Paula's Trip Report

[Paula]

Well, we had a great week in SoWal last week and it was soooo hard to leave on Saturday. But we did settle in back home and I was happy sitting on our porch here in Michigan reading the Sunday paper this morning so life is quite OK even though we're not at the beach (perhaps it's because we know we're coming back to SoWal soon).

Our favorite things to do were:

- Seeing SoWal friends
- Kids loved Cork on the Ocean's Sunshine puppy
- We all loved our Carvel ice cream from Seacrest cafe (cherry chocolate chunk) and the fountain at the Villages of South Walton between 8:30-8:45 pm when the lights were on and the fountain danced to the music. I had one of those moments when time just stood still and I felt so lucky as I was watching all the kids run through the fountain and laugh while waiting in anticipation for the water to spout up. Such good simple fun.
- Going to the beach early in the morning to read and again at sunset (kids liked writing in the sand)
- Kids just about lived at the pool (wear your sunscreen and lots of it -- one of the kids who has baby-white skin got a sunburn even while wearing sunscreen #48). They enjoyed meeting other kids while at the pool.
- Red Bar (it's not crowded if you go right at 5:00 PM)
- Angelinas (it wasn't crowded at all at lunch on Saturday)
- Wild Olive (great atmosphere, good food)
- Fonville Press for coffee and free wireless and a beautiful setting
- Massages and Aveda's rosemary mint shampoo and body wash
- Sitting on the porch drinking tea and eating cinnamon toast and reading in the very early morning
- Not puttering as much as usual at the cottage (didn't wash windows, didn't dust -- just did a little bit of upkeep)

Things we wish we did but didn't do:
It was way too hot to bike around so we didn't get bikes as planned. We never made it to shell island because we got lazy but we initially had hoped to go -- so maybe next time. We never made it to Fonville Press for their Friday night after beach event because we were busy packing up on Friday, but hope to go next time. We never made it to the new restaurant at Seaside but will do soon.

The ugly:
Seeing all the cars lined up to get into Destin at the Bay Bridge when we were going the other way to the airport around 2:00 pm on Saturday. In general, though, we were amazed at how uncrowded 30A was the last week of June. Based on what we read about how busy the area was in peak season, we had expected bumper to bumper traffic, overly crowded restaurants, and some stress, but it was very quiet overall. Perhaps 4th of July week is much busier. It could be that fewer people are renting this year. And we're not in a busy community either, though even Seaside seemed to have parking whenever we went by.


Such a great trip.

 

[Teresa]

Sounds like a relaxing get-away for you all. I loved meeting the girls - both very beautiful and so grown up! And they were so great with Spidey in the pool. We enjoyed the afternoon at your place!

 

[audie]

thanks for the report - glad you had a good time !

 

[DD]

Glad you had a relaxing and funn time. Glad you're back. Great report! :clap_1:

 

[Sheila]

Well, we had a great week in SoWal last week and it was soooo hard to leave on Saturday. But we did settle in back home and I was happy sitting on our porch here in Michigan reading the Sunday paper this morning so life is quite OK even though we're not at the beach (perhaps it's because we know we're coming back to SoWal soon).

Our favorite things to do were:

- Seeing SoWal friends
- Kids loved Cork on the Ocean's Sunshine puppy
- We all loved our Carvel ice cream from Seacrest cafe (cherry chocolate chunk) and the fountain at the Villages of South Walton between 8:30-8:45 pm when the lights were on and the fountain danced to the music. I had one of those moments when time just stood still and I felt so lucky as I was watching all the kids run through the fountain and laugh while waiting in anticipation for the water to spout up. Such good simple fun.
- Going to the beach early in the morning to read and again at sunset (kids liked writing in the sand)
- Kids just about lived at the pool (wear your sunscreen and lots of it -- one of the kids who has baby-white skin got a sunburn even while wearing sunscreen #48). They enjoyed meeting other kids while at the pool.
- Red Bar (it's not crowded if you go right at 5:00 PM)
- Angelinas (it wasn't crowded at all at lunch on Saturday)
- Wild Olive (great atmosphere, good food)
- Fonville Press for coffee and free wireless and a beautiful setting
- Massages and Aveda's rosemary mint shampoo and body wash
- Sitting on the porch drinking tea and eating cinnamon toast and reading in the very early morning
- Not puttering as much as usual at the cottage (didn't wash windows, didn't dust -- just did a little bit of upkeep)

