Strong Beginning to Week in Paradise

We're heeeere, and life is good at The Beach Club Resort in Gulf Shores, Ala. So far, I've used the fitness center, attended a church service on the veranda and listed to live music by the pool.

On our way down from Arkansas Saturday, we stopped on Highway 59 at Burris Farm Market, a fabulous stand in Loxley. This spacious, open-sided building is lined with hampers of Alabama-grown goodies ranging from asparagus and broccoli to summer squash and zucchini. We loaded up all of that, plus gorgeous vine-ripened tomatoes, plump juicy peaches, the sweetest sweet corn and a couple of watermelons that "thumped" just right.

Our schedule is loose enough for plenty of time on the beach. Yesterday, we rented a set of beach rental lounging chairs shaded by an umbrella for the entire week. I spent most of the morning riding the waves on a neon green raft, laughing with children and loving the day. Later, I took a nap to the lullaby of a pleasant morning breeze while Myron played a round of golf.

By the time late afternoon clouds exploded into a thunderstorm, we were safely tucked under the tin-roofed patio at Lulu's Homeport Marina. On the banks of the Intercoastal Waterway, Lucy Anne Buffett has carved out a niche with far more than the "Cheeseburger in Paradise," made famous by her ballad-singing brother. LuLu's new cookbook, "Crazy Sista Cooking: Cuisine & Conversation With Lucy Buffettis already in its second printing.

And if the Summer Shrimp Salad wasn't enough, we crooned "Brown Eyed Girl" and other crowd favorites with singer/songwriter Greg Brown.

By sundown, boasting the firstfruits of our tan, we slept soundly - looking forward to our spa appointments this morning!

P.S. Pictures of me coming later today!