Magnolia Springs nestles along the Magnolia River only about a 45-minute drive from Gulf Shores, but it takes you years back in time.

 

The city has an attractive boardwalk in a park setting that takes you through a forest of Magnolia and oak trees to the Magnolia River. When I got to the river, there was a small, colorful snake swimming on the surface that quickly dove into the water when it felt the vibrations of my footsteps.

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Magnolia Springs, its streets lined with magnificent oak trees that form a wondrous canopy, is delightful and was recently listed as the prettiest town in Alabama by The Daily Meal.  I’d have to agree. Though I haven’t been to all the towns in Alabama, I’m thinking it would be competitive in any town beauty contest. Nevertheless, there is little to entertain you in Magnolia Springs, and maybe that’s the appeal – a nice quiet little town.

 

There’s an excellent restaurant in a clomp of trees called Jesse’s. It is probably one of the few fine-dining restaurants in a small Alabama town. It’s worth the short drive all by itself. Good steaks and fish, served in what was once a house, with tables on the patio, on the porch, and in the main part of the house. Great atmosphere. I had lunch at Jesse’s on a Saturday, so I chose light fare. I started with the chef’s signature fried green tomatoes. They came in a stack of four, with goat cheese spread in between the layers and two grilled big shrimp perched on top. Then I had a chef’s salad that had shaved turkey and avocado topped with string onion rings.  I complemented it with a glass of blended red wine from Bordeaux, France.  I like to say every day’s a holiday, every meal a feast.  This turned out true on this day.  The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Doors open at 11 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. (they stay open an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays.  Another restaurant in town in Kellam’s Corner.

 

The town’s name comes from the many natural springs that flowed on both sides of the Magnolia River. 

 

Today, the river flows through the town, and is the only regular mail route in the United States; the mail carrier flowing down the river by boat to deliver mail to the homes that line its banks.  In the past, the river was plied by steamers, sailboats and paddlewheelers that connected the town to the outside world.  The river is home to alligators and from the shores come snakes, bobcats, and deer while hawks soar the sky above it.

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There is a nice place to stay the night in Magnolia Springs, a five-room bed and breakfast in a Victorian house built in 1897. Nicely appointed.  And the centerpiece of the town is the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which sits across from Jesse’s and dates back to the 1800s as well. 

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You can visit Magnolia Springs on your way to Weeks Bay, home to the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve established in 1986 and managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The more than 9,000-acre park includes a boardwalk out in the bay that takes a visitor close up to the pitcher plant bogs, which offer some of the most diverse habitats for flowering plants in North America. The pitcher plants are carnivorous with tubular leaves lined by sticky hairs that trap insects. They start to blossom in early spring and orchids bloom in the bog in late spring and summer. In the fall, wildflowers spread out their bloom colorful blooms. 

 

There is a visitor center just west of the Fish River bridge.  The center offers educational exhibits and has a dock for launching a kayak or boat for the day (it’s byob – bring your own boat).   It is a beautiful, quiet bay without the crowds you get when you go to Pleasure Island.  The visitor center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  It is closed on state and federal holidays.

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At the mouth of Fish River is the Arthur C. “Skipper” Weeks Bay Resource Center where there are picnic tables, an overlook deck and a fishing pier.

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To get to Magnolia Springs, take Highway 59 to Highway 98 (the intersection is on the north side of Foley). Turn west and 98 will take you to Magnolia Springs.  Continue along Highway 98 to get to Weeks Bay.