Stuff for kids to do in SoWal

**kurt** · 07-18-2005, 09:53 PM

Please add to this post - I know there's a lot of parents out there.

Here's a few ideas, but I know there's a lot more ideas for kids - both locals and visitors.

I'm thinking more of tours, classes, events, programs - rather than the obvious things like - waterparks, go to the beach, the pool, movies and concerts at Seaside or Baytowne, biking, etc.

A wilderness tour of bay and rivers by motorboat would be fun for all:
http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=25

Contact Yellowfin in Grayton for fishing, kayak and canoe guides, surfing lessons etc. They have classes for kids sometimes or will do it one on one.
http://graytonbeach.com/fish.html

Also on that page is "Fishing with Bob" - he's great with kids.

Eden State Gardens and some of the other parks have guided tours and nature classes.
http://www.sowal.com/parks.html

Seaside has a kids' camp in the summer open to all, and WaterColor offers a camp for owners and guests. These are daytime programs (not extended summer-camp type programs) with all kinds of activities for pre-teens.

**BeachBebe** · 07-18-2005, 10:55 PM

Thanks, Kurt. Sounds great.

**chrisv** · 08-17-2005, 09:29 AM

Hey Kurt, here's one for the local boys.

Cub Scout pack 562 will be signing up new boys in grades 1-5 on Monday, August 22, at 6:30pm. The sign-up will be at Good News United Methodist Church, across from Bayou Bill's on 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. For more information, call 683-0330. For more information about Cub Scouts, visit www.joincubscouting.org .

I'm not affiliated with the Girl Scouts, but I do have a contact number for parents of girls to call. I don't want to publish it here without her knowledge, so call me and I will get you the number.

**kurt** · 08-17-2005, 09:32 AM

It seems like only yesterday I was proudly wearing the blue uniform and learning all about the wonderful world of knots.

**Landlocked** · 08-17-2005, 09:37 AM

I noticed the words "Kahuna" and "Woody" aren't involved in this thread.

WAY TO GO!!!!

Get those kids outside!

No offense to those who go to those places. I'm sure I'll wind up there once or twice with my little one some day. I just like to see kids fishing and enjoying the outdoors.

**chrisv** · 08-17-2005, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by kurt

It seems like only yesterday I was proudly wearing the blue uniform and learning all about the wonderful world of knots.

Was this your fearless leader?

**newyorker** · 08-18-2005, 08:40 AM

I'd be interested for ideas for older teens? We love our annual trip to SoWal, but my now college-age teens declared "boredom". In part, this is because they can't drive the rental car and thus they're stuck "with mom and dad." They love the beach--so that's not a problem, but they would like to find other young adults their age, and the mobility to get to see them.
Any ideas on activities/places to go/rental agencies that might rent a car to a 19-yr-old driver?

I know one answer is to allow them to bring friends--but then we'll have 3 or even 4 of them to deal with (and I won't even discuss bringing "the boyfriend"...dear god!)

**Beach Runner** · 08-18-2005, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by newyorker

I'd be interested for ideas for older teens? We love our annual trip to SoWal, but my now college-age teens declared "boredom". In part, this is because they can't drive the rental car and thus they're stuck "with mom and dad." They love the beach--so that's not a problem, but they would like to find other young adults their age, and the mobility to get to see them.
Any ideas on activities/places to go/rental agencies that might rent a car to a 19-yr-old driver?

I know one answer is to allow them to bring friends--but then we'll have 3 or even 4 of them to deal with (and I won't even discuss bringing "the boyfriend"...dear god!)

I hear ya. When they get that age, all of the young teeny-boppers seem to annoy them for some reason. There really aren't many college kids around 30-A.

When our daughter doesn't bring a friend, she likes to cook because we don't have good seafood at home. So she can experiment with cooking things that she can't at home. She also likes to shop; it's a totally different experience than ATL. She also likes to read because there's such a good selection of books at Sundog.

But she normally brings a boyfriend. Spring break when she was in-between boyfriends, she was with some of her sorority sisters. To find other college kids, they drove to PC every night and cruised, like thousands of other spring-breakers (I wasn't too thrilled about that). That's how she met her current boyfriend. Coincidentally he lived in the frat house across the street from the sorority house where she lives.

**Paula** · 08-18-2005, 10:20 AM

Our kids who are much younger really enjoy bringing their friends. Sometimes we travel with their friends' families (who are our friends, too) and we're planning to have each of our kids invite a friend on more trips to the cottages in general. Since we'll have these cottages for a long, long time (we hope), we want the kids to have wonderful memories and photos of their childhood here, and they're at an age when their friends are more and more important. We still get to be with the kids much of the time (especially meal time because we're still their meal ticket), and we get to read quietly at the beach, porch or pool as well while watching the kids frolic. Sometimes, we even get them to to puzzles with us.

It does get expensive flying and travelling to the cottages for us, but I figure the kids are only living under our roof 5-7 more years before college and this is great money spent (rather than paying down the mortgage or doing something else with the money right now -- there will be time for that after they leave). Right now, we're enjoying their company and building memories that will bring them back to the cottages for decades to come!

