Rosemary Beach – as great as it’s ever been!

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:05:23 +0000

My family is currently vacationing in Rosemary beach. I booked the vacation about eight months ago , so I naturally had a little trepidation in light of the BP oil disaster – vacations are not supposed to be so stressful. But after a lot of assurances from friends on the Panhandle, we kept our reservations. It was the right decision. The water is crystal clear and beaches are white. I wouldn’t know there was problem except for what I’ve read in the newspaper; apparently the oil has stayed to the West.

I’ll keep you posted on some of the activities and our favorite restaurants.

Rosemary Beach Florida

Administrator — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:48:51 +0000

I’m currently on vacation in Rosemary Beach Florida. It’s the third, annual time our family has vacationed here, so I guess you could say it’s become our spot. It’s a 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive from Atlanta. The Florida panhandle has some beautiful white sand beaches and the relatively short drive makes it a great Atlanta family destination.

Once you get into Florida, you can approach Rosemary from the east or the west. I suggest the eastern approach, through Panama City Beach. Once you’ve driven by twenty airbrush shops, fifty bars and an infinite number of mullet “hairstyles,” you’ll appreciate Rosemary’s serenity all the more. Rosemary beach is located on scenic Route 30-A, which is an 18-mile road that hugs the coastline (Gulf of Mexico) in Northwest Florida, between Panama City Beach and Destin.

In Atlanta, you’ll hear a lot of folks talk about vacationing on 30-A or in SoWal (South Walton County). While there are a number of beach communities on this strip, the most prominent ones are Rosemary Beach, Seagrove Beach, Seaside, Watercolor and Santa Rosa Beach.

While we love the entire 30-A strip, for it’s beauty and relative lack of commercialism, we like Rosemary Beach the best. It’s an idyllic community, where people ride Schwinn bikes, children play in the town square and folks engage in conversation with their neighbors; even if they are just neighbors for a week. The community is designed in a unique Dutch West Indies architecture and the layout of the town encourage pedestrian traffic, where nothing, including the beach, is more than a five-minute walk away. There are no high-rise buildings, everything is done in earth tones, with much consideration to the native environment.

There are always activities for the family. Every Thursday night (8:15) from May-August, family movies are played on a big screen on the “green” by the beach – what a background! It also seems like every Sunday evening there is a bluegrass band that plays outside the town auditorium. It’s wonderful time to walk around the town square, watching kids play and listening to live music.

We think the best values are “the flats”, which are basically the condominiums. While they are the farthest point from the beach, it’s still a short walk. The condos are the all the same floor plan: 2 bedroom and 2 bath, so it fits our family perfectly. We are friends with the owners of the condo we stay at, and are quite happy with the quality of the bed, the furniture and decorations. I suggest looking at photos on the internet, as furnishings can vary widely. Our condo is on the bottom floor, which hasn’t been a problem in the past, but I’m currently wondering whether a gymnastics or a sumo wrestling tournament is being held in the condo above us. It might be time to look at a top level condominium for our next trip. There are also some great homes for rent, and we’ve thought about sharing one with another family of friends.

Nothing beats the sugary sand at Rosemary. This is only a few miles from Greyton beach, which was named the top beach in the country a couple of years ago, and for a good reason. The water is crystal clear, unlike other areas of Florida. The crystal clear water and beautiful sand beaches reminds me of our other favorite vacation destination, Harbour Island, Bahamas.

If you tire of the beach, there are four pools to choose from, including an indoor pool. I’ve never had a problem finding a chair to sit in, which is not the same as other resort pools where they pack guests in like vienna sausages.

Here are some thoughts on restaurants in the area:

Last night we ate at a new restaurant in Rosemary Beach called Restaurant Paradis. They are currently running a great special, 1/2 price entrees if you eat between 5 and 6 pm. Which meant Chuck’s $37 filet mignon was only $18.50. While the special brought us into the restaurant, I would eat there in the future at full price. The food was great and it’s probably the best decorated restaurant on 30-A. It has a really cool and hip atmosphere. I ordered the grouper and my husband ordered the filet, both of us really enjoyed our meals.

Wild Olives – Rosemary Beach – This seems to be the most popular restaurant in Rosemary Beach. It started out as a deli and has evolved into a lot more sophisticated restaurant. I’ve never had a bad meal here. Their pastries are “to die for” as his donuts, muffins and cookies are the best I’ve ever had anywhere. The service here can be a little slow, even relative to other in-season restaurants.

Captain Anderson’s – Panama City Beach – While I poke fun at Panama City, it’s because you “kid” the ones you love. The truth is Panama City is a great place to take the children for go-carting, miniature golf or water parks. They also have some great restaurants that have stood the test of time. Captain Anderson’s has been synonymous with fresh, gulf coast fish for over 30 years. I must say I wasn’t that impressed with Captain Anderson’s this year. Chuck’s grilled fish did have a disclaimer, that it was made the “Greek way”, which means lots of oil. But my dish, the stuffed grouper, was way too oily and I found myself only able to eat about half of my meal. It just didn’t taste right. Both of our dishes were mediocre.

Goatfeathers – Santa Rosa Beach – We both had great meals here. My stuffed grouper was awesome, nowhere near as oily as Captain Anderson’s. Chuck enjoyed his fried Mahi Mahi, as it was lightly battered and flash fried. All the food was very fresh. While the line was long, 40 minute wait, it was worth it. Goatfeathers has been in business since 1988 and it’s because they do unpretentious, fresh seafood very well. I’d recommend this place for casual seafood and we’ll be eating here on our next trip. We were actually going to eat at Stinky’s that night, it’s just a little further west on 30-A, but their parking lot was so packed, and such a cluster, that it looked like the fall of Saigon. We decided not to enter that mess and head to Goatfeathers, where a 40 minute wait seemed relatively reasonable. I’ve eaten at Stinky’s before, liked it, but think it’s overrated. I liked Goatfeathers better.

Seagrove Marketcafe – Seagrove Beach – I love a place with short menu, but everything is great. Sometimes the restaurant that recognizes its limitations is the best place to eat. I’m always wary of a place with a 10 page menu; do they just pull everything out of the freezer? The Market Cafe makes a great, fresh grouper sandwich. That’s what I get each time I eat there and I’m always happy. I hear they also make a wonderful, hand-patted, fresh-meat burger. I think it’s a travesty when restaurants win “Best Burger” awards and they use frozen hamburger patties. I can think of a couple of burger joints in Atlanta, always at the top of the “Best Of” lists, that use frozen patties from the local restaurant supply wholesaler; great marketing can do wonders.

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Rosemary Beach – as great as it’s ever been!

Rosemary Beach Florida