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Wander over to picture-perfect south Walton County
Strictly speaking, the Beaches of South Walton run from just west of Panama City's high rises to the luxury hotels and maxi-malls of Sandestin by Choctawhatchee Bay.
But the heart of south Walton County's stunning string of world-class beaches and summer homes is County Road 30-A, 18 miles of nostalgia-inducing resort communities fitted around zealously guarded scrub acres and sea-oat-crowned sand dunes that make the area unmatched for gently managed nature in the Florida Panhandle.
Seaside, the state's original planned community of faux Victorian wooden cottages that has served as a template for numerous knockoffs since its early 1980s origins, may be the centerpiece for recapturing summer vacations your grandparents might remember. But more recent developments designed to cash in on that old-time atmosphere such as Seagrove Beach, WaterColor and Rosemary Beach have sprung up along a bustling little road that didn't even exist until the late 1950s.
At present, more than 14,500 rental units — most of them second homes or condos, with an estimated 65-percent to 85-percent occupancy during the summer months — are available along this part of the coast.
An amazing 70 restaurants — seven of them rated among the state's Top 200 by
Florida Trend magazine — make dining out a major activity.
Grayton Beach is a fascinating little community with century-old roots as one of North Florida's oldest tourist stops. Along with quaint beach cottages and great restaurants, it boasts Grayton Beach State Recreation Area, ranked among Florida's most popular because of its towering sand dunes, rare coastal lake and emerald-green Gulf water.
At the other end of the road, Rosemary Beach brings million-dollar-plus homes with a West Indies flavor. Watercolor Inn & Resort, an equally upscale destination and North Florida's only Four Diamond AAA hotel, brings everything to the table from rental homes to complimentary fly-fishing lessons. Seagrove Beach, second oldest of the beachside communities, goes for the laid-back crowd. And then there's Seaside, the town whose designers mandated that every house be constructed with native materials, have a front porch, picket fence and native landscaping. The result: Critics claim it's Disney by the Sea. Fans rave about features as the downtown Central Square and Amphitheater on the Green.
"It's like a work of art, well-kept, organized and clean," said artist/gallery owner R.R. Lyon. "I've traveled the world over, and the beaches here are very similar to the best you'd find in the Caribbean. Restaurants, art, the people — they're all just world-class."
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