SEACREST BEACH

Spectacular new Gulf front residence recently completed by Velvet Sun Builders. 7,570 Sq. Ft. | 6 Bedrooms | 7 Full & 2 Half Baths Listed & SOLD By The Beach Group $10,1110,672

SEACREST BEACH

Seacrest Beach is casually upscale, making it easy for guests to find endless relaxation. Turn off your phone and forget about your emails as you explore all that Seacrest has to offer. The area’s legendary sugar-white sand and turquoise water are only part of what makes Seacrest a true getaway.

For more information on properties available in SEACREST BEACH contact The Beach Group 850.231.9007

352 SEABREEZE CIRCLE

2,428 SF | 4 Bedrooms | 31/2 Baths #862592 | $1,295,000

This 4 bedroom 3.5 half bath home built in 2015 with 3,339 total square footage is located in the nonrental 30-A neighborhood of Seabreeze on over a half-acre private lot with mature oak, magnolia and palm trees and backs to a creek. The grounds are meticulously landscaped. The property has a paver driveway, walkway and patio, and a large lanai with a pool plus has an oversized two car garage.The home has a light and bright open floor plan with ample windows overlooking the beautiful screened lanai and pool area. This additional outdoor living space, al fresco dining and is a grillers paradise allowing you to enjoy the natural serene surroundings and open-air living at its best! All this plus the Seabreeze community has a private deeded beach access along with access to Camp Creek. This home truly allows you to enjoy all that this area has to offer! This size lot is few and far between. A must see! Your private oasis awaits!

Western Lake

SoWal Sunsets WaterSound Beach

Sunrise along Florida’s 30-A doesn’t sneak up on

Syou, it teases its arrival in mellow hues of tangerine, pinks, coral and eventually a brilliant white-gold as it peeks over the eastern horizon, light beams soaring to a cloud-flecked sky. God’s morning photo opp. Beyond this wake-up lightshow that never gets old, sunrise signals a new beginning, an opportunity for fresh adventure, a beckoning to get out and explore. It’s a great way to start the day on 30-A. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, 30-A and its fun and funky vibe can’t be fully experienced in a single day, either. Or even two or three. Or maybe ever. That’s because 30-A evolves and flourishes with each rising sun. Every day is new, different, maybe even better. It’s perhaps best to treat the time you have on 30-A like a finely crafted cocktail – equal parts adventure, fun, exploring, relaxing, tasting and savoring. Bartender, I’ll have another!

Is there one perfect way and one perfect day to see 30-A? No. There are infinite ways. So much to see, so much to do, so little time. Here’s one way to do it …

Rise early and plan to spend the entire day cruising along the 24-mile, two-lane ribbon that is 30-A from Inlet Beach on the east end to Miramar Beach on the west. Or go westto-east, your choice. There are 15 different communities along this stretch, each with their own persona – from bourgeois to Boho, all of them beachy and breezy in their own eminently likeable way. You could travel by car but the ideal way to explore 30-A is to hop aboard an e-bike rental from Pedego Electric Bikes. [And be sure it has a basket because you will undoubtedly do a little shopping along the way.] Bike-friendly Timpoochee Trail parallels 30-A from end to end. Pedal when you wish, throttle when you want. E-bikes afford you the opportunity to enjoy the road most traveled, 30-A, and deviate to roads less traveled like the 200+ miles of Point Washington State Forest’s sandy trails. Begin your morning ride through the communities of Inlet Beach then Rosemary Beach. Take in Rosemary’s dramatic architecture that at once smacks of Vienna and The West Indies. Move along and grab a quick biscuit and smoothie at Raw & Juicy in the unique, master-planned village of Alys Beach, a stunning visage of whitewashed buildings, peaked rooftops and perfectly aligned palm beauties on both sides of 30-A. Move along through tidily kept Seacrest, marvel at the meandering dunes of WaterSound and arrive at Seagrove Beach, one of the earliest encampments in this once-secret area. Drop by Coast Hippie among the retro Shops of Old Seagrove and choose from t-shirts, hoodies, hats, drinkware and the like and let the world know you are truly a child of the coast. Then continue west a tad and take a little time to explore the streets and pavilions of Seaside where The Truman Show was filmed in 1998. Under the towering obelisk of Coleman Pavilion, snap a quick selfie against the glorious backdrop of the Gulf of Mexico. Rosemary Beach

