"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down. I had the radio on, I was drivin.''

— "Runnin' Down a Dream" - Tom Petty

It really was a beautiful day, a beautiful weekend for the 52nd annual National Shrimp Festival.

Here's what prompted it for me. As I watched a spectacular sunrise in the east beyond the Gulf State Park Pier from the beach on the morning of Oct. 9, I turned to look to the sky in the west. High above was the still glowing full moon, the remnants of a week that brought us the Hunter's Moon and a Harvest Supermoon.

There's a story a close friend shared with me recently about the love shared between the sun and the moon. They did not get to see each other very often. But on mornings where the moon was holding on as its light faded, it was so it could spend some time with the sun so they could shine together again, even if briefly. There are different versions of the story, but I like this one. My friend and I agreed it was about holding on, not giving up when life is hard. And 2025 has been hard. There has been loss. There has been pain.

With that story in mind, it kicked off a memorable Shrimp Festival weekend that included chamber of commerce weather. I enjoyed the festival later that night, visiting vendor booths, watching a terrific Tom Petty tribute band — the Wildflowers — and of course, enjoying some fabulous shrimp.

Later that evening on the balcony of the Pink Pony Pub, I met up with an old friend from Florence, Gary Kelley. He introduced me to his daughter, Amber Meadows, and several of her friends. Under a glowing full moon sky, we talked and enjoyed each other's company for a good while.

One of those friends was Constance Calambakas, who is with Brett Robinson Real Estate Sales. Make no mistake — the festival is an important economic driver for this area. When I asked her about it, Constance told me just how important.

"The annual Shrimp Festival shows visitors what makes Gulf Shores special," she said. "It brings thousands of visitors who see the beauty, lifestyle and community we have along Alabama beaches. That excitement carries into our real estate market and reminds people why investing here makes sense."

But there was more to the weekend than the festival on a brilliant autumn weekend. Much more.

It also was a poignant weekend. Gary and I have traveled similar paths this year. He lost his dear wife, Sheila, in January. They were married for 48 years. I lost my wife, Dorinda, in April. We were married 38 years. In the months since, Gary and I have leaned on each other's shoulders many times when one or the other of us was ready to just give up. We even made a pinky promise to each other that we both would continue on, to keep climbing.

So, events like the Shrimp Festival brought us an opportunity to reunite in Gulf Shores, with friends old and new.

I'll write more about Gary in future columns. This one, however, features some of my new friends. It's about what I learned is the ultimate draw that attracts folks to our community. Certainly, it's the beaches — the white sand, the beautiful views of the gulf, the food, all of it. But there's more — it's about the connections with friends and family.

That's one of the things that makes this place special — a paradise setting bursting with sweet memories. Do you remember those beach trips here with your family? I certainly do. Loved ones, like Sheila and Dorinda, may have since departed. Children may have grown up and live across the country now. But the memories remain. And the love.

Why a beach community?

"Everyone downshifts and everybody is here for the same thing — to sit on the sand, put their toes in the water and let their troubles melt away for a while," said Kenny Meadows, Amber's husband, Gary's son-in-law and one of my new friends. He grew up in a beach community in New Jersey. "Life just slows down and everyone is a little bit nicer."

Saturday evening, Oct. 11, we gathered for a cookout at Constance's home near the intercoastal waterway. Gary was the top chef — cooking up a feast of fresh shrimp and fish from the gulf, hushpuppies, and fried corn dogs wrapped in tortillas — "Gary Dogs." And then there was the banana pudding, made from Sheila's recipe. Simply superb.

About 40 folks gathered enjoying the food and each other's company as the Auburn-Georgia game played on a large screen outside.

I asked Amber this question: What makes Gulf Shores special? I got much the same answer that I expected — the gathering of friends and family. Not the beach or the festival, while both are magnets that keep people coming back.

Amber came back to her home state of Alabama. She lives now in Brooklyn, New York, but made the flight to Pensacola along with her husband to meet her dad here the week leading up to the festival.

"We've come down the first week of October for several years, but we pushed it back this year and this is the first time we've been here the same time as the Shrimp Festival," she said, taking a break from visiting with many of her Auburn friends, some of whom she has known since kindergarten. "This year is harder without mom and I didn't know if dad would want to come down. But we talked about it and we wanted to keep the tradition alive. It's great to be together with everyone again."

That cookout tradition began about two decades ago when many of the group were students together at Auburn, with Gary still doing the cooking. It has since found its way, appropriately, to the beach.

I capped the weekend Oct. 12 with breakfast with some more close friends at the Woodside Restaurant inside the state park. And I was reminded of a line from one of my favorite songs by the Foo Fighters — "Times Like These:"

"It's times like these you learn to live again. It's times like these you give and give again. It's times like these you learn to love again. It's times like these, time and time again."

It was a weekend highlighting the importance of family and friends. Of connections. Of those who were missed. And of love, like that shared by the sun and the moon. They — like you and me — keep moving forward.

But the love never fades.

Next week: A not so scary story from the library.

Wayne Smith has worked as a writer and editor at newspapers across Alabama, Florida and South Carolina. Contact him at wwsmith6410@gmail.com. His weekly column focuses on navigating Gulf Shores alone after losing his wife to cancer, and the places he discovers and the people he meets. Read his previous columns on Gulf Coast Media's website.