The beaches of South Walton County Florida stretch along Highway 30A, a road that parallels the Gulf of Mexico. This section of Florida is alternatively known as Northwest Florida, the Florida Panhandle, and the Emerald Coast. It's characterized by dazzling white quartz sand beaches and crystal, clear emerald green water. The water gets its unique green-blue color as a result of the pure white sand reflecting sunlight.
read moreWelcome to the first annual thebestbeach.net top 10 beaches of the year list. Unlike many top 10 lists, this list represents the ten best beaches I visited in 2011, so the same beaches aren't repeated year to year. What are your best beaches of 2011?
read moreFor many people the month of December marks a time of year when thoughts turn to giving and receiving. Most retailers make the majority of their annual sales between Thanksgiving and the end of the calendar year, and most charitable organizations bring in nearly all their annual donations during the same period.
read moreOn the twelve days of Christmas, eight days of Hanukkah, seven days of Kwanzaa, my true love gave to me.....some great gifts for the beachaholic!
read moreDolphin Tale, the recently (9/23/2011) released movie based on the true story of Winter the dolphin is a moving story about what humans and animals can achieve. While most of the movie's characters are fictionalized, Winter's injury and subsequent rehabilitation and recovery aren't.
read moreBocce ball is a great beach game because it can be played on almost any beach by pretty much anyone. Many people consider bocce ball to be the oldest game in existence with hieroglyphic evidence of ancient Egyptians playing a bocce-like game as early as 5200 B.C. Some of history's most famous people played bocce including Galileo, George Washington, King Henry VIII, Hippocrates, Leonardo Da Vinci, Queen Elizabeth I, Roman Emperor Augustus, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh.
read moreDo you think it's safe to travel to Aruba? What about Mexico? Both these popular beach destinations have been in the news recently for horrific crimes. In Aruba's case, it's the second high profile disappearance of a young female tourist under mysterious circumstances. In Mexico's case, it's the rapidly escalating number of senseless murders.
read moreAnyone who loves the beach knows that hurricanes can cause serious damage to people, property, and beaches themselves through high surf, wind, and erosion.
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I first fell in love when I was six. It happened when my family moved to a house less than half a block from a beach. From that day forward I've been drawn to the beach like a moth is drawn to a flame. In fact, the beach's hold on me is so powerful that as a child I would completely disregard my mother's rule about not going to the beach alone. From six on, I was at the beach almost daily, winter, spring, summer, and fall. When I think about that now all I can think is that if I were my mother I would kill me. She probably would have too if she had ever found out.
Most of my good memories are tied to beaches. As a teenager I hung out with friends, sailed, and had my first kiss at the beach. Even my career goals were beach related. I wanted to be a marine biologist or beach bum (no happy medium there). I didn't become either.
Nonetheless, I continued to be obsessed with beaches despite following a different career path. I even took my future husband on his first beach vacation. He didn't share my love, but I married him anyway. After I had children, I continued to go to the beach regularly, only now it was with two tiny companions. We built cities in the sand, made "sandballs" in place of snowballs, and were boogie boarding almost as soon as my sons could walk.
The beach wasn't only a place for fun. It was also a place of refuge. If I was upset or down I headed to the nearest beach. To this day beaches' amazing transformative powers continue to work their magic on me. Not long ago I was going through a difficult time, so what did I do? I walked on the beach daily and was moved to do a "happy dance" as a result. I'm sure I looked utterly ridiculous, but I didn't care. I was at the beach!
It's no wonder that thebestbeach.net is a lifelong dream realized for me. I hope you'll join me on this journey in order to discover YOUR best beaches.
