Spring Hill Visit

My second visit came from this small school down in southern Mobile called Spring Hill College. Just like Franklin, it is very small with about 1,400 students on campus. There were many characteristics that were similar to Franklin. While standing in line at a food truck with one of the chapter brothers, I noticed everyone was saying hello to each other and it brought back memories of me walking down Dame Mall and always getting to say hi to people. The campus is big for the 1,400 students in mind but very beautiful. Along with the campus there is a golf course that is attached (yes, I did go to hit golf balls!) which makes the campus seem bigger than it actually is. There are a couple of things to the campus that make it unique. One of them is their baseball field on campus. It is known to be one of the oldest college baseball stadiums that is still in use in the country. Some of the fun facts about it is there are a picture in their field house where Babe Ruth was playing there along with teams like the Chicago Cubs and other major league teams!  Another awesome thing about the campus is their Avenue of the Oaks. It is your classic long stretch of drive way where the oak trees make a canopy over the road where the branches are covered with moss that leads to an old white plantation house. This short drive was extremely beautiful and felt like a true southern gem to witness.

The chapter on the other hand was a great experience! These men were just awarded with our International Fraternity’s award, the “Phoenix Award” which is given to a chapter that has made huge improvements to their chapter operations over a period of time and have kept that high level of work up. They were extremely excited about this and on Thursday night, I was given the opportunity to formally present the award to the chapter on behalf of our International Headquarters. The chapter at Spring Hill are unbelievable guys. I was always included in everything they did which was awesome. I felt like I was a member of their chapter and was able to get along with all of them. We all shared the common interests of the Atlanta Braves, golf, and Luke Combs. The fellas were definitely a delight and I look forward to keeping in contact with them!

Gulf Shores

On Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to explore some more. I have never been down to the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area so I though I would mix things up and give it a try. The first thing I decided to do was play golf (of course). I found a golf course within 5 miles of the beach called Craft Farms Golf Resort. There are two courses there and I decided to play the more challenging one, Cotton Creek. The main person that was behind this resort was Mr. Arnold Palmer himself. There was a lot of rich history in there of the King and it was awesome to see. The course itself was very beautiful and laid out well to make it challenging. While on the golf course I ran into a PGA golfer’s dad, which is pretty sweet to me! Being able to play on an Arnold Palmer course was a great experience and I was happy I was able to experience a course by the man who made the game of golf into what it is today.

After I was able to go golf, I decided to head down to the Gulf Shores beach. While walking around the strip, I headed down to the beach to walk around. I was able to walk around in the water for about a solid five minutes and then I notice it was starting to get dark so I decided it was better to get out before it hit. So sadly the beach was short lived but it was absolutely a great experience being back on the beach since the last in was at one was Daytona in 2006.

Food

With the chapter visit, I never got to visit any local places which kinda stinks but it’s okay. For the whole visit I just had their cafeteria food which wasn’t as bad as Sagas…thank the Lord. When I went down to Gulf Shores I did stop by a local place someone at the golf course told me about. Of course it was BBQ, but it was called Hog Wild Beach & BBQ. It was absolutely incredible! I went with the classic pulled pork and brisket with the side of potato salad and mac and cheese. The meat itself was super delicious and might top the BBQ from Hooks in Troy, AL. After my meal I treated myself to some good ole banana pudding and it was BY FAR the best banana pudding I have ever had. I dang near fell out of my seat after taking a bite. The restaurant itself was just a small shack off of the main road leading to the beach. It was the ideal place you would think great BBQ is at. I would rate this a 10/10 if you are ever in the Gulf Shores area.

Thank you for checking in on this stop, my next post will be on Wednesday.

Next visit is Auburn University!