There is a shortage of space on the beaches of Alabama this weekend. From Gulf Shores to Orange Beach finding a place to call your own might be kind of tough today and tomorrow.
The weather this weekend simply could not be better. Highs are forecast to be in the 80's under partly cloudy skies. With much of the rest of the US sweltering in the 90's in an early summer heat wave, Alabama looks like the place to be this weekend.
GULF SHORES -- Along Alabama's coast, only the clouds seemed to stay away Saturday.
Under a scorching midday sun and a crystal blue sky, Tommy Dallas leaned back in a lounge chair and observed the heavy crowd around him at Gulf Shores' public beach.
In each direction, umbrellas, beach mats and sunbathers packed the soft white sands.
"I think the beach is finally coming back," Dallas said. "This is the busiest I've seen it in three years."
Nearby, Dan Wentz of Ardmore, Ala., about six hours north, popped open a beach umbrella.
"We just wanted to do a little vacationing," said Wentz, who was joined by his wife, Melissa, and their daughter, Kelsi Anne.
It was the family's first visit to Gulf Shores, he said, and likely not their last.
They were among the thousands of vacationers Saturday who swarmed Baldwin's coastline. And in Mobile County, Dauphin Island's beaches, rental houses and stores were thick with Memorial Day weekend tourists.