SeaCrest Beach

Hi everyone, I will be taking my first vacation to Seacrest Beach (seacrest beach north) in Mid July and would appreciate any information about the area. With 4 children i am especially interested in family friendly restuarants in the area. We have vacationed on Captiva Island for the last 16 years and this will be our first trip to the panhandle. We are Parrotheads who are always searching for the perfect beach.

Thx, Frank

Graytonbound and I used to vacation at Captive and Sanibel till we discovered 30A! You'll love it there. Right next door to Seacrest is Rosemary Beach. 2 really great restaurants in one there. Small cafe serving breakfast and lunch turns into a fine dining restaurant at night. (can't remember the day time name buy the night name is Blue By Night) Also next door to that is the Sugar Shack and they have great icecream in treats. Get on 30A head west to Angelina's for a great itallian restaurant (everything from Pizza to Seafood).

Thanks RiverOtter,
Weve been going to Sanibel/Captiva for 16 years now,however we kept hearing about and reading about the great beaches in the Panhandle. Each year we would make arrangements to go there and would chicken out at the last minute, thinking we'd be disappointed. After finding this board and doing extensive reading on the area, we decided that this is year we take the plunge. We picked our accomadations becuase with 4 boys who love pools, the 12000 sq ft pool in Seacrest looked too good to pass up. Thank You for the info, we will make sure to check into your recommendations.

You will not be disappointed. I haven't been to Sanibel in 15 years or so and enjoyed it very much. They got hit hard by Hurricane?

There is plenty to do here and yes they will love that big pool, and the beaches are incredible.

SoWal is easy to figure out and not too big. It's one of those places you can come to without knowing anything and it all works out. The parrothead way I believe?

I think the perfect beach is near Fiji somewhere. Look out for Leo.

Thanks RiverOtter,
Weve been going to Sanibel/Captiva for 16 years now,however we kept hearing about and reading about the great beaches in the Panhandle. Each year we would make arrangements to go there and would chicken out at the last minute, thinking we'd be disappointed. After finding this board and doing extensive reading on the area, we decided that this is year we take the plunge. We picked our accomadations becuase with 4 boys who love pools, the 12000 sq ft pool in Seacrest looked too good to pass up. Thank You for the info, we will make sure to check into your recommendations.

We absolutly loved Sanibel / Captiva. Especially Schnappers (best hotdogs I've ever had! ) Love the Bubble Room, Prawn Broker, etc. You will find great restaurants off of 30A too. Not sure how you are getting to SoWal but we used to drive to Sanibel form SE TN (9.5 hours was my record ) Only takes 6 to get to SoWal. You won't have to wear sandles or shoes on the beaches of SoWal either because the beaches are sand and not shells :wink: . The condo's / houses in SoWal are lots nicer too (mostly cause they are newer). You will have miles of bikeing paths to ride on much like Captiva and you won't have to worry about the NoSeeUms . Keep coming back to the boards. People will fill in tons more details and places to eat etc... Heck, we may be down there during the same week. Our condos are in Seacrest too.

RiverOtter,

We always drive from New Jersey to South Florida (about 24+ hours) normally stopping in Myrtle Beach for about 3 days on the way. We will be driving to SoWal for the first time, mapquest has it about the same distance as Captiva.
By the way, my company is moving to the Nashville area and we are currently trying to decide if we want to relocate to either Brentwood or Hendersonville. Being from up north my kids are concerned about moving south. So maybe in the future my drive to SoWal will be alot shorter.

RiverOtter,

We always drive from New Jersey to South Florida (about 24+ hours) normally stopping in Myrtle Beach for about 3 days on the way. We will be driving to SoWal for the first time, mapquest has it about the same distance as Captiva.
By the way, my company is moving to the Nashville area and we are currently trying to decide if we want to relocate to either Brentwood or Hendersonville. Being from up north my kids are concerned about moving south. So maybe in the future my drive to SoWal will be alot shorter.

:shock: Wow! Hard to believe they are the same distance. This summer I drove to Tonawanda (sp?), NY to pick up a boat. At first I thought I'd never drive that far and after I mapquested it I realized that Niagra was only 100 miles further than my drive to Captiva. So I drove up on a Friday and towed my boat back on Saturday (even had time to visit Niagra ).

Brentwood and Hendersonville are both very nice. Brentwood is high dollar. Lots of Country Music Biz folks, Titan Players, Company Execs live there. I don't know much about Hendersonville. I met a guy that moved from San Diago to Murfreesboro and at the age of 40 retired on his SoCal real estate gains . He and his family love it there. Unless you are already working with somebody in Nashville for relocation I could put y'all together (you're call just PM me if interested. He and his wife are in real estate and are working with several people from the west coast relocating to the Nashville area).

Graytonbound and I used to vacation at Captive and Sanibel till we discovered 30A! You'll love it there. Right next door to Seacrest is Rosemary Beach. 2 really great restaurants in one there. Small cafe serving breakfast and lunch turns into a fine dining restaurant at night. (can't remember the day time name buy the night name is Blue By Night) Also next door to that is the Sugar Shack and they have great icecream in treats. Get on 30A head west to Angelina's for a great itallian restaurant (everything from Pizza to Seafood).

...And remember to visit Gerri at GiGi's in Rosemary Beach for fun kid stuff. RO's kids love that store, so I hear.

...And remember to visit Gerri at GiGi's in Rosemary Beach for fun kid stuff. RO's kids love that store, so I hear.

Do they ever