It's been a record breaking holiday weekend all along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gulf Shores condos and hotels were holding at or near capacity as the last long weekend of summer '06 came and went.
Businesses enjoyed record levels of tourists and the revenue they bring. Retailers reported strong sales and restaurateurs saw some of the best days in their history.
Coming into the long labor day weekend, vacation rental operators were reporting reservation rates ranging from 80 to 100 percent.
Now's the time to start thinking about that fall vacation to the Gulf Coast. With the kids back at school the beaches will be less crowded and the shops and restaurants will be less full.
The 40th annual Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Tournament gets underway this weekend. This could be the year they give away that million dollar prize for catching an Alabama state record Blue Marlin.
Fishing has been so good this year along the Alabama Gulf Coast, you have to believe it might happen. After all, Alabama's Blue Marlin state record is only a measly 779.3 pounds. That's well below the state records for Blue Marlin among the other Gulf Coast states.
Blue Marlin State Records
Registration for the 40th annual Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Tournament runs from 5-8 p.m. Friday. The captains meeting starts immediately after registration. Boats may leave after mandatory sign-out by captain or owner.
What a summer it's been. After last year's storms and the predictions for an even worse season this year we're all breathing a huge sigh of relief to have seen nothing of the sort.
In fact things could hardly be better.
It looks like we'll all be headed out to the Alabama Gulf Coast this weekend, the last hurrah for summer vacation 2006. If you're among them, don't go without checking ahead for lodging. Just about every condo in the system is booked up solid for the weekend. There may be the odd hotel room here and there. Don't give up. The beach is calling.
Coastal communities look for big Labor Day weekend business
With Tropical Storm Ernesto no longer a local threat, tourism officials in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach said they expect big crowds this holiday weekend, hopefully helping offset last year's Labor Day, when Hurricane Katrina turned Alabama's beaches into virtual ghost towns.
As Ernesto churned in the Caribbean last weekend, and early projections called for it to smash the Gulf Coast, officials feared the worst.
Once the storm weakened and shifted east over Florida, it signaled good news for the Alabama coast, a region that missed out on the traditional end of summer bonanza last year.
"We all breathed a little sigh of relief," said Marie Curran, the director of marketing and reservations for Brett/Robinson, a real estate conglomerate that manages more than 1,500 rental units.
"We hate to see the hurricane go anywhere, but we're happy it's not going in this direction. I think that's a common thought along the Gulf Coast."
Curran said all of the real estate conglomerate's 1,856 condo units are booked for this weekend.
Earlier this morning air force reserve reconnaissance aircraft wind data showed that maximum sustained winds in Tropical Storm Ernesto have now increased to 75 mph. This makes Ernesto a Cat 1 hurricane.
Hurricane Ernesto has taken a slightly more northerly route than was forecast yesterday. Current storm track forecasts are significantly different and much more favorable for the Alabama Gulf Coast than they were yesterday.
Big changes in store for Gulf Shores condo owners. OK not really. Anyone who owns a condo in Gulf Shores already knows the price of insurance is skyrocketing.
What they might not know is how coverages may be changing and what new alternatives may become available. Read on for more information.
It's looking more and more like this will be an interesting week ahead for the gulf coast. Tropical Storm Ernesto continues to head towards the Gulf of Mexico.
As of 8am this morning Tropical Storm Ernesto's maximum sustained winds had increased to approximately 50 mph with higher gusts. Tropical Storm Ernesto is forecast to gain in strength during the next 24 hours.