If you walk down the pastel-colored, picture-perfect streets of Seaside, Florida, for the first time, you might get a strange sense of deja vu. That is because nearly three decades ago, our quiet 80-acre coastal town transformed into "Seahaven Island"—the fictional, hyper-idyllic town built inside a giant Hollywood dome for Peter Weir’s 1998 satirical creation, The Truman Show.
The Lake That Built a Town is the first film in The DeFuniak Springs Story Series by local Kerri Parker of hwy331.com.
It's nearing the time of year when being entertained indoors with air conditioning is a desirable activity. After you've soaked up some sun, after a hard day's work or play, we've got you covered. This July you can catch the latest production from Grit & Grace, our beloved community theater with roots in local history and events from Walton County's colorful past.
As the sun touched the horizon on the Gulf of Mexico on a recent evening in Seaside, a familiar sound echoed from the rooftop deck—but this time, the bell wasn't just signaling the sunset. It was a toast to 40 years of "Good Food, Good People, and Good Times."
To celebrate four decades as the heart of Scenic Highway 30A, the entire staff of Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant gathered on the rooftop for a celebratory toast, honoring a legacy that began with two friends and a dream.
While in South Walton, be sure to stray a bit off the beach and visit Eden Gardens State Park in Point Washington on Tucker Bayou. It's a beautiful slice of old Florida and the historic Wesley Mansion sits on the grounds of the park and is open for tours.
We can trace the Wesley family’s shared history with Tucker Bayou and the surrounding community to the late 1800s when they arrived in Point Washington around 1885.
If you’ve ever driven down Scenic 30A through Seaside, then chances are you've seen one or more of the Seaside pavilions on the Gulf.
They are beautiful and enticing. They may be the most photographed architecture in South Walton, and they are also quite significant to SoWal’s history and architectural story. The nine pavilions help make our community stand out from other beach destinations, and each structure is unique in appearance and designed by a different architect.
Ever wonder how the town of Seaside, Florida began? It's become an extremely popular place to visit and served as a model that many new small towns have followed. Read on to learn about the history of Seaside.
Time was, families coming to the beach stayed in simple cottages…in beach towns where porch-sitting and strolling were activities at least as important as swimming and sunbathing.
The 28th edition of the annual *Rags To Riches Regatta* returns to Grayton Beach on Saturday, June 28, 2025 in celebration of American Independence Day.
The small catamaran race is a tradition among SoWal sailors, families, friends, and Grayton Beach lovers. Come out to watch the regatta take off from the shores of Grayton Beach as they race to Seagrove Beach and back to Grayton.
For more information & to register your vessel, visit www.ragstorichesregatta.org.
It was nearly lost forever, but a few tenacious nonconformists fought for a decade to save their precious beach
By Wendy O. Dixon
It’s Memorial Day, 2009, and local residents and tourists bask in the sun and bury their feet in the sugar-white sands of Grayton Beach. Children splash in Western Lake, trying to catch tiny fish by clasping their hands together. Sandcastles, rainbow-colored umbrellas and a few four-wheel-drive vehicles are sprawled along the shore.
The historic Seagrove Villas Motel welcomed SoWal beach lovers for over 60 years, but the doors closed and the neon sign dimmed for the final time in 2012.
All that will remains are the memories of so many beach lovers who have stayed at the motel and villas over the years. Thankfully, a few of the cottages on the north side of Scenic 30A will remain as shops. Perhaps to some a sad reminder of sunny days gone by when they visited the motel as part of "Old Florida".