Regarding bringing boyfriends on vacation, my parents invited my boyfriend on a vacation once when we were teenagers and that worked out well. It kept my boyfriend feeling like a member of the family -- I think that's important and we plan to do the same with our girls' boyfriends someday -- and that was most appreciated. And my father watched him -- and me -- like a hawk anyway. When my dad died when I was 30, a few old boyfriends came to the funeral, so it was a good sign that they felt like family and certainly showed their respect and appreciation!

**Beach Runner** · 08-18-2005, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Paula

I figure the kids are only living under our roof 5-7 more years before college and this is great money spent (rather than paying down the mortgage or doing something else with the money right now -- there will be time for that after they leave). Right now, we're enjoying their company and building memories that will bring them back to the cottages for decades to come!

You are so right! Cherish those years because, I promise you, they fly by like a blur. I still haven't gotten used to not having my daughter bounce in from school every afternoon. We miss her SO much, but we have no regrets. We took every vacation with her, drove to every basketball game (even missing work during tournament time), went to every violin lesson, etc., so we made the most of our time with her at home. It still went by too fast.

**Mermaid** · 08-18-2005, 11:35 AM

Newyorker, don't worry about bringing the friends! We have two teens--our eldest is a boy who is entering college this year, and our daughter is a high school junior. We spent a week in Seagrove last month and our daughter brought a friend, and our son brought his girlfriend.

We had big discussions about bringing the girlfriend. Should we? Shouldn't we? But in the end we did, because the two of them are joined at the hip anyway and he'd have been miserable without her (and probably would have made us miserable with his moping around!). Plus, we are very fond of her ourselves, and we knew she'd fit in with us. We spoke with her parents and they read her the "riot act" as in Behave Yourself Like the Nice Girl You Are! and we did the same with our boy. I will say that the two of them rose to the occasion. That's the key to successfully bringing along friends: talk with the other parents and let them know what you expect, and talk with your own kids as well. If clear-cut ground rules are set forth, there's no reason why you should have a "Panama City Spring Break Special With Teens Gone Wild" under your own roof just because you have romantic teens on hand!

I think our vacation was enhanced by having the friends along, to tell you the truth. And I say this after a 14-hour drive from Indianapolis with all six of us stuffed like sardines in a can! Our kids were happy to have built-in entertainment along, and we also were entertained (yes, I know that sounds perverse; we're talking about teens here, but they ARE entertaining!).

I'm afraid I can't give you too much in the way of what to do with kids because ours did have access to the family car, and we did bring down our bikes, which we all used a lot. Otherwise, the kids swam and tanned, went on picnics (go figure), shopped, and walked the beach late at night. Oh, and they played cards at night, great big noisy card games with rules they probably made up. I thought they'd like going to Seaside and Rosemary Beach for the outdoor movies, but it was the concerts they really preferred. A week passed by very easily with all the kids. I needn't add that they helped with cooking and took care of the their own laundry, which is good, because this mama is no one's maid.

We all had a great time, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

**WLD** · 08-19-2005, 11:05 AM

My family has been coming to SoWal for 15 years, starting when my kids were babies. So, we've enjoyed beach visits with kids of all ages.

Once the kids' friends are old enough be away from their parents for a few days, it is fun for everyone to bring them along. I always love the dinners with a table full of kids.

When the kids were younger, we always tried some new family outdoor activity. Inevitably, the kids would be better at it than mom and dad (or at least mom)--which the kids loved.

The single thing my kids liked best when they were older elementary school age was the freedom to ride their bikes and walk around without mom or dad with them. It's something they couldn't do in the city where we live until they were much older. I'll never forget the vacation when we gave our then 10-year-old his 'freedom'. He asked to run errands for me all day--he just felt so grown up. As a pre-teen, my daughter and her friends started a tradition of beach picnic dinners by candlelight, which they still love to do as young adults.

Sometimes the older teens/young adults want some 'action' and other times they're happy just chilling out and de-stressing. They can meet others (even without a car) if they go out for lunch, shop the funkier boutiques, hit the beach and bike paths, etc. If they play golf or tennis the facilities may be able to pair them with someone their age.

**OnMackBayou** · 08-19-2005, 02:25 PM

If you want a little bit of a resort experience, you can enter the Sandestin gates on either side of 98.

If you have children a place they'll enjoy eating breakfast is on the bay side (north side of 98) at Another Broken Egg Cafe. It's in Baytowne Wharf. There's also a Starbucks there. Before or after breakfast the younger kids can enjoy the huge new playground across the lagoon. It is based on a nautical motif and has lots of slides and a great tire swing. It even has a separate section for children 3 and under.

Adjacent to the playground is a new shop called Frillseekers. It's owned by a nice couple from Baton Rouge who also have a shop there. They have some neat items that they will personalize for you while you wait. If you keep going towards the bay from Frillseekers you'll find some treehouses. The only problem then is getting the kids out of the trees.

If you haven't been to Baytowne Wharf yet, it is a great place just to walk around. It has a little something for everyone in the family.