When I lived in New Orleans, I loved a getaway to the beach. If I just had a day, I'd make do with Mississippi's Gulf Coast, an hour's drive away, or Gulf Shores, Ala., a two-hour drive. If I wanted to make a weekend of it, I'd head to the Florida Panhandle.

I spent a lot of time on these beaches, and one thing I never got used to was the nickname given to this gorgeous strip of sand: "the Redneck Riviera." The term even has its own listing in the online Urban Dictionary. Along with having "the most beautiful beaches in the world," the listing says, "it also has tattoo parlors, beer joints, crab shacks, burger barns, T-shirt boutiques, and more beach trinkets than you can imagine."

I had my own redneck experience (sort of), once being present at the iconic Flora-Bama Lounge (on the Florida-Alabama line in Perdido Key) when a bar fight set to a Jimmy Buffet tune on the jukebox broke out between tipsy LSU and Alabama students. Despite this, I always thought the nickname was a disservice to the region.

A public relations genius apparently agreed with me. Seemingly overnight, the "Redneck Riviera" became the "Emerald Coast." You'll still find plenty of T-shirt shops and tattoo parlors, but you'll also find the creamiest white sand lapped by the bluest-green water anywhere.

My most recent trek to the Gulf Coast took me to the beaches of South Walton, a stretch of surf and sand along Florida's U.S. 98 east of Destin that takes in 16 communities from Miramar Beach at the western end to Inlet Beach to the east.

In the 1950s and '60s, this was a place where working-class families could rent inexpensive beach cottages in charmingly named communities: Seascape, Seagrove, Seacrest. They could be fairly certain that from their modest bungalow, they would have an uninterrupted view of the gulf.

On many parts of the beach, cottages have given way to condos, and the gulf view remains only until it is blocked by the construction of another, larger condo.

Still, those in search of what this part of Florida looked like 50 years ago are in luck. There are four state parks in Walton County. Those parks and Point Washington State Forest make up 40 percent of the county's acreage.

Topsail, considered the most pristine piece of coastline in Florida, is famous for a land- and seascape that includes bald cypress swamps and 25-foot sand dunes.

Grayton Beach has trails winding through pine woods and around freshwater ponds, making it an ideal habitat for wading and water birds; closer to the beach, gulls and terns hang out.

Excerpt from:

Florida's Panhandle has outgrown its lowbrow reputation