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Gulf Shores - Part 1
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
Why hasn't anybody heard of Gulf Shores yet?
Within the circle of what most people would consider driving distance to Gulf Shores, Alabama, everybody has heard of Gulf Shores. Within this circle, Gulf Shores is revered, respected and loved. Outside of this "driving distance" circle, when people think of Gulf Shores they simply think about Alabama’s shores; the Gulf Shores part is lost. Being from outside the circle, I was in the category with those that have never heard of Gulf Shores. I’m going to break literary notion and tell you something about the end of the story because I feel it will get the point across. The end of the story will be about how great the area is and the fact that people outside of this region don’t come here because it feels "too far." We were here for less than 48 hours and it was fine for us, so it should be fine for you.
We arrived in Pensacola, Florida and drove west an hour toward the Gulf Shores. We officially landed in Florida, but everything had the same feel... you are on the Gulf. You can also fly into Mobile, Alabama.
Now, I should note this one particular feeling upon seeing the Gulf Shores area for the first time. We were riding along the coast and there was nothing to see. It was late at night and the moon reflected on the water whenever you got a glance of the water through the trees.
Then, boom! Okay, that’s a metaphoric boom, but either way, you get the point. You cross over a hill and something is rising. It’s mythic, in a way, like the explorers who discovered the pyramids and that feeling they had in climbing that last dune. Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but it is at that precise moment that the dramatic effect came to me from Gulf Shores. From over the dunes, this civilization of condos appeared.
Now, when I say condos, I’m using the plural term referring to more than one of that object. I’m also using the word condo, which might imply some apartment-type dwelling, which are usually a few stories high. In this case, the words are inaccurate. In this case, my pyramid metaphor works better. These are mammoth buildings, one after the other. Around these buildings are simply beach, which enhances that mammoth feeling. So here you are, a bit tired, a bit cranky and, then, that metaphoric boom occurs, followed by these massive condos coming out of the beach like ancient monoliths in a complete contradiction with the beach.
This is Gulf Shores.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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