Hey Guys!
My hubby and I recently spent 3 nights in Seaside, FL.
Seaside is located approx. 45 mins from Destin and 45 mins from Panama City Beach.
We left out on Sat, Sept 23rd for the 8 hr drive.
As we were driving, we spotted a hot air balloon flying over the interstate!
For breakfast, we decided to stop at Buc-ees in Athens, AL.
These stores are huge and their food is really good!
The employees preparing food.
I purchased the bacon, egg & cheese biscuit while my hubby got the sausage, egg & cheese biscuit.
After eating our breakfast, we continued our drive.
We passed lots of cotton fields along the way!
Cotton is grown in 59 of Alabama’s 67 counties. Alabama ranks ninth in the US for cotton production.
We arrived to our condo around 3 pm.
I had actually booked this condo through Travelocity but it was a VRBO property.
The condo was located at the Rollin Tide Villas.
After arriving, we realized we had stayed here before almost 20 yrs ago!
We really like this complex because it only has 25-30 units that are in a U-shape and all the balconies and patios face the pool.
It is so quiet here and only about half the units were occupied.
We entered our condo with a code the owner had provided.
We stayed in unit A8 on the second floor. The condo had one bedroom, one bathroom, a full size kitchen, living room and a balcony.
It was really nice and clean!
The owner provided towels (no beach towels), washcloths, toilet paper and one roll of paper towels. She did not provide any soap, shampoo, lotion or conditioner. This seems to be common with VRBO properties.
My sister and her husband had also booked a unit here the same time we did and their unit was directly across the pool from us in unit C8…so, when we sat out on our balconies, we could see each other!
Later that evening, we headed to dinner with my sister & her husband.
We decided to eat at the nearby Old Florida Fish House.
You can make reservations but we just showed up around 5:00 pm and got seated right away.
We were seated at a table outside
Tip: You had to valet park if you parked in their gravel parking lot….it was complimentary but I don’t like other people driving my vehicle.
I felt the menu was limited and the food was expensive!
We started out with the house made smoked tuna dip.
It was delicious!
For my main course, I ordered the Grouper Fish House which was grouper, shrimp, crab meat, smashed potatoes and vegetables and the hubby ordered the ribeye with the smashed potatoes and vegetables.
The food was pretty good but, for what we paid, it wasn’t worth it!
The waitress also didn’t give us a receipt, she just told us what our bill was …we’ve never had anyone do that before!
Read reviews here
After dinner, we headed to a place near Bud & Alley’s restaurant to watch the sunset.
The parking for this area is a bit of a challenge as you will need to follow the signs for public parking and then download an app to pay for parking.
After getting parked, we headed to the Coleman Pavilion.
This is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Seaside… so, as you can imagine, it was crowded!
Tip: Click here to read about all the unique pavilions along 30a
You can’t access this beach during the day without having to pay…we were honestly shocked how they have made most of the beach inaccessible here!
Read reviews for this beach here
Tip: Read here about the public & private beaches in this area
The beaches in this area are gorgeous!
The sand is sugar white and the water is crystal clear!
The sunsets here are truly amazing!
A shot of my sister & her husband
Me and my hubby
We stayed to watch the sun sink into the ocean!
After watching the sunset, we decided to walk around and check out the area.
Near the pavilion is where you will find airstream row.
Airstream row is a row of airstreams that have been converted to food trucks.
They offer all kinds of food from hamburgers to grilled cheese and hotdogs!
After passing the food trucks, we spotted Dawson’s Yogurt...so, we decided to try it out.
I ordered the cookies & cream in a cup sprinkled with m&m’s….so good!
Read reviews here
After our ice cream, we called it a night!
The next morning, my hubby decided to head to the pool for a while before we headed out for the day.
We had the pool to ourselves most of the time we were here!
Later, we headed to airstream row to have breakfast.
We decided on crepes at the Crepes du Soleil.
I ordered the Bonjour Breakfast crepe which was filled with eggs, tomatoes, bacon, shredded potatoes, swiss cheese and kale.
My hubby decided on a grilled cheese at the Meltdown food truck.
The food was good but I’ve made better grilled cheese! 😉
After we ate, we decided to head to the beach at the nearby Grayton Beach State Park.
There is a $5 fee to enter the park.
Tip: Click here to read about other state parks in this area
After getting parked, we decided to hike the nearby Dune Lake Trail.
