• Family,  Food,  Travel

    What to do at Seagrove Beach

    A vacation to Seagrove Beach is a trip packed with fun! My family recently stayed at this beautiful 30A community and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. With lots of free activities, plenty of eating options, and gorgeous water, Seagrove Beach is a fantastic vacation destination.

    The waters off of 30A are beautiful!

    Where to Stay

    AirBnB and VRBO are my two go-to sites for vacation rentals. I am uncertain if AirBnB still does this trick but in the past if you “favorite” a location then come back to it later, the site will increase the price. I have learned to keep a running, written list of houses I like then go back and type in their description in order to avoid the price increase. On one hand, the fees are ridiculous but on the other hand, there are several whole house rental options that are a good fit for my family’s needs.

    I do strongly encourage you to read the reviews left by previous guests. Do not only read one or two reviews – do a deep dive to see what a place is truly like. This advice was given to me years ago in an attempt to reduce being scammed or tricked by a fake rental host. Thus far, we have had great experiences with both our AirBnB and VRBO sites.

    What to Do

    There is an app called 30A and it provides a wealth of information about the stretch of highway 30A that includes several coastal communities in Florida. This app provides a running list of ongoing events in the local 30A communities. During the summer time, there is no shortage of free concerts, plays, and family movie nights.

    We had the privilege this year of vacationing during the week of July 4th. The night of July 4th was nothing short of magical. From our beach chairs, we were able to view the fireworks shows from Destin, Seaside, Alys Beach, Panama City, as well as the fireworks shot off at our very own Seagrove Beach. The comradery of other beach goers along with the cool ocean air and music playing freely provided such a neat holiday experience.

    This year, we were able to vacation with extended family.
    Cousins are friends for life!

    As I have shared in other vacation posts, here and here, bike riding is a biggie for me on 30A. Another reason I like bike riding at the beach…it’s free! Seagrove Beach has several bike paths and gravel roads that will give you an abundance of adventure options. We would even ride our bikes to the Publix in Watercolor to pick up sundries.

    Biking in Seagrove Beach

    Another free activity is games. Many vacation rental homes will have card or board games available to play. Don’t have a lot of money to go out and spend while on vacation? Stay in and play a board game as a family. We brought the game Taboo with us this year and played with my extended family. We laughed until we cried. This was a cheap way to make good memories!

    Where to Eat

    While on vacation at Seagrove Beach, we did not eat out every night. The 30a Farmer’s Market provides several meal options to make at your vacation rental. My family loves the tamales from It’s Tamale Time! We also picked up chips and guacamole from Alligator Pear Foods.

    Local seafood markets such as Buddy’s Seafood and Goatfeathers Seafood allowed us to have a low country boil one night. We ordered our shrimp from Goatfeathers – it was delicious!

    Low Country Boil for the win!

    Two restaurants we did visit this summer are Le Crema in Rosemary Beach and Bayou Bill’s Crab Shack in Panama City Beach.

    Le Crema is located in Rosemary Beach –
    a beautifully designed seaside community.

    No matter your tastes and likings, Seagrove Beach provides a wealth of options to enjoy your beach vacation!

  • maldives, tropics, tropical-1993704.jpg
    DIY,  Family,  Food,  Travel

    Getting Ready for Vacation!

    Lots of preparation goes into being ready for vacation. This summer my family will visit Rosemary Beach, a beach community located on the beautiful 30a highway of Florida. Read along to pick up ideas that may assist you in getting ready for vacation.

    Make a Packing List

    A packing list is a guide for me to ensure I do not leave anything important behind when heading out on vacation. Items included vary from clothing to toiletries to beach supplies to kitchen aids. When a family is gone for a week or longer, there is a lot to pack for said trip!

    Not only do I keep a running list nearby in order for me to jot down items when I think about them, I like to also draw on the experience and expertise of other mamas who have been there, done that. Here is a blog post of a packing list I pinned from Pinterest.

    The Folding Lady is also one of my favorite influencers to follow and check in with regarding how to get all my family’s items neatly and efficiently into our suitcases.

    Bring Products that will Help You

    Any mama or person in charge of packing for an entire family will have an idea of what products make your trip easier. For me, individual laundry bags like these help my kids keep up with their dirty laundry. When it is time to wash clothes, I simply consolidate the laundry bags and wash as needed. The bags can also be used to hold clean and folded laundry for me to return to each kids’ room.

    Vacation is always a fun time to buy a few new things for the beach! We found a cute patriotic swimsuit from Target for my daughter.

    You can check it out here!

    While I have yet to try them, I have heard a lot of people rave about packing cubes to use for organizing clothing and toiletries for trips. Here is a best seller on Amazon.

    Travel size toiletry bottles are helpful as well as a variety of product bags. Rolling luggage is a plus on vacation. The ease of rolling your case along side of you allows you the space to carry other items in your arms or stack on top of your luggage. Our daughter got this set a couple of years ago. She gets a lot of use out of them. Truth be told Jeff and I need a new set for ourselves.

    *As an Amazon Associate, I will earn from commissionable links. *

    Create a Meal Plan

    While I would love to share with you all the fun activities to do and places to eat while on 30a, I am going to save that post for the future. You can read up on our last year’s trip here. For this post, I simply want to focus on the preparation of vacay readiness.

    Taking the time to think, dream, and discuss what food you want on your trip will help you save time and money while you are away. We have stayed at many beach houses over the years and when all the family is together, there is never a shortage of starving kiddos (at least they all think they are starving). Having a rough idea of what foods to bring, what foods to buy, and what nights you are eating out, makes for a smoother vacation experience.

    While we have some favorite places to eat (The Donut Hole), we have some new places we are going to try out as well this year. My goal is to blog about everything we will do in an upcoming post.

    For this preparation, you will need to make another list as well ( I love lists!). How many nights do you want to eat out? What special occasions are taking place while you are away?(birthdays, holidays, anniversaries?) Take this time to determine if any of your party has food allergies. Also, what are some favorite meals? For me, when I head to the beach, I want fresh, local shrimp. We have a funny but not-so-funny-at-the-moment story of the time my husband went to Publix and bought shrimp instead of going to the fresh seafood market while we were at the beach. Who knew Publix shrimp could cause such an uproar? 😉

    Being ready for vacation will actually assist you in enjoying your vacation once you arrive at your destination. Hopefully, this post has given you ideas to implement as you prepare for any upcoming trips. Enjoy!