When I was growing up and newly married, I lived in Ohio and northern Virginia. We always went to the beach for vacation, so I’ve vacationed at Cape Cod, Long Beach Island, Virginia Beach, Emerald Isle, Oak Island, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Amelia Island, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Cape San Blas. In 1996 we moved to Collierville, TN, and the closest beach was Gulf Shores, Alabama. I had never heard of the beach in L.A. (Lower Alabama), but was blown away by what I found. The beach was sugar white and the people very relaxed and laid back. Gulf Shores has managed to stay a well kept secret that allows us to stay at a perfect beach that is not nearly as commercialized as any of the other beaches we visited. After we moved to Texas, Gulf Shores was still the best beach we had visited, so rather than go to the Texas beaches, we kept making the trip to Gulf Shores, and eventually purchased our first Island Royale property there in 2012.