This last installment of our 2nd year anniversary celebration week postings is a new category that will appear only once. We jammed along the coastlines of both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean last year (Mar 1, 2013 to Feb 28, 2014). I thought it would be fun (and possibly helpful to others) to share our favorite beaches during that journey. Walking on the beach, enjoying the smell of the salt air, the sounds of the water, the hypnotizing rolling waves, the crunching of the shells, and the birds entertaining us made the saying ” life’s a beach” a reality for us.
Our selection is obviously colored by the fact that we visited many of these beaches off season, hence the overall experience was enhanced by the lack of noisy crowds. Many times we enjoyed the solitude with just the birds keeping us company.
So, in no particular order – since it was too difficult to pick a favorite – below are the beach experiences that we will miss and remember most fondly as we travel the midsection of the country this year. As before, the blue link with the location name is a link to more information about that spot, and the month we were there. The “Click our related post here” goes to our blog about it.
Dauphin Island, Alabama – March
Betsy was parked across from the public access to the beach, so we had no issues with parking or entrance fees. The water was blue and calm with small waves. With no huge attractions or condo buildings lining the beach, it was a very quiet, unspoiled place to just enjoy walking the stretch of white sand and dunes. We loved watching the birds and gorgeous sunsets so much that we’re going out of our way to spend a couple more weeks there at the end of this March!
Click our related post here
Rosamond Johnson Beach – Perdido Key, Florida – April
This beach is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and is considered among the whitest, most beautiful sand beaches in America. It is considered an excellent example of a pristine Florida Panhandle beach. With no commercial buildings or residential homes, it remains unspoiled and beautiful.
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Kitty Hawk Beach – Outer Banks, North Carolina – October
Betsy was parked just across the street from the beach, making it a pleasure to jump out of bed in the morning and run over to get sunrise photos and hang out, or to take a long walk. There were no tall condos or hotels along the beach and the area was characterized as low to medium density, single-family residential developments – mainly running small businesses. Our memories are of sunrises painting the sky with colorful pastels of orange, pink and yellow.
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Bonita Beach Park – Bonita Springs, Florida – January
The beach got crowded with snowbirds as the day progressed, but not early in the morning when we arrived to take our walks. The shorebirds were plentiful and fat, hanging around and waiting for the equally fat tourists to feed them. Although the beach is not known for shelling, we could hear our steps crunching as we walked on piles of sea shells.
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Marconi Beach – Cape Cod, Massachusetts – September
This gorgeous beach is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and the moment you look out from the bluff you become mesmerized by the miles of white sand beach and the huge steep sand cliff located behind the surf line. The beach is beautiful and serene, providing an unbroken, pristine natural scene in all directions.
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How about you? What’s your favorite beach to spend time at?
Lowes Travels 
Awesome photos! Makes me want to move to the beach. My dream is to live in Santa Cruz or in the Santa Cruz mountains. Happy travels! Congratulations on traveling for 2 years. Reminds me of the song “On the Road Again”.
Thank you Marcy, the beach here is sure different than in the Pacific Coast.
Wow….what a fun post. You sure have seen some pretty spectacular beaches. I can see how you would have trouble picking a favorite with so many beautiful sites. Florida’s panhandle is on my ‘to see’ list 🙂
Indeed we were in some beautiful beaches and the ones along the Gulf Coast have white powdery sand than in the Atlantic coast. There are a lot of beaches waiting for your visit 🙂
I did not know there are so many wonderful beaches. More items for our bucket list – thanks
There are lots along the Gulf Coast which are powdery white and less crowded too. You’ve got to visit at least one, one day.
Now this post I definitely bookmarked. When we go through Alabama next fall, I want to stop at Dauphin Island. Looks and sounds like our type of place. Wonderful job!
Pam we are heading back to our all time favorite, Dauphin Island in a few weeks. I can give you a more recent report than last year.
These are magnificent beaches… that one with all the shells, unbelievable, where do they all come from, do all the shell user in the world stop there to drop there shell…. fantastic… my Mom would love it there…
Bulldog, there is even a beach known just for shelling (Sanibel Island). I see lots of people stooping to collect shells!
We want to go to the Florida panhandle beaches sometime, and your picture there is awesome. Makes me want to just pack up and go right now! 😉
We are heading to the FL panhandle in a few weeks and sure would spend time at their beaches.
Your anniversary posts show what a fabulous year you two have had. Here’s to more grand adventures for all of us. 🙂
Cheers too LuAnn, it was a great year.
Wow — so many beautiful beaches! Your “favorites” posts have been great. We love the Florida Panhandle beaches — St. George especially because it’s so pristine. It’s wonderful to look down miles of beach and see nothing but sand, water, and shorebirds! We live in Oregon, and love the Oregon coast beaches, too. But the water is too cold for swimming — barely warm enough for wading in the summer. The scenery is spectacular, though.
We will revisit Oregon beaches for sure in a couple of years. Glad you enjoyed our favorite post and hopefully you picked up a few to try or visit .
Love these great beaches!! The Bonita Beach photo with the shells is awesome:)
Yes we love those beaches and will surely miss them once we head West.
Loved reading all your anniversary posts. Thanks for sharing your highlights!
Your welcome, Marcia glad you enjoyed our round up of favorites for the year.
Beautiful beaches for sure! I loved Cape Hatteras when we were there MonaLiza.
We wanted to stay at Cape Hatteras but was already closed for the season.
We’ve only been to the Outer Banks. Four more beaches to go. I guess we’ll have to start all over again! 🙂
Hey, how about another 7 years and the four beaches will be covered.
You’ve really been to some beautiful beaches, Mona. Your posts make me realise that there’s so much more of Florida which I need to explore when we are living there full time one day. For the moment, I’ll have to be content with my bit of beach here in South Africa. 🙂
Steve and I were just talking about how big Florida is and there are so many places to cover. I guess missing some this year will give us a reason perhaps to come back. But life in South Africa must be interesting too.
Ah, the warm warm beaches of the gulf….Great post Mona Liza. You are so superb at making folks wish they were with you!
Yes, Ayn a t least they can feel the warmth of the sun by just looking at the pictures.
Beautiful beaches… The Seashells at Bonita Springs…WOW!! Spectacular hunting I am sure. Have you ever been to Siesta Key Beach near Sarasota Florida? White quartz sand so it never gets HOT on your feet and it feels like flour. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos!
A seashell collector though have fun here and at Sanibel. The seashells are amazing and there are tons of them on these beaches.
Hmmm… The fact that those are shortlisted really seems to prove them worth the visit. Nice selections, Mona. I would’ve had a hard comparing one beach from another. One that resonates to me the most is Ocean Beach or Dog Beach here in California.
The beaches here in the east coast are nicer than in the west 🙂
Just would like remark that you have a very nice website, I like the layout it in fact stands apart.
Thank you Jayden.
Just discovered you blog, it’s great! We are new to Rving, and are planning a Florida trip in the next few months, thank you for the great information!