Things we wish we did but didn't do:
It was way too hot to bike around so we didn't get bikes as planned. We never made it to shell island because we got lazy but we initially had hoped to go -- so maybe next time. We never made it to Fonville Press for their Friday night after beach event because we were busy packing up on Friday, but hope to go next time. We never made it to the new restaurant at Seaside but will do soon.

The ugly:
Seeing all the cars lined up to get into Destin at the Bay Bridge when we were going the other way to the airport around 2:00 pm on Saturday. In general, though, we were amazed at how uncrowded 30A was the last week of June. Based on what we read about how busy the area was in peak season, we had expected bumper to bumper traffic, overly crowded restaurants, and some stress, but it was very quiet overall. Perhaps 4th of July week is much busier. It could be that fewer people are renting this year. And we're not in a busy community either, though even Seaside seemed to have parking whenever we went by.


Such a great trip.

Thanks Paula, now I feel like I was there! :clap_1: Happy 4th!

 

[Sandcastle]

Glad you had a good time, Paula. We love the Seacrest fountain at night as well. SoWal is HOT this time of year.

 

[Paula]

I enjoy reading the other trip reports on this message board, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading mine, too!

As for the heat, SoWal is indeed hot but not much hotter than a hot day here in Michigan. Hot is hot, wherever it is. The only difference is that it seems like it takes longer for the air conditioner in the car to really get going. I don't know if it was because of the specific rental car we had or if it just takes longer for the air conditioners in cars to get going in that heat.

In general, we were very comfortable because the mornings and evenings were nice for sitting outside on the porch or at the beach, and during the day we were either at the pool or inside where it was cool (the air conditioner at the cottage in Florida worked much better than our air conditioner in Michigan, so we were more comfortable in Florida! Even sitting outside in the shade at Wild Olives was comfortable at lunch time. I think those of us who live up north are so thankful for warm -- even hot -- weather any time of year after our cold winters! I didn't see many people on bikes or walking/running on the bike path compared to other times of the year, especially during the day time, which I'm sure was because of the heat.

We're already planning what we're going to do on our trip later this summer -- it will definitely include Shell Island, the new Seaside restaurant, and the Big Kahunas (which the kids love to do off season because there are very few lines). It will probably include staying long enough at the Red Bar to hear some music (we're usually there too early in the evening). And, of course, more visits with our SoWal friends.

Tootsie: It was great seeing you and Spidey, too (and a quick drop-in visit with Kurt at Wild Olives). I can see how Spidey gets the nickname. Those little arms and legs move quickly! What a cutie. And the kids do grow up fast (as you can tell from seeing our kids). Also saw Cork and Chickpea, as well as some other friends who - gasp -- aren't active on this message board (though I'm trying to recruit them to sowal.com).

 

[TreeFrog]

In general, though, we were amazed at how uncrowded 30A was the last week of June. Based on what we read about how busy the area was in peak season, we had expected bumper to bumper traffic, overly crowded restaurants, and some stress, but it was very quiet overall. Perhaps 4th of July week is much busier. It could be that fewer people are renting this year. And we're not in a busy community either, though even Seaside seemed to have parking whenever we went by.

Congratulations on a great visit. You DID pick the right week to be here. There are lots more folks here this week. We're glad to see them, though, because that means we aren't having a 4th of July blow.

 

[bamabeachbum]

Paula,

I was down at Seagrove last week also, found the traffic easy to get in and out of. I think we picked the right week to go down because it looked like a lot where comeing in as we where pulling out of town on Saturday. And yes please go to Great Southern at Seaside, we did and had a wonderful meal and great service.

 

[Cheering472]

Sounds wonderful. Glad you had funn Paula.