Gulf Shores Alabama Beaches Free of Oil | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Gorgeous Beaches and Great Shrimp: Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama Are Oil Free and Open for Business

Published August 21, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

I’ve feasted on shrimp all around the world, but Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama have, hands down, the most delicious shrimp I’ve ever eaten. I arrived last night and promptly dug into my first helping at the Gulf Island Grill; today I had a shrimp Po’ Boy for lunch at the Beach Club and this evening I had broiled skewered shrimp at Live Bait restaurant in Orange Beach. I’m here as a guest of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, enjoying four days on this lovely coastal barrier island and checking up on the status of the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Gulf Shores Beach - pristine white and free of oil and tar

Fort Morgan Beach on the western tip of Gulf Shores

Over the next few days I’ll be writing more about what these folks have endured and how they’ve dealt with the crisis, but for now I’ll echo the message being broadcast by tourism professionals: the brilliant white sand beaches and warm Gulf waters are once again clean and sparkling and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are open for business. And now if you’ll excuse me, there are a few more shrimp with my name on them…

Gulf Shores Vacations

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Posted in Southeast US travel |

Tagged Alabama, blogsherpa, cultural travel, culture, Deep Water Horizon, Gulf Shores, oil spill, Orange Beach, shrimp, the south, Travel, USA, white sand beach

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http://shannonlane.com Shannon
Barbara – It’s so good to see you. The Gulf Coast area has some of the prettiest beaches and it’s close to home for me. Thank you for coming down to see things for yourself.
http://shannonlane.com Shannon
Barbara – It’s so good to see you. The Gulf Coast area has some of the prettiest beaches and it’s close to home for me. Thank you for coming down to see things for yourself.
Barbara Weibel
Shannon: It was so great to see you and I was honored to share your birthday with you. I’ve always wanted to visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and this area is even more gorgeous than I imagined it. Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of this trip.
Barbara Weibel
Shannon: It was so great to see you and I was honored to share your birthday with you. I’ve always wanted to visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and this area is even more gorgeous than I imagined it. Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of this trip.
http://islandmomma.wordpress.com islandmomma
Hope you don’t mind me being terribly blunt, but when I’ve dreamed about travelling the US (and I do – often!)Alabama was not on the list of states I wanted to visit. Mea cupla – I’m afraid I was a victim of the memories of news stories from the 60s. Stupid of me to think things are still the same. Your pictures have put it near the top of my list now! I had no idea that it is so stunning. I can’t wait to read all about it, because, really, all I know comes from recent history.
http://islandmomma.wordpress.com islandmomma
Hope you don’t mind me being terribly blunt, but when I’ve dreamed about travelling the US (and I do – often!)Alabama was not on the list of states I wanted to visit. Mea cupla – I’m afraid I was a victim of the memories of news stories from the 60s. Stupid of me to think things are still the same. Your pictures have put it near the top of my list now! I had no idea that it is so stunning. I can’t wait to read all about it, because, really, all I know comes from recent history.
http://travelexperta.com/blog Marina K. Villatoro
It’s great to hear that those beautiful beaches are clean and open to business again.
http://travelexperta.com/blog Marina K. Villatoro
It’s great to hear that those beautiful beaches are clean and open to business again.
Barbara Weibel
Bluntness is always appreciated, Linda. I think a lot of people share your misconceptions about Alabama and other parts of the deep south, but it is really beautiful here.
Barbara Weibel
Bluntness is always appreciated, Linda. I think a lot of people share your misconceptions about Alabama and other parts of the deep south, but it is really beautiful here.
http://foxnomad.com Anil
Is it that the oil hasn’t (and won’t) make it there or is the condition due to the clean up efforts?
http://foxnomad.com Anil
Is it that the oil hasn’t (and won’t) make it there or is the condition due to the clean up efforts?
Barbara Weibel
Anil: The oil has made it there but they have worked very hard to clean it up. It continues to wash up occasionally, in small pieces called tarballs, but they appear in very limited areas which are cleaned up immediately. Half mile away will be totally clean, which is of course, something that the media has not bothered to explain. Unfortunately, the spill has scared people to the point that the beaches are deserted and the community is really suffering. I have nothing but good things to say about the area, especially after I found out that the Convention and Visitors Bureau made a commitment to tell the truth about the situation, regardless of any negative impact it may have had, and had the full approval of the city fathers to do so. They take photos of the beaches every day and post them on their Facebook page, even if it shows oil contamination. Fortunately, the incidents of contamination are lessening. I did see one instance of small tarballs while I was there but in most cases the beaches were pure white and pristine, and the water was crystal clear. I’ll be writing more about it soon. Thanks for asking.
Barbara Weibel
Anil: The oil has made it there but they have worked very hard to clean it up. It continues to wash up occasionally, in small pieces called tarballs, but they appear in very limited areas which are cleaned up immediately. Half mile away will be totally clean, which is of course, something that the media has not bothered to explain. Unfortunately, the spill has scared people to the point that the beaches are deserted and the community is really suffering. I have nothing but good things to say about the area, especially after I found out that the Convention and Visitors Bureau made a commitment to tell the truth about the situation, regardless of any negative impact it may have had, and had the full approval of the city fathers to do so. They take photos of the beaches every day and post them on their Facebook page, even if it shows oil contamination. Fortunately, the incidents of contamination are lessening. I did see one instance of small tarballs while I was there but in most cases the beaches were pure white and pristine, and the water was crystal clear. I’ll be writing more about it soon. Thanks for asking.
http://www.Hotelsium.com Boutique Hotels
Man that’s great..it sounds like good news after long. . .
http://www.Hotelsium.com Boutique Hotels
Man that’s great..it sounds like good news after long. . .
http://www.ottsworld.com Sherry Ott
Thanks for sharing the pictures…they speak loads!
Looks amazing…and virtually empty – which is a bit sad. Hopefully people will start coming back soon! Keep spreading the word!
http://www.ottsworld.com Sherry Ott
Thanks for sharing the pictures…they speak loads!
Looks amazing…and virtually empty – which is a bit sad. Hopefully people will start coming back soon! Keep spreading the word!
Anonymous
The Gulf tourism folks are doing a great job with their PR – I think the message is out – there’s no oil on these beaches!