If you follow me on the ole IG, you might have noticed me blowing up your feed and stories with our beautiful and amazing adventures in Seaside a few weeks ago. (And if you don’t follow me on IG, come say hi!! @dancingbackwardsinhighheels) This is one of my favorite vacations in recent memory, so I’m excited to share all of the details with you here!
I grew up in central FL, but we never ventured up to the panhandle because it’s quite a far drive and we had beaches within an hour of us where we lived. I first experienced Destin and the surrounding beaches when I was in college at FSU and I was completely blown away! The sand is insanely white and powder fine, and the water is much prettier and clearer than the rest of FL. In my opinion, the FL panhandle has the prettiest beaches outside of the Caribbean!
I remember in college driving through Watercolor, Seaside and down 30A and thinking they were adorable little family towns. Not exactly what we were looking for at the time, but I always envisioned coming back one day with a family of my own – and now we were actually doing it! I was beyond excited.
We actually planned our trip in conjunction with a reunion weekend with my college friends in Tallahassee, so we flew in there and enjoyed the football game on Saturday. Then on Sunday we drove over to Seaside (about a 2 hour drive).
Lodging
I knew we wanted to stay in either Seaside or Watercolor so that we could walk or bike to everything in the Seaside area. I’d always heard Watercolor was more expensive and mostly large houses that are better if you have a larger group. It was only our little family (2 adults and 1 toddler) so I figured we’d end up in Seaside. But as I was looking it appeared to be basically the same cost for a tiny house in Seaside (truly tiny…1 bedroom carriage houses that were like 800 square feet or less) or a 2 bedroom condo in Watercolor where we’d have access to all of their resort neighborhood amenities (several pools, beach club, water park, bikes). I felt that the amenities at Watercolor would be really nice with a toddler, so that’s what we decided to do! This is the condo we ended up staying in, and I highly recommend it if you don’t need a ton of space. The location was awesome – just steps from the Beach Club and pool (and also the nice restaurant in Watercolor, Fish Out Of Water), which was so convenient with a little guy that still naps. It was right above some shops, which was nice for browsing, and right across the street from a little wine bar. And it was right near the entrance to Watercolor that is closest to the Seaside town square, so only about 5 blocks from all the action there (easy walk or bike ride). The condo came with 2 bikes, so we just rented a little trailer to go behind for Hudson from Bamboo Bicycle Company. They were awesome – the trailer was set up with our bike when we arrived and we just left it there when we departed and they came and picked it up. We also rented a pack n play from them for Hudson, but found out after we arrived that the condo actually already had one. The condo we rented is managed by Dune Vacation Rentals and they were so great to work with – got us into our place early the day we checked in, even though other guests had checked out that morning. Other great rental agencies to look at for Seaside and Watercolor are Cottage Rental Agency and 360 Blue. Often times the rates are better if you book directly through them instead of through AirBnB or VRBO.
Activities
One of the best things about this vacation was that I didn’t overplan. I have a tendency to toe that line with vacations, because I get excited to experience a new place and want to see all that it has to offer. But this vacation was specifically about just relaxing and enjoying family time at the beach, and Seaside was perfect for that! There were plenty of options of activities with the beach, the town and the amenities at Watercolor, so I knew we’d have plenty to do if/when we wanted to, but no need to specifically plan anything!
For the most part we would either cook breakfast at the condo or bike over to Seaside to grab something from the coffee shop there, then spend our morning either at the Beach Club (beach and pool) or at Camp Watercolor (the water park within Watercolor that has pools with water slides and a lazy river). We usually had lunch where ever we were (both places have food options), and then would head home early afternoon for Hudson to nap. Luke was happy to hang inside (and cool off a bit!) during Hudson’s nap, which meant I could go have a little relaxing alone time reading on the beach or browsing the shops. Then after Hudson’s nap we would spend a few hours in mid to late afternoon doing which ever activity we didn’t do in the morning. It was perfect for us with a toddler!
