January and February are the traditional big months for snowbirds to vacation on the gulf coast. Last year's storms and rising gas prices don't appear to have dampened the migration much. With most of the gulf coast vacation rental property back on line and available to vacationers, the 2006 snowbird season is beginning to look like it will be a very good one.
Charles and Dorothy Lettau were expecting heavy snow over the weekend in their hometown of Frankenmuth, Mich.
But they'll be wearing short sleeves.
The Lettaus left 1 foot of snow, drove two days and arrived Thursday in Orange Beach, where high temperatures approached 70 degrees Friday.
"We took a walk along the beach this morning in short sleeves -- beautiful," said Charles Lettau, 71, who is staying at the Phoenix East condominiums with his wife. "It's just nice to get out of that cold weather. A couple of weeks ago, the temperature (in Michigan) touched on 0. I don't miss that a bit.