Two weeks ago we decided to take a little day trip to Gulf Shores to visit the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. It took about an hour to get there, mainly because it is a two lane road most of the way (we took Sorrento Road). The zoo is a little difficult to see from the street so be sure to look for the small sign on the side of the road marking the entrance.
You enter through the gift shop and pay your entrance fee. When you pay for your tickets, you have an opportunity to purchase little cups of feed for certain animals around the zoo. When you exit out the doors, you can turn left or right and then you just make a big circle around the zoo. While at the zoo, you will see everything from birds to deer to bears and lions.
It was a warm day while we were there, so this is mostly what we saw:
A lot of the animals were in hiding because it was so hot. This was one of our favorite animal to visit!
And this was our other favorite animal to visit:
A Few Things To Know Before You Go:
- It is summertime and it is hot. Unless you want to pay $1.25 for a soda or water, make sure you pack a cooler to keep in car. It will be nice and cold for you and the family after you visit the zoo.
- You can get through a zoo visit in about an hour to an hour and a half.
- From the zoo you can see Waterville USA and the amusement park. I wish we had realized this because we probably would have planned to visit both of these at the same time as our zoo visit.
The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is open every day except for major holidays from 9am to 4pm. Adult tickets are $10.00, children’s tickets are $7.00, and senior tickets are $8.00. Children two and under are free.
Here is your weekend roundup of activities. If you know of a family friendly event going on around the area, please leave a comment. As always, call ahead or follow the links to make sure that the information is still accurate.
May 7 – Five Flags Speedway Racing
May 8 – Palafox Market
May 8th and 9th – Gulf Coast Exploreum - Mobile, AL – Mom’s get in free and there will be special activities for mom and kids!
May 8th – Tate FFA Rodeo (I believe this event is on Saturday night. If you have more information or a link to a website, please leave a comment!)
May 8th – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic – Trellis Planter
Oh my goodness. I can’t believe that May is here already! Here is your weekend roundup of activities. If you know of a family friendly event going on around the area, please leave a comment. As always, call ahead or follow the links to make sure that the information is still accurate.
April 30 and May1 – Jay Rodeo - Rescheduled to these dates. Visit website to find out how to get free children’s tickets.
May 1 – Visit the Palafox Market
May 1 – Destin Green Fest (Abrakadoodle flyer here)
May 1 - Dauphin Island Arts Festival
May 1 – Home Depot Kids Clinic – Build a picket fence planter.
May 1 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic - Build a school house.
May 1 – Northwest Modelers Inc Open House – Model Airplanes!!
May 1 – Wet and Wild Festival
May 1 – Gulf Coast Kid’s House Chocolate Fest - Support the Culf Coast Kid’s House and enjoy chocolate treats from loval restaurants. There is a special kid’s area that will feature activities, games and prizes.
May 1 – Spring Garden Festival - Volunteers share their horticultural expertise.
All Weekend – 26th Annual Crawfish Festival
Here are some of the activities going on around and town this weekend. If you have an activity or event to add, please leave a comment on this post! As always, we recommend that you follow the links or call the contact numbers to confirm details before you go.
April 9 – Pajama Storytime at Barnes and Noble - Wear your pajamas, enjoy hot chocolate and cookies, and read a story with Spot.
April 9 – Pirate Trolley – The Curse of Tristan de Luna
April 9 – Blizzard Race 1 – Five Flags Speedway
April 10 – Lowes Build and Grow – Build a mini baseball game.
April 10 – Port City Farmer’s Market
April 10 – Storytime at Barnes and Noble – Spot visits today!
April 10 – Camelia Classic Open Car Show – Bellingrath Gardens, Alabama
April 10 and 11th – JazzFest 2010 – Located in Seville Square
April 10 and 11th – Reptile Show at Pensacola Fairgrounds
April 10 and 11th – Eglin Air Show
April 11 – Book Clubs at Barnes and Noble – Nancy Drew and American Girls Book Clubs meet today.
Also, I received word from the Community Redevelopment Agency that the splash fountain feature at Plaza de Luna is now on for regular hours. The hours are as follows: Monday to Thursday 11am- 2pm and 5pm to 7pm and Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 8 pm. I will post more about this later!
This weekend, the Bass Pro Shop is celebrating the next generation with tons of family activities! On March 13 and 14 from noon to 5pm, participate in the following activities: casting game, fishing basics class, shooting gallery, and sailboat races. You can get your picture taken and put on a Field and Stream cover. If you complete all the activities, you get a free Bass Pro Next Generation DVD. Best part? Everything is free!
There is a Bass Pro Shop located in Spanish Fort, Alabama at 20000 Bass Pro Drive and the contact number is 251.607.5900. There is also one located in Destin, Florida at 4301 Legendary Drive and the contact number is 850.269.6200.
Oh, how I wish my son were still into trains. When he was addicted to playing with his trains, I always looked for a Day Out with Thomas that was anywhere near Pensacola. I even checked cities we were visiting to no avail. Either the timing wasn’t right or the drive was too long!
