Ability to use a neighborhood access, for small fee, for medical reasons.

[Tamara Lemus]

My family has been given the wonderful and amazing gift of staying at a condo in Blue Mountain Beach (The Village) for a week from 8-1 to 8-7-20, this Saturday! One of my son's teachers owns it and offered it to us after his last surgery.

He is 12 and had his 3rd open-heart surgery in September, after 2 strokes last June (2019). When she gifted us the stay, his cardiologist cleared us to take him, but with certain conditions, because of the Covid-19 risk at present.

From viewing the beach cam at Blue Mountain Beach Regional Access point, and speaking with the visitor's center, I don't think we will be able to maintain a safe distance of 6 feet between our family and others at this beach because of the amount of crowding. I've looked into several state parks that have beaches, and one fills up super quickly and they close the park, and the other has a 1 mile walk to the beach, which would be pretty difficult for us in the heat.

To make a long story short(er) , we cannot do any shopping or dining out, sight-seeing, or any indoor or crowded activities, so if we cannot safely visit the beach we are going to get pretty bored. We do have a canoe trip planned at some springs, and may do a 1/2 day pontoon rental, since these can be done with no contact with others outside our family. But that leaves at least 4 days unfilled, and our budget won't allow duplicates of those activity days. Unfortunately his medical bills keep us on a very tight budget and this trip is our first splurge in years!

Could anyone either recommend a public beach access that isn't very crowded, where we maybe can maintain a decent distance, or would anyone happen to know of someone who would let us pay them a small fee (maybe $10-$15 a day) to park in their driveway and use a neighborhood access that's not terribly crowded? We do not smoke or drink or have pets, but we would like to put up a 10x10 canopy and hopefully be able to play some badminton or volleyball with a portable net, if we find a location with enough space. If you have read this whole thing, bless you, and please feel free to pass this message along to anyone appropriate, and my number is 409-728-1650, and my Facebook is under Tamara Gladden Lemus.

 

[Dreamer]

My understanding is no tent larger than 8x8 & highly unlikely that you could put up a badminton net. It's 30A.

 

[Tamara Lemus]

I really hope it's not 8x8. We specifically bought this size because that's what they said here. South Walton Beach Rules and Safety Information

The badminton net was just a want that my teenage daughter had, but it is by no means a necessity. I'll probably just tell her we can't bring it and save ourselves the hassle.

But the canopy is a necessity because my son can't tolerate the heat/direct sun that well.

Thanks for the info, and if you have any ideas, I'm open to them!

 

[30A Skunkape]

My suggestion is that you look into the Santa Clara (aka Bramble Grove) access in Seagrove. A bit of a drive, but (assuming you have parking tag) disabled parking is available close to a wheelchair friendly ramp to the beach. It is pretty crowded there, but, if you move a bit west once on sand, you will find a pretty thin crowd between Santa Clara and the San Juan access (which is the first access point west of Santa Clara). If you don’t need the ramp for your son, there is limited parking at the San Juan access with spillover on San Juan Avenue, just across 30-A. I dare say that if you find the area between San Juan and Santa Clara too dense with people, the crowds really thin to near nothing about 30 yards west of the San Juan stairs.. In fact, I bet you could pull off a badminton net there as well as a tent. Realize these accesses are a decent car ride from where you will be staying (15-20 minutes assuming bad traffic)but at least these exist as options. I hope it all works out for you

 

[Kurt]

Tents up to 10x10 are allowed. And no one will mind a bit of badminton if you have space. It's SoWal.

Great help Skunky!

 

[Matt J]

If you have a handicapped placard and 4WD contact the TDC (visitors center) and ask about Grayton Beach, they issue temporary driving permits for folks with mobility issues, might need a letter from the person letting you use the condo.

 

[lesson25]

We were just at Grayton State Park Beach saturday and they had plenty of space along with bathrooms and has free admission. If you want to be right on the front row, then that might be an issue unless you get there early in the morning. The new Dune Allen Access across Stinkys fish camp has handicap parking and a ramp. It was busy on Sunday but Monday was fine. I assume mid week would be best at any public access. Grayton Beach is very deep and also shares the outlet to western lake so plenty of space for badminton and a volleyball net is there as well . One would have to drive on the beach like mentioned earlier due to the width of the beach. I hope you and the family have a great trip.

 

[Tamara Lemus]

My suggestion is that you look into the Santa Clara (aka Bramble Grove) access in Seagrove. A bit of a drive, but (assuming you have parking tag) disabled parking is available close to a wheelchair friendly ramp to the beach. It is pretty crowded there, but, if you move a bit west once on sand, you will find a pretty thin crowd between Santa Clara and the San Juan access (which is the first access point west of Santa Clara). If you don’t need the ramp for your son, there is limited parking at the San Juan access with spillover on San Juan Avenue, just across 30-A. I dare say that if you find the area between San Juan and Santa Clara too dense with people, the crowds really thin to near nothing about 30 yards west of the San Juan stairs.. In fact, I bet you could pull off a badminton net there as well as a tent. Realize these accesses are a decent car ride from where you will be staying (15-20 minutes assuming bad traffic)but at least these exist as options. I hope it all works out for you

Unfortunately, we do not have a handicapped placard, we live in a very small town (with no beach lol) so the furthest he ever has to walk is during transition at school and they allow him extra time if he needs to rest.

But thank you very much for the info! If we cannot find a better option, we may very well try this. If the parking is too far from the beach access, then I can just drop off he and his sister and park and then walk to wherever I need to.

Even just which direction to head in is a huge help, we know nothing about the area, unfortunately. Our only Florida experience was with Make-A-Wish at Disney, so this will only be our second time there.

I appreciate your time!

 

[Tamara Lemus]

Tents up to 10x10 are allowed. And no one will mind a bit of badminton if you have space. It's SoWal.

Great help Skunky!

Thank you! I haven't broached the subject of not attempting that with her yet. I'll ruminate on that a bit I think....

 

[Tamara Lemus]

If you have a handicapped placard and 4WD contact the TDC (visitors center) and ask about Grayton Beach, they issue temporary driving permits for folks with mobility issues, might need a letter from the person letting you use the condo.

We do not have a 4WD, nor a placard, but that is a great idea, just won't work for us. Thank you for helping us try to find a solution.