Three Places to Take a First Date in Southern Alabama

It's easy to find a bookstore or coffee shop to meet a first date. You can always go to a movie or find a restaurant to eat. But here are three places to go that will allow you to get to know each other with a little romance in the air. A little creativity and a willingness to spend more than a half an hour with a new acquaintance may give you just the insight into each other that can make a date a life changing event.

Here are my suggestions for a wonderful way to meet for the first time, no matter how old you are, in Southern Alabama.

Bellingrath Gardens

Located in Theodore, just minutes from Mobile, is the most beautiful botanical garden in the world. No matter what the season, a stroll in Bellingrath will make your date a unique and special experience. Sit on a bench in the Rose Garden, or the Butterfly Garden. If the weather is less than perfect you can hang out at the Boehm display and admire one of the most magical collections of porcelain in the country, or sit in the chapel and chat. You can hold hands as you admire each other's smiles in the reflection pool. Or, if you are into architecture take a tour of the Bellingrath home and see the opulence of an antebellum home. You can have dinner aboard ship as you sail the local waterways. You might even get some inspiration watching a local couple marry in one of the many beautiful gardens. It's hard not to feel romantic as you immerse yourself in such amazing surrounding. The Garden of Eden still exists and it's right here in Alabama. Luckily, I do not believe they have any apple trees.

The Beach in Foley

The water of the Gulf of Mexico reaches all the way up to Alabama and can be admired as you stroll hand in hand on the beach in Foley Alabama. If you go further east along the water condos and high rises have sprung up in Orange Beach and other waterfront communities. But there isn't a whole lot to see in Foley except the beach. Since it never gets really cold in Alabama you can enjoy the sand and the wind in your hair most of the year. Personally, I prefer going when the weather is a little cooler so that I am not competing with bikini clad teens. The sunsets are colored with gold and magenta. And the stars can be seen bright and gleaming on a clear night. Take a blanket and get to know each other with no one around under the romance of the heavens.

Blakeley State Park

Located in Spanish Fort in Baldwin Country, Blakeley State Park is an actual Civil War battlefield where you can still lay in the bunkers soldiers huddled in during the battles along the Tensaw-Mobile River. It hasn't been fancied up for tourists and remains as it did during multiple incursions. It's not as romantic as Bellingrath or the beach but if your date is a history buff it will hold their attention even if the meeting is less than stellar. There is a campground and plenty of places to cook out. You can see amazing old oaks and lots of wild life. You might even get to see an alligator or a turtle crawl out of the delta.

Good luck with your new love. And if it works out remember to send me a thank-you note. Oh, and by the way, does he have a brother?