Day Out with Thomas is coming to Wale West Light Railway in Silverhill, Alabama. Tickets are on sale right now. Tickets are $18.00 per person plus tax. If you are purchasing 20 or more tickets, you can get a group rate of $14.00 plus tax.
The tour includes a 25 minute ride with a narrow gauge Thomas the Tank Engine,™ Meeting Sir Topham Hatt, Storytelling, Live Music, Build with Mega Bloks© and much more.
The dates are April 24-25, May 1-2, May 8-9.
Wales West Light Rail is located at 13670 Smiley St., Siverhill, Alabama. According to Google Maps, Silverhill is about an hour from the middle of Pensacola.
For Mystery Photo Monday, I asked if you knew where/what this was:
This ferris wheel can be found at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama.
The Wharf is only about 45 minutes away from Pensacola so it is ideal for a little day trip getaway. You might be familiar with The Wharf because they often have great concerts in their huge amphitheater. The kids will love riding this ferris wheel…well, most of them! I must admit that we have not taken a ride on the ferris wheel yet. Big S was not thrilled with the idea of riding it and we weren’t willing to buy tickets only to have him change his mind at the last minute. Instead, we sat on a bench across the way and watched the ferris wheel go round and round for about 30 minutes before having lunch. Tickets to ride the ferris wheel are $4.00. The ferris wheel does not run on Mondays. The ferris wheel is surrounded by many shops and restaurants so when you are finished riding, have lunch or wander through the shops or to the beach and make a day of it!
The Wharf is located at 23101 Canal Rd, Orange Beach, AL 36561 and the general contact number is 1-877-WharfAL.
Last weekend we drove the kids to Summerdale, Alabama to check out Fish River Trees Christmas Tree Farm. We already had our tree up but we wanted to visit this tree farm because we had heard such wonderful things about it. The kids had so much fun exploring the different tree sizes, watching people cut their own tree down, and, of course, checking out Santa and his reindeer. Even if you already have a Christmas tree, Fish River Trees is sure to be lots of family fun!
Hop on the train and a take a tour of the property.
Afterwards, get some hot chocolate and go see Santa and two of his reindeer!
My kids loved wandering through the trees.
Things to Know Before You Go:
- Wear shoes because you will be wandering through the forest of trees!
- Bring your camera…there are plenty of photo opportunities!
- The train only runs on the weekends.
- Santa is only available on the weekends (he has lots to do this month, you know!) from 10pm to 4pm.
- You can cut your own tree, purchase a container tree, wreaths and garlands and everything is pretty reasonably priced.
- You can visit the farm for free.
Fish River Trees is only about an 45-60m drive from Pensacola. It is located at 13982 Woodhaven Dairy Road East, Summerdale, Alabama, 36580. The phone number is (251) 988-8114.
Last weekend we made the short drive to the Maizing Family Farm in Elberta, Alabama. I think the adults were more excited than the kids since they didn’t really understand what we were going to be doing! Maizing Family Farm is easy to find. Take Hwy98 from here and you come up to it pretty quickly! They have a small corn maze that is great for the kids. We wandered around it for about 20 minutes and then let the big boys run around on their own. They were having so much fun that they ran the other direction when they saw mom coming! If you look closely, you can see the flash of orange shirts as they run away!
There is a small hay bale maze that the little ones really liked.
They have a little pen of farm animals that you can look at with one very noisy cow! There is a tractor ride as well. The boys love the maze itself and their second favorite thing was the corn cannon…yes…the corn cannon!
With your maze entrance fee, you get two tickets to shoot the corn cannon. If you hit the bullseye, you win one of their great t-shirts!
Things to Know Before You Go:
- Bring CASH. They do take checks, but they are not set up to take credit cards. We were short about ten dollars and one of us had to drive to a gas station down the road to get more cash.
- Wear tennis shoes. Even though it is still beautiful outside, you are running through a field. Leave the flip flops at home.
- Bring a bottle of water. There is a small “gift shop” but you can save money by bringing your own water.
- Maizing Family Farm Corn Maze is only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-6pm. They do have some options for large groups and they also have some Halloween activities.
- Cost is Free for 0-3 year olds. 4 and up cost $8.00.
Maizing Family Farm is located at 27695 Woerner Road, Elberta, Alabama and the phone number is 251.747.1368.
I am so excited about the upcoming corn mazes! Not only does the thought of a corn maze remind me of fall time, but it is a great kid friendly activity. My favorite part about receiving emails from local moms and dads is that you guys always have great information on things that I 1) hadn’t heard about yet or 2) haven’t visited yet. I received two separate emails about these corn mazes and I can’t wait to try them both out. When we get a chance to experience the corn maze madness, we will write about each of our adventures here!
Sweet Seasons Farms Corn Maze – Milton, Florida – Opens October 3 -
- Activities include corn maze, corn cannon, corn box, cow train, hay ride, and a play ground
- Admission price – $6.00 for 3 and up; discount prices available for military and seniors
Maizing Family Fun Farm - Elberta, Alabama – Opens September 19 -
- Activities include corn maze, hay bale maze, play area, tractors, farm animals, corn cannon, and pumpkin patch
- Admission price – $8.00 children 4-12, $12.00 13 and up
