Coast Balloon Festival.  I remember going to these festivals when i was a kid, in New York, and wanted my kids (even though they're way older than I was then) to experience the same thing. We loaded up the bikes and headed out. Our original plan was to camp nearby but that was nixed by Avery having to babysit a neighbors kiddo at 5:15.  

So a quick out and back to try and hit the balloon festival.  Nope, the balloons don't fly during the day. So, because we couldn't stay until dusk to watch takeoff, we decided to go to Fairhope and visit the city.  It's a really beautiful city--old town center, and bonus, a bike path that runs the length of Mobile bay from Point Clear all the way to Mobile.  I know about this trail because I did it a few years ago when I toured with my buddy Ray.  

Fairhope has it's share of hills so I didn't know what to expect.  Of course, when I rode it I had about 50 lbs of gear tied to my Specialized mountain bike.  This time, I forgot my bike pump, and hadn't pumped up the tandem tires in awhile--yep you guessed it--flat as boards.  We rode about a mile and I thought they were gonna lose all air.  Luckily I brought a hand pump on board (preparedness, yay!) and was able to fight with it for about 10 minutes and get some decent pressure in them.  

Off we went, now everyone with attitudes due to my meltdown (which I really need to work on--mindfulness will be practiced!).  We rode down the streets and sidewalks of Fairhope until I noticed all the speed limit signs said 25mph.  Since I didn't want to risk an actual flat tire, we went to the road and hit city-center.  From there we locked our bikes and walked around Fairhope.  

We hit some shops, ate at the Gumbo House where the bartender was quite lame--I had trouble leaving her any tip money, but did, because the food was quite good, then we left and decided to ride to the Fairhope Brewery--Mike's koozie along for the ride.  

Two miles later, we made it to the Brewery 6 minutes before they were to open up shop at 1PM.  I really love Google Maps to get around, (by bike) towns I don't know. Jen and I each had the spiced stout, which really was fantastic. The bartender at the brewery was nice enough to find a couple of Coke classics for the kiddos and they had a free-play Golden Tee Golf game which kept GT company as we enjoyed our suds.  Very cool place--wish we would have stayed for a third, but had to go.  After realizing that the Balloon fest wasn't happening, even at 3:30, we headed home to have Avery home in time for babysitting.  More porch time at papa bob's talking with my brother and dad, then home for our own quality porch time for the rest of the evening. Maybe next year, Foley.  

Tandem stop on East Mobile bay--Fairhope Park
17mm 1/125 F8 ISO100

GT face near the antique tractor errrr Balloon Festival, Foley, AL.
15mm F8 1/200 ISO100

Methinks putting a water bottle nipple on a 70 year old tractor wheel is not a good idea
15mm F8 ISO100 1/100