Coastal Dune Lakes

Peer down Seaside’s foot trails and marvel at the Olde Florida architecture and palette of pastel hues. Grab a bottled water or hard-to-find soda pop and a homemade snack at Seaside’s Modica Market, a trip back in time to when grocery stores were quaint and quirky and staffed by people who knew your face and remembered your name. Next door is Watercolor with its tidy, bricked streets and lush parks and neighborhood greens. Grab a beverage at recently redesigned FOOW [Fish Out of Water] and enjoy sweeping gulf views. Stop by Beach Folly and shop for unique and stylish resort wear and accessories, or sit outside at The Wine Bar and watch the world go by. Now re-energized, take a quick spin through Watercolor and dream of lazy porches like these before continuing on Timpoochee Trail [generally just called “The Bike Trail”] over Western Lake with its unique and iconic tree canopy along the eastern shoreline. Time for another selfie. Soon, you’ll be in groovy ol’ Grayton Beach with its eclectic mix of aged cottages that would suck a paint brush out of your hand from three feet away sitting beside new beauties that soar above thickets of trees. Its shaded streets and rustic feel fit Grayton’s Bohemian, gypsy soul and the town clings hard to its 135-year-old roots. Park your bike and make the walk to water’s edge to drink in the serene beauty of one of America’s 10 most popular beaches, year in and year out, as determined by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, otherwise known as Dr. Beach. Park your posterior in the sand for a while [remember your sunscreen] and ponder what it would be like to live where so many others vacation. Grayton Beach is a hugely popular gathering spot for locals, including the lucky few who snag permits to drive their 4WD Land Cruisers onto the soft white sands, drop the tailgate and start the party, or simply chill under a nearby umbrella. In Grayton, you’ll also find the new-and-improved Red Bar in the heart of town, a culinary phoenix that rose from the ashes of a devastating fire in early 2019. Make a mental note and plan to eat dinner there later in your journey. It’s said Red Bar is “where strangers become friends and friends become family”. Indeed, it’s true. Move along now to Blue Mountain Beach, the highest point along the entire Gulf of Mexico at a mere 64’ in elevation. For a down-and-dirty locals hangout, stop by Johnny McTighe’s Irish Pub where, honestly, the only thing truly Irish is the warm spirit of the people who frequent. Or venture a bit further west and drop into Local Catch, a casual and welcoming favorite owned by former University of Alabama classmates, and offering tasty coastal cuisine with a Southern twist along with great live music on Sunday afternoons. Next up is Santa Rosa Beach. Though all of 30-A and its 32459 zip code are considered Santa Rosa Beach by the USPS, the actual town of SRB [as it’s commonly abbreviated] is bifurcated by busy Highway 98 on the north and south sides, reaching all the way from the Gulf to Choctawhatchee Bay. The Hub

Gulf Place is another great place to explore. Slurp a dozen raw and sip a coldie or two at Shunk Gulley across from Ed Walline Regional Beach Access, one of three dozen public accesses along 30-A. Enjoy the unobstructed view of the glorious azure and emerald Gulf. Take a moment and mosey through the retail shops and artists’ kiosks of Gulf Place or simply laze on the grassy concert lawn until you’re ready to explore some more. We’re now officially headed for the quietest stretch of 30-A, the Western end, where Topsail Hill State Park can be found and explored. Take a Ranger-led tour of the natural life in the area and be amazed by the soaring white dunes that make it look like a Minnesota blizzard passed through overnight. At this point, the shadows are stretching and it’s time to head back to freshen up and prepare for, what else, evening cocktails or the locals’ tradition of Wine & Sunset at a friendly beach walkover anywhere along 30-A.

WaterColor FOOW A dinner decision is a conundrum, like a candy store to a kid. So many fine choices, ranging from family-friendly to fine and elegant fare … and everything in between. Eat at the iconic Bud & Alley’s in Seaside or Blue Mabel in Blue Mountain Beach or Old Florida Fish House along Eastern Lake under the trees in Seagrove Beach? Or maybe time-travel back to pre-Castro Cuba at Havana Beach Bar and Grill in The Pearl Hotel in Rosemary Beach. Alas, you’ve got something to chat about over those Happy Hour drinks and the good news is you can’t go wrong. Because there’s always tomorrow to try something new. You’ve now gotten “the lay of the land” and you have more days to enjoy your well-deserved vacay. Hmmm … will tomorrow be a great day to paddleboard? You bet it will, silly! Or maybe hop The Red Bar in a kayak, explore a local art gallery or two [nothing quite like Justin Gaffrey Gallery on the edge of Blue Mountain Beach], wander through a state park, or simply lounge the entire day away on the soft, quartz-white sands of a beckoning beach with a great book, a cooler of snacks and drinks, and not a care in the world. Remember, sunrise comes early in this corner of the Central Time Zone and, with it, a new opportunity to explore some more and take many, many more baby steps towards that dream of one day being known as “a local”.