Women

I have my husband to thank for getting me into golf, although at first I wasn’t so sure I should thank him. He convinced me to start playing because it is “relaxing and fun.” Does throwing a golf club and yelling at a golf ball out of frustration count as fun? As it turns out, he introduced me to golf, but I had to introduce him to the concept of chilling out.

In all honesty, we do enjoy playing golf together, particularly when we’re on vacation. Enjoying the beauty of the sprawling greens is the icing on the vacation cake. We’ll spend a couple of early morning hours on the golf course, then cool off in the ocean or pool. It doesn’t get much more relaxing than that!

The Alabama Gulf Coast has many great golf courses and golf vacation packages. Championship courses designed by some of golf’s greatest players are everywhere. Check out www.thebeachiscalling.org for more information.

I’ve never been to a beach wedding, but I’d love to one day. In fact, if I could, I would go back and have my own wedding at a beach. What could be more romantic than saying “I do” with ocean waves crashing behind you and white sand beneath your feet? If you timed it right, you could have a beautiful coastal sunset as the backdrop for the pictures. Talk about an amazing memory.

And the great thing about a beach wedding is, there are options. Personally, I would want to do a full-blown all-on-the-beach wedding. But you could also have the wedding at a church or some other venue and the reception at the beach (or vice-versa), or have the whole thing inside with the beach setting just outside the window. This way, weather can be taken into account (a must when planning an outdoor event), so even if it does rain, the ceremony and celebration can still go on—and still be fabulous.

Maybe I can entice my next engaged friend to bring the party down to the Alabama Gulf Coast. Information on planning a wedding at Gulf Shores/Orange Beach can be found at www.thebeachiscalling.org.

A romantic getaway for two sounds sooooo nice. No tween changing moods at the speed of light, no bills nagging me to pay them, no calls from work, no dishes, no laundry .... Sigh. There's just one little problem: My idea of a romantic getaway and my spouse's idea of one are VASTLY different. He wants to shop (I know, crazy, isn't it?) and learn about local history. I want to unplug my brain and my cell phone and just relax on the beach or at the pool. When we visited the Alabama Gulf Coast, though, we finally found a compromise, though. We set aside one afternoon to do everything together and another afternoon for some alone time. It has turned into the perfect solution. We've found out something that a lot of married couples already know: Even a little bit of time apart can make the time together even more special.