• About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Family Travels on a Budget

Travel with kids: theme park family deals, cruise ships for kids and best cruise lines for teens and other cool places to visit, including adult getaways

  • Home
  • Travel guides
  • Cruising
  • Destinations
    • USA
      • Alabama
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Louisiana
      • Maryland
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • South Carolina
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Virginia
      • Washington, DC
    • World
      • Bahamas/Caribbean
      • Canada
      • China
      • France
      • Mexico
      • Spain
  • Interests
    • Adventure
    • Arts/Culture
    • Beaches
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Girlfriend Getaways
    • History
    • Kid Fun
    • Romantic Escapes
    • Teens and Tweens
    • Theme Parks and Zoos
      • Disney
      • Universal Studios
      • Other Theme Parks
      • Zoos
  • Reviews
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Products
    • Tech
    • Books
  • Travel Tips
    • Air Travel
    • Budget
    • Packing
    • Planning
    • Roadtrips
  • At home
    • Recipes
    • Shopping
    • Staycations

Home » Interests » Beaches

10 reasons to vacation at Gulf State Park in Alabama

May 5, 2020 by Karen Dawkins 10 Comments

Between the popular vacation towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in Alabama, sits the region’s shining jewel, Gulf State Park. Covering more than 6,200 acres, Gulf Shores State Park is home to three fresh water lakes, a golf course, the Gulf State Park Campground, cabins, the Gulf State Park Pier and 2 1/2 miles […]

Filed Under: Adventure, Alabama, Beaches

Family Vacation Ideas with Teenagers: The Wharf at Orange Beach!

December 31, 2019 by Karen Dawkins 1 Comment

Spring break family vacation ideas with teenagers can be a challenge. Where can a family go to make everyone happy? You know, where do go so teens get time to sleep in, plenty to do, and lots of food options? How do you balance a teen’s need for independence with family time? When considering family […]

Filed Under: Alabama, Beaches, Teens and Tweens, USA

Spring Break with teens: 10 reasons to visit Alabama’s beaches!

December 9, 2019 by Karen Dawkins 87 Comments

When you consider where to go for spring break, especially spring break with teens, my top pick is Alabama’s beaches! Alabama sits on the Gulf of Mexico, offering calm waters, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and wide, white sandy beaches that rival those of neighboring Florida. But, for this mom of teens, Alabama’s family friendly policies […]

Filed Under: Alabama, Beaches, Teens and Tweens

Beach Bag Essentials: Everything you need to pack the perfect beach bag!

April 2, 2019 by Karen Dawkins 11 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: beach, Beaches, Packing, travel tips

Complete Outer Banks Vacation Planner: Sun, sand, and sea (and more to explore!)

March 5, 2019 by Karen Dawkins 3 Comments

Sun, sand and sea at the Outer Banks

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 […]

Filed Under: Adventure, Beaches, History, Kid Fun, North Carolina, Travel guides

Leave Only Footprints: It’s not a motto, it’s a mission.

October 12, 2017 by Karen Dawkins 3 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Alabama, Beaches

5 reasons Gulf Shores is better in the fall

September 2, 2017 by Karen Dawkins Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Alabama, Beaches

Fall fun at Alabama’s Beaches

August 16, 2017 by Karen Dawkins 4 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Alabama, Beaches, Destinations, Interests, USA

Packing tips for your beach cooler

July 1, 2017 by Karen Dawkins 1 Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Beaches, Interests

Fit Friday: Surf’s up at beach resorts this summer

April 21, 2017 by Karen Dawkins Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Adventure, Beaches, Fit Fridays, Interests

Next Page »

Meet Karen Dawkins

An avid traveler, I enjoy discovering new places: history, culture, and adventure. I love it all! Well, not bugs. I don’t like bugs very much, so I probably won’t visit a bug museum.

Read More

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

**This site may contain affiliate links and sponsored posts for which I earn a small commission to help cover the costs of running a blog.**

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme Theme URI: http://my.studiopress.com/themes/news/ Description: A mobile responsive and HTML5 theme built for the Genesis Framework. Author: StudioPress Author URI: http://www.studiopress.com/ Version: 3.0.2 Tags: black, red, white, one-column, two-columns, three-columns, responsive-layout, custom-menu, full-width-template, sticky-post, theme-options, threaded-comments, translation-ready, premise-landing-page Template: genesis Template Version: 2.0.1 License: GPL-2.0+ License URI: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in