We love the city. And we hate the city…

Umbrella & Shore at Turquoise Place

(My Thursday morning at the beach, coffee in hand, with Parker Lee)

We love living & working amid the chaos and the crowds and we systematically plot our escape every 3 months or so.  And with that, we found a new beach paradise…

Turquoise Place in Orange Beach, Alabama, is a pocket of sugar-white sand, (you guessed it) turquoise water and expansive beach condos that makes us stop and smell the briny, plump oysters. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself- the bivalves and the local seafood are that good.) It readjusts our internal Manhattan clocks, quite possibly our blood pressure as well, and makes us toes-in-the-sand happy.  Upon depositing her pink luggage by the door, Parker asked when we could move in.

In between our cookbook signings, Jamie’s judging and cooking demo duties at The Wharf Uncorked, we’d retreat to our beachfront balcony and watch dolphins in the Gulf or hop into one of the 5 pools. Other times, we’d collect shells and sip cool drinks in our cushy beach chairs. You can’t make this stuff up, people.

Would we go back? Pack the bags now! Would Parker trade in Times Square Toys R’ Us for a lazy morning at the beach? She’s handing over her MetroCard! Could we forever replace our Neapolitan-style, West Village pizza joints and Taim falafel with baked oysters and stuffed flounder? Mmmmm… we’ll get back to you on that. But Turquoise Place is a hidden gem, for New Yorker’s anyway, and should become every beach-loving family’s next destination vacation.

Beach morning at Turquoise Place