Area Guide
Ten years of hosting here, distilled. The food worth eating, the water worth being on, and the rainy-day plans we've stress-tested with our own families.
On the Water
Collins Bayou opens into Bon Secour Bay, which opens into the Gulf — so you can spend a week here without leaving the water if that's the trip. Kayaks and a rowboat are at the dock. Bring a fishing pole.
The private dock
Speckled trout, redfish, flounder. Sunset's at the end.
Bon Secour Bay
Paddle out at high tide. Watch for dolphins at dusk.
Fort Morgan bike trail
Newly paved, runs right past the property — 6 miles each way.
Mobile Bay Ferry
20-minute crossing to Dauphin Island. Drive your car right onto the boat.
Dining
Fort Morgan rewards short drives. Tablecloths optional; the seafood is the point.
Jesse's Restaurant
One minute away. Gulf-coast classics, white-tablecloth treatment. Reservations recommended.
Tacky Jack's
Sunset waterfront tavern. Bring everyone. Get the grouper.
Sassy Bass Marina Grill
Marina-side, deck seating, fresh-caught flounder.
Pirates Cove
Cash only, no shoes, legendary cheeseburgers. Worth the detour.
Big Beach Brewing
Local taproom in Gulf Shores — pints, food trucks, picnic tables.
Golf
Both are championship-grade and worth the round even if golf is normally a someday thing.
Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club
27 holes weaving through marsh and bay. Earl Stone design. Five minutes from the door.
Kiva Dunes
Jerry Pate links-style course along the gulf. Ranked among the best public courses in the South.
Craft Farms Cotton Creek
Arnold Palmer–designed course about 30 minutes east in Gulf Shores.
Beach Days
Fort Morgan's beaches stay quieter than Gulf Shores proper. Bring a cooler, plant an umbrella, you'll see one neighbor an hour.
Fort Morgan Public Beach
Three-minute drive. Wide, white, and uncrowded.
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
Six miles of protected coastline. Hiking trails through dunes and pine.
Gulf Shores Main Beach
Twenty-five minutes east. Bigger scene, restaurants on the sand.
If It Rains
Pull rank on the foosball table in the cottage. Or:
Fort Morgan State Historic Site
Civil War-era fort at the tip of the peninsula. Ferry view from the bluff.
Gulf State Park Pier
Longest pier on the gulf — 1,540 feet. Fish or just walk it.
Original Oyster House
Hurricane food. Order a dozen and ride it out.
The Wharf, Orange Beach
Indoor shops, a Ferris wheel, movie theater — for the kids when the rain won't quit.