Author: Karen Harrell

Some 20 years ago the 50-mile stretch between Destin and Panama City Beach was little more than sparsely populated beach communities surrounded by scrub pine.
Today, world-class communities dot the landscape spurred by the New Urban development called Seaside, familiar to moviegoers as the location of The Truman Show.

Long time visitors to the Alabama Gulf Coast will tell you that the area changed dramatically after Hurricane Frederic hit in the late 1970s.
Before that the area boasted mostly beach homes on spacious lots and mom and pop hotels with a few townhomes and condominiums scattered through Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

Destin
Don’t let Destin’s moniker coined decades ago “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” fool you.
This gem of a community is still a lucky place to sport fish, but today is anything but little.
A popular summer tourist destination from nearby surrounding states, the area returns to a small community in the winter and rentals are a bargain compared to the southern part of the state.

Panama City Beach has undergone an incredible transformation in the past few years.
Yes, come Spring Break in mid March through Easter, the hordes of college students still make the trek to the destination made famous by MTV.
But before then as early as October the Snowbirds begin arriving enmasse.
The area is particularly popular with Canadians who in winters past rented rooms at the dozens of mom and pop hotels with kitchenettes.