![For much of my youth, Central Florida was synonymous with summer vacation. Tampa Bay, Clearwater, and Orlando were where I spent many summers at my Aunt Nancy’s condo and had my theme park rites of passage. When my husband and I made a road trip from Chicago to Panama City, I found myself in a part of the South I’d never known: the panhandle. We spent a few days in this new territory, which was smaller and more local than Clearwater. So, when I had the opportunity to take a right to Alabama’s Gulf Coast instead of a left […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ctc-l-Alabama-gulf-coast-beaches-01.jpg?w=132 "For much of my youth, Central Florida was synonymous with summer vacation. Tampa Bay, Clearwater, and Orlando were where I spent many summers at my Aunt Nancy’s condo and had my theme park rites of passage. When my husband and I made a road trip from Chicago to Panama City, I found myself in a part of the South I’d never known: the panhandle. We spent a few days in this new territory, which was smaller and more local than Clearwater. So, when I had the opportunity to take a right to Alabama’s Gulf Coast instead of a left […]")
Alabama’s Gulf Coast offers uncrowded beaches with sand that doesn’t get hot — a chill alternative to Florida
For much of my youth, Central Florida was synonymous with summer vacation. Tampa Bay, Clearwater, and Orlando were where I spent many summers at my Aunt Nancy’s condo and had...
