Gulf State Park Resort - History & Memories

07/14/2024

A happy ending…rather, more of a new beginning…to a story we brought you last week…

Hazel's Nook Duck's Diner Orange Beach

Duck's Diner in Orange Beach will open a second location in the Hazel's Nook spot in Gulf Shores.

07/11/2024

Devastating news about a beloved Gulf Shores dining institution! 😢

Hazel's Nook has fed generations of Alabama Gulf Coast vacationers since 1957.

06/10/2021

A view from the old Gulf State Park Lodge lounge (circa 1975).

06/21/2019

For those in-the-know, it was THE place to go. This is a circa 1975 placemat menu from Meme's River House restaurant once situated on the Bon Secour River in a remote corner of Baldwin County, Alabama. For those staying in Gulf Shores between the years of 1953 and 1979, a visit to the coast just wasn't complete without stopping in for a cup of seafood gumbo and a plate of fried shrimp. The River House was a cozy galley-style building with jalousie windows mere inches from the water. (If you have photos and memories of Meme's, we'd love to hear from you. Please post those below.)

09/22/2018

How the Magic City boosted tourism for the Redneck Riviera...

Gulf Shores wasn't a booming beach town in the 1950s. There were no condominiums or souvenir shops. Despite the lack of things to see, the beach area was growing. According to the Birmingham News, the southern Baldwin County town could thank Birmingham for its real estate boom.

09/20/2018

Bit by bit, putting it together...

Check out this inside first look at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, a Hilton Hotel set to open November 1st.

04/25/2018

Gulf State Park Resort. Just a memory? Not for much longer!

The facility has 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space and all of the amenities you would expect with a first-class resort.

04/18/2018

The long-awaited resurrection is just months away!

The Gulf State Park Lodge and Conference Center broke ground a year ago and since then, foundations have been laid and contractors are now starting on the roof, windows and doors.

06/07/2017

09/17/2016

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and the Gulf State Park project.State Rep. Johnny Mac Morrow and State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who fi

08/14/2016

A favorite dining spot for those lodging at Gulf State Park Resort in the 1970s...

07/26/2015

Two-plus decades before the Resort: Inland at Shelby Lakes - Circa 1951.