If I say "let's go to the beach," what kind of beach do you imagine?
Colin grew up on the rocky beaches of the inky blue, icy-cold Atlantic. His beaches look exactly like idyllic paintings and postcards of quintessential New England: lighthouses and sailboats and perfectly weathered teak cottages.
Maybe your beach is somewhere in Florida, where the water turns clear and turquoise and the sand turns powdery soft and white. Maybe your beach is a resort on some island or in some coastal city with fine dining and stunning design.
Meanwhile, down here on the Gulf Coast, my beach repertoire was wildly different. Instead of navy blue and icy-cold, the Gulf of Mexico is bathtub-warm and the color of gumbo. No lighthouses or teak cottages, no resorts or haute cuisine, but gnarled cypress knees and fishing piers.
There are too many kinds of beaches in our country to crown one as the “best.” But I want to tell you why, among all the other beaches, humble Dauphin Island, Alabama, is our favorite and why we treasure our annual week there every summer. I’ll also be sharing my comprehensive Dauphin Island guide all this week, so come back each day for everything you need to know about the island, what to pack, what to do, and how to make every place a pilgrimage.
But before we discuss how to go to Dauphin Island, let’s talk about why you should.
As I grew up, Dauphin Island became my family’s go-to beach because it’s just a two-hour drive from the New Orleans area. That made it an easy day trip, although sometimes we stayed for a few days. My memories of Dauphin Island are warm and happy. I still remember one beach house we rented in the ‘80s with a rusted tin roof and peeling teal shiplap perched on leggy stilts in the marshy sand. These trips were simple and wholesome. We boiled hot dogs and grilled burgers, hunted for seashells, and entertained ourselves with nothing but the sand and the waves.
Unlike many other beach destinations, Dauphin Island is not at all fancy, chic, or cool. It has no flashy boardwalk with expensive mini-golf and amusement-park rides, no neon nightlife, no endless stretches of overpriced souvenir shops. There’s no bustling restaurant row or glitzy entertainment. No luxury cruises or pristine infinity pools with swim-up bars.
And that’s precisely the magic of it. When you go to Dauphin Island, you’re quite literally going just to the beach.
Dauphin Island has largely remained the same for decades. In all the years we’ve been going there, I haven’t seen any major development projects. There’s still no high school on the island, just one small elementary school. There’s still no comprehensive grocery store or pharmacy. You still don’t need a car at all because you can bike from end to end. The island feels remote and quiet, inhabited mostly by locals selling live bait or running shrimp boats or charter fishing operations.
These are exactly the reasons we love Dauphin Island. With only a few things to do, the island is a place that lends itself to repetition and being present instead of hustling toward the next excursion or activity.
We do the same basic, simple things every single year. Cinnamon rolls every morning, ridiculous milkshakes every afternoon, fresh-caught steamed shrimp and corn every night for dinner. Crack of dawn fishing on the beach. Sunsets on the surf. Flying kites under the stars. Swimming and reading at the pool. Watching thunderstorms from the pier. Inventing pool games with an old football. Crabbing, drawing in the sand, riding the ferry across the bay, looking for dolphins, visiting the old fort, skipping seashells on the water, checking on the new baby swallows in a secret nest, finding driftwood and sea skeletons on long walks.
The repetition becomes tradition. And tradition is a source of deep peace and comfort that serves to strengthen our connections and ground our identities in relationships rather than sensory stimulation. The fancy beaches and the chic resorts have their places. Sometimes it’s fun to luxuriate. But Dauphin Island is where, as our son said, “We have the best family time.”
Come back every day this week for my travel guide with everything you need to know to enjoy Dauphin Island with your people: what to pack, what to do, and how you can make every place a pilgrimage.
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