"Simply Seagrove" - New book tells the full story of Seagrove Beach

[Truman]

I've read that people involved with development of some of the 30A communities tried to have the road routed further north, but were unsuccessful.

Yes - and still at it. A route around WaterColor and Seaside is still hoped for.

 

[Lake View Too]

I've read that people involved with development of some of the 30A communities tried to have the road routed further north, but were unsuccessful.

There really was no unified "south Walton community" in those days. Just a handful of very loosely connected villages, miles and miles apart. I'm not sure we were that aware of 30-A going through, regardless of it's path. But I was a young punk in the sixties, so my mind might have been on other things.

 

[Teresa]

Hi Jim;
It's hard to pick a favorite story because there are so many I like, but one is about the time my father and I trailered the Boston Whaler to a ramp at Grayton and put it into the west part of Western Lake. This was back in the 1960s before there were any roads between Grayton and Seagrove, so there was no way to drive and see the large part of Western Lake that is now part of the State Park. The part of the lake near Grayton was nice, and we knew there was a small channel on the east side, but it was too shallow to boat through, so we didn't really know where it led. On that day, we decided to stop the motor (18hp Johnson) and tip it up, and I got out and towed my father and the boat through the channel. At the other end we 'discovered' the large part of Western Lake, and had a great day boating there, with no one else in sight and no signs of civilization visible. That was fun. Thanks for writing!

Awesome story. Got pix?

 

[Robert Reynolds]

Yes - and still at it. A route around WaterColor and Seaside is still hoped for.

That could be really nice if done right. It reminds me of the "new" US 98 in Destin, where the "old" 98 was split in the middle but still enters town from both directions.

 

[Robert Reynolds]

There really was no unified "south Walton community" in those days. Just a handful of very loosely connected villages, miles and miles apart. I'm not sure we were that aware of 30-A going through, regardless of it's path. But I was a young punk in the sixties, so my mind might have been on other things.

I describe in the book how just to go from Seagrove to Grayton you had to drive up 395 to US 98, then along 98 to 283, then down to Grayton. And like you said, even as portions of 30-A were completed, it took a long time for it to become a unified path between the communities.

 

[Robert Reynolds]

Awesome story. Got pix?

I included a photo of the Whaler on its trailer in Chapter 7, but doubt that I have any of that day in Western Lake. Another neat adventure was the day Cube McGee, my father, and I put the Whaler in Cube's canal (on Canal St.) when it was completely overgrown. We managed to hack our way down the length of the canal, cleaning the propeller every few minutes. Just for the fun (?) of it. The little channel off Choctawhatchee Bay where we kept the Whaler for a while (Daugette Estates) is still there, although the boathouse at the end is gone.