The beach

We got up in time to go to Panini Pete’s, they are only open for breakfast and lunch and close at 2:30 pm. This place was recommended on the Diners, Drivethrus, and Diners show. It is located in the French Quarter of Downtown Fairhope AL. The place is full of charming little stores around a lovely courtyard with outside tables and a big fountain.

We walked into Panini Pete’s and asked who there answers the emails. We had emailed to ask about their hours and to let them know we were coming. Turns out it is Pete himself who takes care of the emails. Pete came out of the kitchen and made us feel like welcomed old friends, giving us big hugs. Pete is awesome and very friendly.

Panini Pete’s is by far the cutest of the DDD places we have visited so far. The theme is sort of beachy and colorful, and there is a collection of salt and pepper shakers on shelves around the walls. This is a small sandwich shop, it was jam packed with people, and the staff was running around crazy, they were so busy. www.paninipetes.com

We got our food to go and will save it till dinner time. We don’t eat lunch since we are usually still sleeping at lunchtime. We ordered the sandwich recommended on the show, the turkey panini, and also got the roast beef panini. The turkey sandwich was good but the flavors are a little too bold for our taste. We really liked the roast beef sandwich with gorgonzola, it’s a winner.

After that, we drove south about an hour to Gulf Shores AL and went straight to the beach. By the time we got there it was midafternoon and the weather was gorgeous but it was chilly, even though the sun was out, the wind was too cold for us to stay outside.

So we went back to Bella and opened the curtains wide so we could gaze out at the water and the beautiful sugar sand beach. We both picked up our books and started reading. Next thing you know, we both fell asleep and took a long nap, about three hours long. When we woke up it was dark and we were hungry so we had our paninis.

Afterwards we drove around some more to get to know the area and made it to Orange Beach AL. We found a dentist office and decided to park there for the night and wait till morning to see about Bernie getting her crown that she still needs.

Bernie is sick tonight, she has a sore throat and a low grade fever. Hopefully the beach will do her some good and she will feel better soon.