The nature trail is approximately one-mile long through widlflower fields, massive dunes, oak and magnolia hammocks, and shady forest underneath the SoWal pines.
You will also see rare coastal dune lakes!
Walton County is home to 15 named coastal dune lakes along 26 miles of coastline.
These lakes are a natural phenomenon and are only found in Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Oregon, and here in Walton County!
The lakes are fed from several freshwater sources such as rainfall, groundwater and streams but once the lake rises too high, water will travel from the lake to the Gulf of Mexico in channels called outfalls mixing with saltwater….the two types of water mix to form brackish water.
There are 3 coastal dune lakes located in this park: Alligator Lake, Little Redfish Lake and Western Lake.
On this trail, you will also walk through a cool tree canopy!
You can rent kayaks and paddle boards and hang out in the lakes but I prefer the crystal clear water at the beach!
After walking the trail, we walked over to the beach.
I spotted a sea turtle nest on the beach!
Grayton Beach is one of the most pristine beaches in Florida!
It looks like Caribbean water!
After spending some time on the beach, we decided to drive to the Alys Beach area.
Alys beach is known for it’s stark white Mediterranean style buildings that will have you thinking you are in a Greek Village not Florida!
The 158-acre community includes 1,500 feet of beach front and a 20-acre nature preserve.
After arriving, we passed the cool looking Havana Beach Bar & Grill.
This area is very upscale and nothing is cheap here!
After getting turned around and not being able to find where to park, we decided to head back to Seaside!
After arriving back to Seaside, we stopped at a nearby Publix to pick up a few things…once we were there, we decided to pick up some sushi and have that for lunch!
We get tired of eating out every meal when we are on vacation so, it’s nice to just eat something in our room!
I took these picture from a magazine that was in our condo of some things to do in the area and a map of the different communities along 30a.
After lunch, we all decided to head to the pool for a while.
Once again, we were the only ones at the pool!
Later that evening, we headed back to the area where the food trucks and the shopping is located to have dinner.
My hubby, sister & brother in law opted for a burger at Pickles while I headed to the Shrimp Shack for a lobster roll!
My lobster roll was delicious but I didn’t even notice that the price said “market price” and after I ordered the roll and a side of potato salad, it was $54 with tip!!
See their menu here & read reviews here
After I ordered my food, I walked over to Pickles to eat with the rest of my crew.
My hubby said his burger and fried pickle spears were really good!
Read reviews here
After dinner, we walked over to a nearby pavilion to watch the sunset.
It was another incredible sunset!!
We then walked down to the beach to enjoy the cool breeze.
The moonlight reflecting on the water was so cool!
We turned our phone flashlights on and tried to spot the ghost crabs!
They were running all over the beach!
A shot of my sister and her husband 
After leaving the beach, we headed to find some ice cream.
A shot of Coleman Pavilion
We found a different place this time called, It’s Heavenly.
I ordered a scoop of the rocky road and it was so good!
Read reviews here
After our ice cream, we called it a night!
The next morning, we spent time at the condo relaxing before heading out later in the day for lunch.
Once again, we decided to eat at the food trucks.
This time we ate at Gyro Hero.
I ordered the Gyro Platter that came with gyro meat, rice, pita bread and 2 sides….I choose the hummus and a salad.
My husband chose the pita with fries.
The food was really good!
Read reviews here
After lunch, we headed back to Grayton Beach State Park to spend the day.
We loved this beach…it was so beautiful!
It does get crowded though so get here early because parking is limited!
Shots of the beach
Read reviews here
Thankfully, we had an umbrella to sit under because it was so hot!
One thing I noticed about the beaches here, there aren’t many sea birds flying around.
We did see a lot of pelicans though!
Taking pictures of the waves rolling in.
After spending about 3 hrs here, we decided to head back to the condo.
A shot of one of the coastal dune lakes as we were leaving..
Later that evening, my hubby and I made a charcuterie board for dinner.
We then walked to the beach from the condo.
It was so peaceful.
Once again, I was able to take some cool shots of the moonlight reflecting off the water.
I could see a couple of bonfires on the beach.
There are a few companies around Seaside that will set up picnics & bonfires for you on the beach.
You can set up a bonfire yourself but you will need to purchase a $50 permit and you can’t start the fire on the sand…the wood has to be contained in a pit.
After spending about an hour on the beach, we headed back to our condo and called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for my next post on New Orleans!
Click here to see all of my blog posts over the last 5 years!