The Drift, vol. 1 — the inaugural Sunday
This is the first edition of the Sunday newsletter. The cadence: once a week, Sunday morning before most of the Key is up. The format: short, scannable, useful. The promise: we don’t sell your email, we don’t send a Wednesday one, and we don’t pretend the newsletter is a “community” so we can pad it with sponsor content.
If you got this from a link, the signup form is at the bottom of any page on the site.
Beach Today — the week ahead
The five-day Gulf forecast looks like the postcard version of late May: south wind moderating mid-week, water temp inching past 78°F, surf flat-to-2-foot, no named systems on the NHC map. Live Beach Today →
If you’re planning to be in the water, the only thing to watch is the late-week south wind. The afternoon swell is mostly manageable but the rip current risk on a falling tide bumps up to moderate Thursday-Saturday.
Sunrise’s at 5:52, sunset 7:42. Big sunset week ahead.
What’s open this week
It’s late May, which means the full summer schedule is now running across both sides of the line. A few things worth knowing:
- Most Perdido Key Drive restaurants are now on their summer hours — extended dinner, often a second seating, brunch on weekends.
- Tacky Jack’s at the Pass is in its all-day-breakfast season. Place page →
- The Wharf Amphitheater has its first big touring show next weekend. Check the calendar →
- Red snapper season opened — Alabama is running the standard 7-days-a-week schedule. Federal season dates are different. The whole deal →
Fishing report
Inshore: bait pods working off the Pass on the morning tide, specs and reds in the grass on the falling. Live shrimp under a popping cork is the move.
Nearshore: kings showing up on the closer rigs. Sheepshead still in the structure but they’re getting wise.
Offshore: snapper open, mingo holding 130-180 ft, water cleaning up nicely after Tuesday’s south blow.
Tournaments coming: Blue Marlin Grand Championship later this summer at Orange Beach Marina. Fishing pillar →
From The Drift this week
- What this site is and what it isn’t — the manifesto, if you’re new here
- Sandbar Sundays, explained for the uninitiated — the locals’ Sunday ritual
- How to book a charter without getting hosed — first-timer’s guide
- Mailbag — the bridge, the goats at Pirate’s Cove, and a strange night at the Bama
What’s on this week
(Once the events feed is fully connected via Ticketmaster + Bandsintown, this section becomes a programmatic pull. For now, the highlights, hand-curated.)
- Wednesday: mid-week live music at the Bama main stage
- Thursday: Hub Stacey’s karaoke (the regulars, the same songs, the same correct order)
- Friday-Saturday: Wharf Amphitheater touring act
- All week: Tacky Jack’s, Cosmo’s, GTs, LuLu’s running their usual nightly rotations
One more thing
We’re building this site week by week. If you’ve got a tip, a place we should write about, or a correction, the submit page is the move. Real human reads everything.
Have a Sunday, see you next week.
— Kathy