Monday, July 11, 2011

The Greatest Living Spear Hunter - This is for real!

Spear Hunting Museum - Summerdale, Alabama

I've past this place several times over the years and never thought about going inside. If you frequent Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, you probably have too. It's a rather small building for a museum and I just wasn't sure what I'd find inside.

While creating this website, I found the museum's website and the stories are fascinating. It's like reading fiction - I still wasn't sure what to expect but I wanted to find out. I told my hubs & kids, everyone was pumped, my Mama even wanted to go, so we were off.

I'm afraid to share too much so that you can enjoy the surprises as we did. However, I have to write something! :) Let me start by saying, if you are against hunting, DO NOT GO. In fact, just stop reading now and we'll all be happy and peaceful. :) Now, back to the adventure. If you are a hunter, this man is your king - trust me.

First we met Heather. She is a spear hunter as well and also has her conquests on display in the museum. She is the curator for the museum, a very friendly personality, and shared with us some interesting information before we began our self guided tour. She than joined us again at the end of the tour to explain to us the difference between hunting gators in Florida and doing so in Louisiana (or like they do on "Swamp People") 

   Okay, really, first we were met by something else but you'll just have to go see for yourself what that was. Museums are usually filled with replicas and/or wax statues. Anything authentic is behind thick glass or kept from viewing completely. Mr Morris has his life as a hunter on display with REAL enthusiasm. (that was a hint). The walls are filled with proof of amazing adventures, stories to read, and we were fortunate enough to meet Mr. Morris and hear a few of his tales first hand.

Mr. Morris is 78 years old and still hunting. He shared that he is actively planning a trip to Africa to hunt big game that he's been unable to hunt so far. He also shared that since he has mastered the art of throwing two spears at a time, he is currently working to develop a mechanism to enable him to throw THREE spears at once!

I enjoyed our talk with Mr. Morris so much because he is a no excuses kind of fella. (Reminds me of my Ma Me. I always say that she coined the phrase "Just do it" - not Nike)  Military background, adventurous spirit, and confidence that he has the God-given ability to figure things out - Mr. Morris puts no limitations on himself. At the same time, he is cautious and seems to learn from his mistakes.
My kids and my husband were enthralled with everything in this museum (this is not always the case with the males in the family). I believe they would enjoy going again and again (especially the guys) and it looks like I have a new place to shop for Christmas. :)






Admission is $3 per person for a self-guided tour. I think it was $8 for a guided tour.

The Spear Hunting Museum
http://www.huntingwithspears.com/
20216 Alabama 59
Summerdale, AL 36580-3026
(251) 989-7700

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Laser Spectacular featuring the music of Pink Floyd

Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama
Friday, July 1, 2011

I was completely pumped when I saw the info about this event come across Twitter. When I was in high school, we used to go see these kind of shows at the Louisiana Nature Center. The show was in the planetarium and they were always so cool! My kids love music, especially my son, so I thought this would be a great family night.

It was a small crowd so getting in and out with parking, lines, and seating was a breeze. The show was pretty cool to my husband & I. My son said it was, "really cool but really loud", and my daughter kept saying, "I don't get it, what is this about?". LOL

Hubs & I had a good laugh at the kids' reactions then we decided to go ahead and get them the glasses. You know, the drug effect without the drugs (We didn't explain that part to the kids). The show was much more interesting to them with the glasses.

Overall, it was fun and we had a good night. I will say that the show being outdoors made it difficult for them to create the full effects of the show. It was not as vibrant as other shows I had seen but for the price - it was well worth it. (We caught the BOGO free and the kids were free so total ticket price = $10)

The highlight of the night was my son hip hop dancing, no shirt and no shoes, to the music of Pink Floyd. He drew quite a crowd for his performance, at one point there were 7 people video-taping him. I'm assuming it will end up on YouTube somewhere......Oh  look - there it is below. :)