We spent every evening after dinner on the beach for the sunset. They were absolutely gorgeous here! We watched from Seaside Beach and Watercolor Beach, as well as from the deck at Fish Out Of Water which overlooks Watercolor Beach.
Eating
There are lots of great dining options within a 5 block radius in Seaside and Watercolor. We walked or biked everywhere! Hudson absolutely loved the bike rides in his little trailer. In fact, biking through the Watercolor neighborhoods and looking at the beautiful houses was a favorite for all of us!
Here are the restaurants we went to and recommend:
Great Southern Cafe (dinner and brunch – highly recommend the Grits Ya Ya) – and B.F.F. walk up bar right next door for frose as you stroll around Seaside square
Fish Out Of Water – This is the restaurant in Watercolor at the Beach Club. The deck overlooks the beach with a beautiful sunset view and live music every night. We had dinner here our last night and Hudson had the BEST time dancing to the music.
Armavida coffee – Great coffee and breakfast sandwiches in Seaside square
Seaside Airstream Food Trucks – The most adorable food trucks you’ve ever seen – old airstreams! These line Seaside square and offer some great, affordable, casual options. We tried the Meltdown (grilled cheese) and the BBQ spot and both were great! We also enjoyed the snow cones one night which was a fun treat.
Bud n Alley’s – A staple in Seaside, this restaurant is right on the beach. We heard the food wasn’t anything special, but the view from the upstairs bar was, so we stopped by during happy hour for a quick sip, and the recommendations on the view were spot on!
Cocina Cubana – This was a new spot in Seaside that was just opening when we were there. They only had their sandwiches (and not their full menu) at the time, but Luke had one and really enjoyed it. They have bowls on their menu that look amazing, so I’d say definitely worth a try!
Chiringa in Grayton Beach – We found this amazing spot in adorable Grayton Beach the day before we left, but I wish we’d found it sooner! Such a cool vibe and amazing food. Will definitely check out Grayton Beach more on our next visit! A little over 2 miles from Watercolor, so you could bike here as well!
Shopping
Seaside Cabana – adorable outdoor cabana shops with great accessories, women’s clothes and jewelry
Seaside Style (also has a maternity/baby store) – for all of your Seaside branded needs (the Seaside logo happens to be a dachshund, so you know I was loving it!)
Duckie’s – fun kids store in Seaside square
ONO Surf Shop – Hudson found a cute new hat here
Watercolor store – for all of our Watercolor branded needs, along with other cute gift items (and we scored an adorable little pair of Haviana flip flops for Hudson at half off!)
Groceries: Publix right outside one of the entrances to Watercolor and Modica Market in Seaside square
Time of Year
I highly recommend planning your trip when it is not high season there. We went the weekend after Labor Day and it wasn’t crowded at all, which was so nice, plus you get better prices on lodging and likely airfare if you’re flying!
It was still blazing hot when we were there, so I think for future trips we’d probably look at spring (but specifically avoiding Spring Break) or further into the fall (late Sept or into Oct).
Getting There
It is quite a drive to get to the FL panhandle from Charlotte for us (9+ hours), and I am NOT big on long car trips, so we flew. As I mentioned, we flew into Tallahasee and spent the weekend there first and then drove over to Destin (about 2 hours), but if you’re just going to the 30a area, you can fly into Destin (VPS). They have direct flights from Charlotte on American, as well as from many other major cities. Allegiant Air also flies into Destin direct from several cities (including Charlotte).
It really isn’t necessary to have a car while you’re there, but Seaside is about an hour drive from the Destin airport. There are car services and of course Uber and Lyft. If you do have a car, you can always explore more of 30a, but we were plenty busy for our 4-day stay just checking out Seaside and Watercolor!
Thanks for coming along on our trip with us! I hope you’re able to visit yourself someday and experience this wonderful little paradise!
Xo,
Shannon
