*This post contributed by Travel Editor Carolanne Roberts

If you know Rosemary Beach, you’re saying aaaaaaah right now and nodding your head as those-in-the-know often do. If you don’t—and it’s still something of a secret, even in Southern reaches of Florida—then you’ll want to this place the rest of us rank high on our Beaches to Sigh For list.

(Photo courtesy of Joe in DC via Flickr)

I’m mighty partial to this 6-mile stretch of bronze-tinged sand between the thrills of Daytona and the quiet beauty of St. Augustine. I lived here not too long ago. I got sand in my shoes everyday—something I’ve yet to shake. These days, when I want to go somewhere out of the way yet near all sorts of interesting side trips, I pick this place.

(Photo courtesy of Fleur Design via Flickr)

I’ve been going to Gulf Shores, Alabama, since the early 70s, and I still love it as much as I did when I was a kid wearing floaties. Now I’ve got kids of my own, and the reasons for that affection are the same. While other beaches offer better shopping, more sophisticated dining, and more houses that belong on a magazine cover, Gulf Shores maintains a simplicity that’s hard to replicate. It’s very much a family place, with wide beaches and blue-green water. The vibe of the whole place is laid-back and very Southern. (Any place that proudly calls itself the Redneck Riviera is obviously without pretension.) In Gulf Shores, you’re left to enjoy the things that matter most at the beach: sun, sand, water, food, and family. That’s the equation for a perfect vacation.

(Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Matagorda Island - rugged and untamed, sea-oat-pure, populated by whooping cranes, wild turkeys, and white-tailed deer - lays 5 miles across the Espiritu Santo Bay from mainland Texas. If cowboys were sailors too, this is where they'd roam.

(Photo by Meg McKinney)

Ah.  A week of beaches.  Each day we'll highlight our favorite places to dig our toes in the sand. 

We kick off our Beach Week with one of the alltime family beach destinations:  Myrtle Beach.

(Photo by Scott Wiseman for Southern Living)

The beach is where many Southerners go to disappear, to unwind, to play, to be a family. In many houses, “the beach” means more than just any sandy stretch of coast. It means one particular beachtown, that one special locale, whether grandfather’s seaside condo or the old palmetto house rented the same June week year after year.