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October 6 – 9, 2011 was “Thunder in the Gulf” weekend. Orange Beach AL hosted the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) World Championships. We noticed a lot of people in the parking lot tailgating with grills and lawn chairs set up in the back of their pick-up trucks. How cool! There were a lot of people at the beach that day!

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It was so windy that these people had a very hard time keeping their beach umbrella up.

This photo looks misty because the wind was blowing the sand and surf so hard!

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Orange Beach is in Baldwin County, Alabama. In the year 2000, their population was 3,784.

The seas were rough that day!

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A lot of people were waiting for the speedboat races to begin

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Along the Gulf Coast (in Florida & in Alabama), the Flag of the Day is posted at every stretch of beach. We commented that it must be a full-time job for someone to put the flags up each day and change them every evening.

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Both people & birds were enjoying the beach that day

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We were surprised to see so many people in the water on a red flag day

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To get to Orange Beach from Pensacola, we go through Perdido Key.

Other than the “Welcome to Alabama” sign, it is hard for us to tell Perdido Key from Orange Beach.

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The Gulf Coast has very nice palm trees

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Interesting architecture

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Returning to Pensacola

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The corner of Gulf Beach Highway & Dog Track Road in Pensacola. Dog Track Road actually does have a Greyhound Racing Track & Poker Room on it. We were surprised to find that these are legal activities.

It was a beautiful, sunny, and very windy day. ..A perfect autumn day for the Gulf Coast!

Beautiful landscaping!.

Entering Orange Beach

It seemed a very long walk from the parking lot to the beach

This park is located on Perdido Beach Boulevard, directly across from the Caribe Resort

The picnic pavilions where we had lunch

The beach where we were had a red flag flying; however, we noticed that all of the other beaches that we passed had yellow flags flying …Not sure what that was about!

The view from the walkway

The end pavilion. A large family had set up for a picnic there.

The tables all have electric outlets. One family set up a computer so they could watch a football game. They kept it so low that we couldn’t hear it; we couldn’t tell which game they were watching.

Buildings past the parking lot.

A couple of airplanes flew over pulling signs about some model home sale

Rejoice! For the steps of a righteous person are ordered of God

2 people enjoy

a parasail

A bird shows off his flying ability!

We saw several people rinsing the seashells that they had collected. One couple even brought a mesh bag and a net for gathering shells…They looked semi-pro .

The private marina near the park

A sailboat leaving the harbor

The view from the bridge

A nest in the top of a tree on Gulf Beach Highway

A nest on top of a pole on Gulf Beach Highway