Where the South meets the sea

Southern Living, Spring 2003 by Lingo, Karen

Georgia's Island Paradise

In addition to teaching guests about sea turtles, the staff on Little St. Simons Island also points the way to fishing, boating, horseback riding, and exploring the tidal creeks and salt marshes by canoe.

Accessible only by boat, this privately owned island features a small compound that accommodates only 30 guests. The remaining 10,000 acres are blissfully beautiful and free of development. You can walk for hours on the 7 miles of flat beach or just curl up in a hammock.

Caught in Time

Some coastal areas seem to float in the past, bewitching reminders of a time when the pace was slower and the only sounds louder than the rumble of the waves were the calls of seabirds and the rustle of marsh grass on a windy day.

Anna Maria Island, on the southern lip of Tampa Bay, is such a place. Fishermen cast their lines from three vintage bayside piers, families play beach volleyball, and affordable motels and rental cottages are the rule rather than the exception.

In South Carolina, the weathered cottages on Pawleys Island huddle like gray wooden spiders at the edge of the Atlantic. The island itself is a laid-back slice of yesteryear. There's no need for it to change because plenty of restaurants and attractions have sprung up nearby along US. 17.

Folly Beach, a mere 10-mile drive from the historic center of Charleston, South Carolina, is basically a small community of homes and cottages, some dating to 1900. The shopping district consists of a smattering of stores selling groceries, tackle, souvenirs, and surfboards. The liveliest place in town is Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier, which stretches more than the length of three football fields out into the Atlantic, reaching water deep enough to allow anglers to catch mackerel and bluefish.

Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island in Delaware have also managed to hold on to their small-town atmospheres. Both describe themselves as "The Quiet Resorts."

The South's Best Beach

Southerners have known about it for years. But when Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, known as "Dr. Beach," named Florida's St. Joseph Peninsula State Park the number one beach in America last year, everyone in the country found out about this slice of paradise.

Even on the busiest days, you may find yourself alone on these miles of mostly deserted beach that slip like a hook into the Gulf of Mexico near Port St. Joe. Facilities include picnic areas, restrooms, bathhouses, and campsites. There are also eight cabins that can accommodate up to seven people each (five comfortably) and can be reserved 11 months in advance.

Quiet Islands

It may have homes, condos, a couple of inns, croquet greens, and a golf course, but Bald Head Island near Southport, North Carolina, is still a quiet beach retreat. Arrival is by ferry, and, once on the island, golf carts are the main mode of transportation. It's the southernmost barrier island of the Brunswick Islands, with a broad beach that stretches 14 miles. You can cast a line into the surf for bluefish and red drum or just walk the beach and look for the loggerhead turtles that arrive every summer to lay their eggs.