Boo hoo, we are back from our ten day stay at High Pointe condos. It was absolutely perfect. I choose the beaches of South Walton after a good amount of research...but was still apprehensive since I had never been. What a wonderful place you guys have there.
I already mentioned a few of my thoughts in another report but here are some more:
--I believe we ate at every restaurant at Rosemary Beach...or just about every one. And I was surprised that they were all very good. Onano, Paradis, Wild Olives, Cowgirl Kitchen, Summer Kitchen, Sugar Shak...all very tasty. Also ate at Flip Flops which was EXCELLENT (damn that burger was good) and my son said it was the best hot dog he's had. And Great Southern (?) had a great breakfast at Seaside.
--Never got to eat at Wild Olives for anything but breakfast though. They are terribly short staffed. We walked away once for dinner and once for lunch. Really wanted to eat there though. Felt sorry for the two women who were waiting on about 20 tables, inside and out AND checking people out at the store.
--Cowgirl Kitchen had the best Turkey blt I've ever had! However, being from Texas I am still perplexed what is Texan about it (other than the decorations). Excellent pizza and sammys though!
--Our waiter at Paradis was excellent and wish I could remember his name. Youngish, dark hair...frankly he was very handsome . He was super informative and professional.
--Wanted to try some more places at Seaside, but the two year old was getting cranky each time we went. Save it for next time. Modica Market was so cute I almost took pictures inside. Oh, we did get snowcones at the snowcone trailer after having a great time at Fired Up painting pottery. Which leads me to a funny thing my husband said. We were looking at all the pottery to paint (for the kids) and he said, "Wow! This place is pure margin!" (as in profit). Too funny.
--People would always ask where we were from and when I said, "Dallas, Ft. Worth" they said, "Wow, that's a drive!" We flew. But for some reason it struck me as funny that everyone thought we drove.
-- Loved Rosemary Beach, Seacrest, Seaside, Alys Beach and Watersound the most. We picked High Pointe because of the pool (we have two young sons) but if I could find a cute cottage at another place with access to a pool would try there too. The condos that TooFarTampa recommends on the north side of 30a are super cute too.
--Had family pics taken by Avalon Photography thanks to the link I saw on this website. Hope they turned out ok. That was the most stressful part of the whole trip! Those pics were a beating - but Amy (?) was wonderful! Getting both kids to smile...but not TOO much or look happy...but NOT WILD...or look calm...BUT NOT ANGRY! ... it was difficult. And I'm still trying to figure out what possessed me to straighten my hair for the pic. I mean, I'm from Houston... I know what humidity does to my curly hair. I'm surprised birds weren't nesting in it by the end of the shoot.
--Forgot about June grass, but figured I'd take the "well, that's nature!" approach and all was fine. Frankly, it wasn't that bad anyway. But boy, when you waded out to that clear water...it was heaven!
I'm sure I'm forgetting something... but I can't stop telling people what a great time I had. Just keep the place fun and funky! I'm a huge fan of Austin, Texas and they have a big campaign called "Keep Austin Weird" I would suggest something similar for your area! I love how it's at once upscale, but fun and sometimes funky too.
Anyway...thanks again for a great trip. I'll miss cruising 30a with the convertible mustang we had...listening to The Beach Boys...
attached is a pic of us our last night there....
I already mentioned a few of my thoughts in another report but here are some more:
--I believe we ate at every restaurant at Rosemary Beach...or just about every one. And I was surprised that they were all very good. Onano, Paradis, Wild Olives, Cowgirl Kitchen, Summer Kitchen, Sugar Shak...all very tasty. Also ate at Flip Flops which was EXCELLENT (damn that burger was good) and my son said it was the best hot dog he's had. And Great Southern (?) had a great breakfast at Seaside.
--Never got to eat at Wild Olives for anything but breakfast though. They are terribly short staffed. We walked away once for dinner and once for lunch. Really wanted to eat there though. Felt sorry for the two women who were waiting on about 20 tables, inside and out AND checking people out at the store.
--Cowgirl Kitchen had the best Turkey blt I've ever had! However, being from Texas I am still perplexed what is Texan about it (other than the decorations). Excellent pizza and sammys though!
--Our waiter at Paradis was excellent and wish I could remember his name. Youngish, dark hair...frankly he was very handsome . He was super informative and professional.
--Wanted to try some more places at Seaside, but the two year old was getting cranky each time we went. Save it for next time. Modica Market was so cute I almost took pictures inside. Oh, we did get snowcones at the snowcone trailer after having a great time at Fired Up painting pottery. Which leads me to a funny thing my husband said. We were looking at all the pottery to paint (for the kids) and he said, "Wow! This place is pure margin!" (as in profit). Too funny.
--People would always ask where we were from and when I said, "Dallas, Ft. Worth" they said, "Wow, that's a drive!" We flew. But for some reason it struck me as funny that everyone thought we drove.
-- Loved Rosemary Beach, Seacrest, Seaside, Alys Beach and Watersound the most. We picked High Pointe because of the pool (we have two young sons) but if I could find a cute cottage at another place with access to a pool would try there too. The condos that TooFarTampa recommends on the north side of 30a are super cute too.
--Had family pics taken by Avalon Photography thanks to the link I saw on this website. Hope they turned out ok. That was the most stressful part of the whole trip! Those pics were a beating - but Amy (?) was wonderful! Getting both kids to smile...but not TOO much or look happy...but NOT WILD...or look calm...BUT NOT ANGRY! ... it was difficult. And I'm still trying to figure out what possessed me to straighten my hair for the pic. I mean, I'm from Houston... I know what humidity does to my curly hair. I'm surprised birds weren't nesting in it by the end of the shoot.
--Forgot about June grass, but figured I'd take the "well, that's nature!" approach and all was fine. Frankly, it wasn't that bad anyway. But boy, when you waded out to that clear water...it was heaven!
I'm sure I'm forgetting something... but I can't stop telling people what a great time I had. Just keep the place fun and funky! I'm a huge fan of Austin, Texas and they have a big campaign called "Keep Austin Weird" I would suggest something similar for your area! I love how it's at once upscale, but fun and sometimes funky too.
Anyway...thanks again for a great trip. I'll miss cruising 30a with the convertible mustang we had...listening to The Beach Boys...
attached is a pic of us our last night there....