We are back from spring break with a major vacation hangover from one of our best family trips to date. I have been to Florida many times, but never to THIS area. We booked a trip to visit 30A, Florida. 30 WHAT? Exactly my question when, ours friends, who are moving to the area, invited us along to check out their new digs. “30A” is a 30-mile stretch of white sand beach between Panama City and Destin, Florida. It’s lined with quaint little beach towns brimming with local eateries and shops. Each town has it’s own personality, but they all share a small town feel that will make you never want to leave. As mentioned, we traveled with good friends that are building a new home in one of the many new developments in this area. Lucky for us, we got to reap the benefits of their already VERY WELL planned trip. Here we go.

Accommodations

We stayed in Watercolor, one of the many adorable beach towns along 30A. They used a company called 360 Blue which handles many of the vacation rentals in this area. Our exact rental we stayed in is here, but there are hundreds within several communities within Watercolor. They book up fast, especially during peak times. We stayed in a house with two other families and it worked out perfectly, with 3 master bedrooms, a double twin bunk room and another bedroom with two twin beds. When you stay in one of the Watercolor communities, you have access to all their amenities, including pools, tennis, pickle ball, bocce and of course, the Watercolor Beach Club. This was walking distance or a short bike ride from our rental. Each rental comes with different things. Our rental came with 5 bikes, but we rented more so everyone had one. We also rented a 6-seater golf cart which we needed with little kids and beach gear. A car was only needed a couple times during the week for various errands/outings. Our daily trips to the pools, beaches and restaurants were all done by golf cart/bikes which added so much charm to the trip. Don’t forget to pack a fanny pack or crossbody purse you can bike with. I traveled with, and wore this belt bag the whole trip. It was so handy. Pun intended. Photo overload here, but everything there is so picturesque, so, I did what it called for.

A couple logistics: You get a pool/beach pass to the Watercolor Beach Club if you are renting within the Watercolor Community but you will need to reserve (and pay for) the actual the beach chairs and umbrellas. Due to Covid, there were no beach towels available. We knew this ahead of time and packed thin, quick dry towels for the whole family and we used them daily. We already owned these Nomadix towels that we use for our beaches back home. They were perfect. Other more affordable options we’ve used for camping trips here. I also recommend a big bag for towels since you will need them just about everywhere you go. I fell in love with these large neoprene style bags on this trip. I linked another similar, more affordable option here, in a fun camo/stripe print.

Eateries

Bring your elastic pants because eating is a way of life in these parts. We made a couple reservations at the more popular restaurants at night. But for the most part, we just did walk-in or walk-up to one of the many eateries in town. Or we ate poolside at the beach club or picked from one of the many incredible food trucks that line the beach walk. I will give details and links of where we ate in the next section since it was such a big part of our trip.

Agenda & Activities

Day One

We traveled from the west coast this day, so we landed only in time for dinner. Which did not disappoint. The Perfect Pig in Watercolor was our first stop. And ‘Praise the Lard’ this place was excellent. It’s biking distance from our rental community. They have several locations in the Seaside area, so be sure you don’t go to the wrong one, like we did. Add that to your cross country travel day for extra excitement :)

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Day Two-

Waking up with coffee on the porch to watch the bikes ride by was my favorite morning routine. And now I want a porch. This was our first full day so we explored the Watercolor community. We chose the Camp Watercolor Pool to start. They have a lazy river, big water slides for the kids and a kickin’ poolside bar for the adults. From there we went to the beach club at the Watercolor Inn. Ate some more, drank some more. The food trucks are an iconic part of the Watercolor beach walk. This is foodie heaven with loads of options. We soon learned that the days run right in to the nights. Vacation mode is ON.

Day Three

We explored other areas of Santa Rosa Beach and checked out some of the new developments along the way. So many! As a Californian, my mind was blown at how much beach is still not developed and the beautiful new homes going in. Eye candy if you love all things HOME. We ate beachside at Shunk Gulley Oyster Bar which had great seafood/oysters (and the perfect bloody mary).

Parent’s night out, we drove through Alys Beach to get to dinner. This is a MUST SEE. Gorgeous upscale town that is immaculate. Dinner was at Pesacdo. Marvelous. They only take reservations upstairs (which I’m told are hard to get). But worth the effort (of my friend who did all the work- ha). The view, service and food was amazing. We took our show downstairs to their live piano bar who took our requests until IT WAS TIME.

Day Four-

BEACH DAY! We reserved beach chairs and umbrellas for our group. This is a TREAT. The white sand beaches and green waters did not quit. We ate at Watercolor Inn overlooking the beach for lunch. The kids went from the pool to the beach and back again all day long. Parents did the same, making necessary pit stops at the pool and beach side bars conveniently sprinkled throughout the property. This would be a FANTASTIC hotel option.

Day Five

Last full day in paradise for us. It’s hard to pick a highlight on this trip, but this day had to be one of them. We kicked it off with lunch at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar located on the pier over looking the water in Destin (45 minute drive without traffic- longer with-HA). From that same location we rented Pontoon Boats to Crab Island. There were floating tiki bars with rows of pontoon boats anchored in shallow green waters. Easily one of the best things we did. P.S. Make your reservations ahead of time. Our rental time was 1:30-5:30 pm.

After we were done, we explored Harborwalk Village where the kids went zip lining (they LOVED this), rock-wall climbing, games, ice cream, shopping. That night we got burgers from Grayton Brewery which is a great spot back near our rental in Watercolor. THAT was a day, and one the kids are still talking about.

Day Six

Long travel day home and cry into my laundry piles.

Other random travel factoids:

Weather: Pack your sunscreen/hats- weather was perfect. Mid 70’s, not humid by Florida standards, but my hair disagreed. We had some morning showers, but always warm. We saw lots of sun-burned tourists walking around.
Bugs: And we not need bug spray. Not sure if we just got lucky or that time of year just hadn’t come yet? Either way, it was a NON-issue.
Airport: We flew into Panama City but Destin is just as close on the other side. Both are about 45 minutes away without traffic.
Ubers/Lyft- We did not have much luck here. We tried a couple times to no avail. We either biked/golf carted or drove ourselves. So plan accordingly.