Hey Guys!
My daughter decided she wanted a beach trip for her birthday so, she and I packed up and headed to our favorite beach town, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.
On the way, we made a quick stop at Buc-ees because she had never been before.
This mega gas station has everything….a bakery, hot sandwiches, jerky of all kinds, breakfast, home decor and snacks galore! They also have the cleanest bathrooms you will find at a gas station!
After driving for what seemed like forever, we finally made it to our VRBO property. The condo is located in the Rollin’ Tide Villas in Santa Rosa Beach.
This is the third time we have rented a property here and I would highly recommend them…they are in a great location. Not to mention, they are clean, quiet and very affordable!
Click here to read about our last stay in Santa Rosa Beach
The property has two bedrooms, one full bath, a full size kitchen and a living room.
Each condo has has either a balcony or a patio that overlooks the private pool.
After getting settled in we headed out to the famous Hwy 30A to eat dinner at a place called, Pickle’s.
It was only a 7 min drive from the condo.
We had eaten here the last time we visited and the food was really good.
See their menu here & read reviews here
We both ordered a burger since that’s what they are known for…I ordered the cheeseburger and my daughter ordered the fried pickle burger.
This time, we were not impressed…..the food came out in like literally 3 minutes so, we knew it wasn’t fresh. The fries were cold and the burger was very salty!
After dinner, we walked down to the beach…..we entered at the Coleman Pavilion near the Bud & Alley’s restaurant.
Click here for public beaches along Hwy 30A
The beaches in this part of Florida are gorgeous!
The sand is white as snow and the water is a beautiful emerald green!
I’ve been to Daytona Beach many times and the water and sand are both dirty looking….there’s just no comparison to the beaches in the Destin area!
Me and my daughter 🙂
We spent a few minutes strolling along the shoreline, letting the waves roll in at our feet.
Tip: At night, people will go to the beach to crab hunt
Later that evening, we headed out for some ice cream….ice cream is a must when on vacation! 😉
We found a place called, Pecan Jack’s ….it was less than 5 mins from the condo.
The inside was so cute!
Besides ice cream, they also had pralines, brittle, chocolates and more!
They had an extensive ice cream menu.
I ordered the Elvis….which was chocolate ice cream with peanut butter, bananas and marshmallows.
I thought it was way too sweet and ended up throwing half of it away.
Read reviews here
Later, we called it a night!
The next day, we woke up to thunderstorms…..you just never know what you will get with Florida weather!
We spent the majority of the day at the condo.
When we first arrived to Santa Rosa, we went and picked up a few things at a nearby Publix so we had lunch at the condo.
Tip: The nearest Publix is only 8 mins from the condo.
After the rain finally stopped around 2 pm, we decided to head to Grayton Beach State Park to spend a couple of hours on the beach.
Tip: There is a small fee to enter this park
Besides the gorgeous stretch of beach located inside the park, you can also hike unique trails through the dunes, see rare coastal dune lakes, kayak, fish, picnic, and more! It’s a great place to spend your day!
Click here for 20 things to do while in Santa Rosa Beach
Relaxing on the beach
We spotted this plane flying over the ocean
The one thing I love about this beach, it never felt very crowded! I am not a fan of crowds.
After our beach time, we decided to order dinner from a restaurant that we had eaten at before called, Angelina’s Pizzeria & Pasta.
We decided to order online and go pick it up since we didn’t feel like getting dressed to go out.
The restaurant is located 1 min (or a 5 min walk) from the condo.
I ordered the chicken pesto pasta and my daughter ordered the lobster ravioli.
The food was pretty good.
Read reviews here
After dinner, we headed to a nearby coffee shop called, Turbo Coffee.
This place was beside the Pecan Jack’s ice cream shop that we had visited the night before….so, it was very close to our condo.
The inside of the coffee shop
I ordered the honey nut latte and my daughter ordered the cinnamon toast latte.
The coffees were delicious!!
Read reviews here
Later that evening, we decided to walk to the beach to watch the sunset.
The beach access was about a 5 min walk from our condo.
Click here to read about the best places to watch the sunset
Once we waked outside, we knew it was going to be a beautiful sunset….just look at this sky!
Unfortunately, once we made it to beach, the sun was mostly already set and obscured by the clouds.
But, it was still beautiful nonetheless!
I mean, is there ever a bad sunset when you’re at the beach? 😉
Later, we called it night!
Stay tuned for Days 3 & 4!
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