Click these Links or scroll down   HOME PAGE    SCHEDULE    SMOKE SCHOOL LOCATIONS BY STATE      REGISTER FOR SMOKE SCHOOL     FEES    CONTACT US   

PRIVATE ONSITE SMOKE SCHOOLS    STATE SMOKE SCHOOL CONTRACTS    FREE SMOKE SCHOOLS    REQUEST BOX OF CHOCOLATES & BROCHURE    EMAIL THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

CUSTOMER COMMENTS ABOUT US    ENTER YOUR COMMENTS OPINION ABOUT US    WHITLOW VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR YOUR NEEDS    WHITLOW SMOKE SCHOOL PRODUCTS

OTHER LINKS FOR INFORMATION ABOUT US

Whitlow Smoke School  Nation

Smoke School Stories

Gulf Shores Alabama Vacation Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Greetings from the Whitlow Family on vacation at the Gulf Shores Plantation Condos on the beach at beautiful Gulf Shores Alabama. It is 8 AM and I am sitting out on the 5^th floor balcony overlooking the 2 large swimming pools, hot tubs, the beautiful white sandy beach, and the vast Gulf of Mexico. We have been here 4 nights now and there is no sign of the oil slick from the BP Rig off the coast of Louisiana. I have heard that the oil slick is located within 50 miles from here and I did see several crew boats with oil booms at the Marina down the beach form here. The water appears perfectly clear just like it has been since I started coming to the Alabama and Florida beaches back in the 1950s when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I remember the very first trip we made to Panama City Beach when we came with my Cousin Genie and she fell in love with the life guard, who told me that it gets so cold there in the winter that the gulf freezes over.

It has been a very pleasant mini vacation although a lot of the sunshine was liquid in nature, it rained several times. I loved sitting out here on the balcony at night watching the thunder and lightning move into the gulf. I think thunderstorms are the most beautiful to watch here on the beach and on Mount Nebo Arkansas. Right now I see distant thunderheads out over the Gulf maybe 50 miles away, but here the sea is calm, the beach is white, and the air is partly cloudy. I see about 10 people scattered along the beach and a caretaker with a net skimming the swimming pool. Everyone in our family is still sleeping but me.

Last week I purchased the only new boat that I have ever owned in my 61 years. It is a 21 foot aluminum Express Fishing boat with a 90 horse Yamaha outboard motor. We put the boat in at the Fort Morgan Marina where the Gulf meets the Mobile Bay. We have been boating and fishing every day and we caught several fish mainly Croakers and Catfish. I did see one boat with 3 very large redfish, maybe 10 pounders. Aaron got the most excited because he caught the largest fish; a 5 pound stripped Sheep Head. I caught the most unusual fish. I think it was a barracuda or something. The fish had teeth, was a foot long and was silver and thin like a beautiful ribbon. The fish had lots of needle nose teeth in its needle nose mouth and all four of our fishing lines were wrapped around and around the teeth. I took out my handy LSU pocket knife and wacked the lines and dropped the fish back into the bay. During each trip we saw dolphins rolling near the boat and at one point I think I saw a whale take a dive.

Last night we ate at Lambert’s Café, The Home of the Throwed Rolls. The newspaper story in the restroom said it was voted one of the 12 most fun places in America to work. After watching the waiters throw food across the room, and pass along buckets of fried okra and other food, I had already reached the conclusion tha this would be a fun place to work. It reminded me of the food fight scene in the movie Animal House. I really got a hoot out of our waiter who poured fake mustard, fake ice tea, and a fake possum on Aaron. You should have been there to hear Aaron scream. The food was excellent. I had chicken and dumplings, frozen sweet corn, and turnip greens.

I started planning this trip 6 months ago to coincide with our Birmingham Alabama Smoke School and the SEC Baseball Tournament which LSU had won for the last 2 years. As usual I had purchased my tickets months ago, knowing that LSU would be playing. However several weeks before the tournament LSU fell into a slump and lost half of their games. I did not think they would be playing so I sold my tickets. Low and behold the last week of the season LSU made a comeback and was seated last of the eight teams eligible to pay. I had already sold my tickets and then reserved this sweet at the hotel. I had to settle for watching the games on ESPN and listening to my good friend Jimmy Hawthorne calling the games on WWL Radio out of New Orleans. As usual the SEC Baseball Tournament was very exciting and LSU won for a record setting third consecutive time. They are once again on the road to Omaha.