Roadtrip update

I highly recommend a roadtrip to somewhere you have always planned to go, just to clear the cobwebs out. Don't worry about high gas prices - they look like they will always be with us. I figure I spent less on gas than two round-trip plane tickets, anyway.
We (my mom and I) headed south to Gulf Shores, Alabama (http://www.gulfshores.com/), staying for 4 days and 3 nights at a beach front condo managed by Meyer Realty (http://www.meyerre.com/property/Lani_Kai_Village_2_228). The condo was just as nice as it was presented on the website, putting us closer to the ocean that we had thought possible outside of a cruise! I haven't signed up for another visit yet, but the last week of April sure made a nice time to visit the beach - after the Spring Breakers had left, and before the Memorial Day onslaught of tourists. While at Gulf Shores, we shopped enough at Foley, Alabama (http://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley , http://www.oldtimepottery.com/template.php?page=locations&state=alabama ) to get on the good side of the Chamber of Commerce! We ate wonderful seafood - the best was the Royal Reds, the local shrimp (huge!). We took two days to drive down from Missouri, and three days to drive back, staying in St. Louis on the way back at a wonderful olde English inn, the Cheshire Lodge (http://www.cheshirelodge.net/). I look forward to my next visit there - it was a great place to stay! The last day of the trip, we visited the Butterfly House in Chesterfield, MO (http://www.butterflyhouse.org/). I hope this wasn't once in a lifetime, but if it was, we sure made the best of it! Thanks to my mom for making this happen - without her encouragement, I don't think I would have tried it. Here are to more travels for us all.