A day at the beach always brings big smiles, unless you forget something really important! Nobody wants that, so we made a checklist to help you remember all the beach bag essentials to make packing for the beach easy! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (at no additional cost to you). Click here […]
Complete Outer Banks Vacation Planner: Sun, sand, and sea (and more to explore!)
The Outer Banks of North Carolina is a popular vacation destination for families who want to enjoy sun, sand and sea. A successful vacation takes just a bit planning, though. This guide walks you through everything you need to plan a wonderful Outer Banks vacation. We’ll cover: Outer Banks accommodations, OBX attractions in each region […]
Leave Only Footprints: It’s not a motto, it’s a mission.
When Gulf Shores and Orange Beach invited me to learn about their Leave Only Footprints initiative, my first thought was sure. I mean, who says no to the beach? And, I figured it would be easy to write about their clean up efforts. I like eco-tourism. So I went to the beach — fully intending […]
10 reasons to vacation at Gulf State Park (+ a bonus!)
Between the popular vacation towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in Alabama, sits the region’s shining jewel, Gulf State Park. This 6,200+ acre park is home to three fresh water lakes, a golf course, campground, cabins, a fishing pier and 2 1/2 miles of incredible beach. It’s a dog friendly park, and pets are […]
5 reasons Gulf Shores is better in the fall
Summer beach vacations aren’t bad. The hot sun and cool ocean waters complement each other nicely. But, summer beach vacations also mean hot, sticky, humidity. And crowds — have you been to a major beach in July? It’s bumper to bumper traffic on the roads, and bum to bum bodies on the beach. It can […]
Keep on summering at Alabama’s beaches
Growing up in Ohio, we considered ourselves lucky to wear shorts after Labor Day. Fall was one long, cold, rainy season that dribbled into dreary winters. But that was before the internet (I’m really old). And before air travel was so affordable. And before I moved south where summer fights with school schedules well into […]
Packing tips for your beach cooler
Summer is here! And you know what that means — a trip to the beach — complete with a beach cooler full of goodies. But if you plan to have a picnic on the beach, you should know how to pack a cooler! Make no mistake about it; having a picnic in the beach isn’t […]
Fit Friday: Surf’s up at beach resorts this summer
In my never ending quest to get more healthy (aka, fit), I’ve begun exploring water sports, particularly for their advantages over land based sports: If you fall, you have a “soft” landing. I have not experienced a surfing wipeout yet, so that qualifies my use of soft. The water keeps you cooler. Get too hot? Just fall […]
Magical Driftwood Beach: A must see!
I grew up just a few houses away from my elementary school. In summer, my friends and I spent countless hours climbing the jungle gym. Some days we became Olympic gymnasts — winning the gold, of course. Other days, we’d climb to the tippy top (not allowed during school recess), hang upside down and talk the […]
5 reasons to visit Indiana Dunes this fall
Living in North Carolina, I have easy access to the Atlantic coast beaches — even taking regular day trips to the shore. But, growing up in the Midwest, we didn’t take many beach vacations. It was just too far to travel. I wish we had known about Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan’s south shore. With […]