Gulf coast beach front vacation - need ideas and suggestions

My wife is finishing grad school the 3rd week of May. After a 3.5 year program, we're both due for a quick, but relaxing vacation. I'm thinking something that's easy, relatively cheap, and very relaxing. So a gulf beach 4-5 day weekend it is.

I'm basically looking for recommendations and experiences. We've never taken a north gulf coast vacation on our own dime. We've met people at expensive beach houses, but I think that's likely out of our price range, though it'd be awesome. It doesn't have to be cheap, but we're not rich. We need something with a kitchen and direct access to the beach. We probably won't eat out much, favoring the option of decanting a nice wine while we cook dinner. All we want is to enjoy the water and sun while reading a book during the day.

Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are all much appreciated.

:)