(Not So) Frazzled Friday – Beach Vacay Recap

Hello there friends!! I’ve missed y’all soooo much!! I am here to assure you that I. am. back!! My part time teaching job is over and summer has begun!! After school was out, our boys headed off on their first church trip of the summer – a 15 day choir mission trip to Boston and back. The day after they left, we boarded a plane and headed south to Florida! Our first time to 30A and we our officially hooked!!

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We have been to the Destin, Florida area several times over the years with the kiddos and have loved the gulf shores so much, and hubby and I visited Naples 5 years ago and although we enjoyed that as well, I mean the beach is the beach am I right, I’m still partial to the gulf coast of Florida. We have also visited the East and West coast beaches – Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and California (San Fran area and Los Angeles area). I just kept hearing people rave about the infamous “30A” so I just had to go check it out for myself. And, let me tell you, it did not disappoint!! The sunsets were some of our favorites! (you’ll see several pics of those because we just couldn’t get enough haha)

If you’ve been living under a rock and you have no idea what I’m talking about, 30A is actually a state highway that runs along a small section of gulf coastline in Florida – home to some of the most gorgeous beaches, and quaint little towns you ever did see! (In my opinion and the opinion of many others!)

We stayed in Seagrove which is kind of in the middle. This allowed us to explore some of the more popular areas like Seaside and Rosemary, without being around ALL the crowds. (and it saved us a little money as well). We airbnb’ed our stay and rented a cute little one bedroom cottage about 2 blocks from the beach. We had no ocean view, but that was just fine because we got plenty of that sitting ON the beach. The water was just so clear! Like bath water really and the shallows went out pretty far – which makes this a very family friendly spot.

We rented chairs and an umbrella for the week, and that might have been the best money spent. Neither one of us were particularly tan before we went so having the shade umbrella allowed us to spend more time at the beach without fear of getting too much sun. It also meant we didn’t have to lug chairs and an umbrella back and forth to the beach, or worry about jockeying for prime position. We had a front row seat to the sand and surf for all of our stay but the first day!

swimsuit

The beaches are crowded this time of year, but not so crowded that you can’t get around at all. And, not so crowded that you can’t get in the water. At least where we were it wasn’t. We were there for two weekends (one being Memorial Day weekend) and those were definitely more crowded, but still tolerable.

Hubby’s swim trunks / My swimsuit

We didn’t do a whole lot outside of sitting on the beach, eating, and a little bit of shopping. Which is my idea of a perfect vacation! We read a lot, talked a lot, and just genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. And, after 25 years of marriage I would consider that a huge win!!

Did I mention the trip was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!?!? Our anniversary fell on the second day of our trip. On this day we drove a little farther to Destin, to eat at one of our favorite restaurants on the beach – The Back Porch. So yummy!!

I found these adorable shirts at Old Navy believe it or not! What are the chances that they had the year we were married printed on shirts – for both men and women?? Corny or cute?? Hubby loved them so that’s all that matters!!

Her 1994 tee(looks like it’s sold out 🙁 )/ His 1994 tee

Seaside is cute, but oh so crowded. I actually preferred the vibe in Rosemary a lot better. It just seemed a little more laid back, even though I’m pretty sure there were just as many people there as there were in Seaside. I had heard about the bicycles in everyone’s talk of the area, so I was not surprised to see so many people riding bikes from here to there, and just for fun.

What I was surprised by were the golf carts! They are everywhere! This is how people got from wherever they were staying to wherever they were going – the beach, the store, dinner, whatever. Crazy!! Of course the speed limit was like 30mph so it wasn’t really a problem for the rest of us in cars, lol.

The other thing that surprised us – the cost of food. We only saw one fast food chain the whole time we were there – Subway, and everything else was a little on the pricey side, even for a burger and fries. So, just keep that in mind if you’re going. Normally, if we would have had the family, I might have done more cooking for dinner, but being it was just the two of us we ate breakfast and lunch in – super simple, and then ate out for dinner every night. Don’t get me wrong, we ate LOTS of really good food, oh and plenty of Key Lime Pie!! (I’m on a mission to learn how to make my own key lime pie btw – stayed tuned for that. Oh, and if you have a good recipe, feel free to send it my way!)

We had the best time, and we are already planning our trip back. Hoping to bring other people with us! Hmmmm, should we bring adult friends or the family???? Either way….can’t wait!!

Have you been to 30A? What’s your favorite spot or your favorite thing to do?? Remember I said we’re going back, so I’m still taking notes!