The Beach Vacation Blog » WaterColor

Valentine’s Day on 30A

Garrett Realty Services — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:43:54 +0000

Valentine’s Day is full of excitement, romance, and love… if you’re a woman or a man! Much like a work day, good decisions must be made and mind-reading skills must be sharpened. This day can determine the future or at least get brought up in the future over and over again! So here’s a list of some of South Walton’s Valentine’s Day favorites you won’t go wrong with!

The Naked Grape at Gulfplace is a great place to start! With an extensive wine and beer selection as well as gourmet tapas, this intimate wine bar is the perfect place to begin an evening of romance. Just six miles east and you’ve arrived at the best spot in town to watch the sunset. Bud & Alley’s is famous for their outside, upstairs bar overlooking the green gulf waters.

Next on the list is V in Seagrove Beach for a special Valentine’s Day dinner. This sleek, South Beach style venue is serving a three course meal with a sweet heart theme. Enjoy delicacies such as: Lobster Gnocchi, Strawberry Sweetheart Salad, Pink Rose Pepper Seared Shrimp, and Triple Chocolate Molten Cake. The perfect ending is found at The Red Bar in Grayton Beach where you can dance into the next day to live music in a cozy atmosphere.

Make this the perfect Valentine’s Day and bring your date to 30A!

Of course, for a vacation rental call Garrett Realty Services @ 1-800-537-5387

Article from FLORIDA Travel + Life

Garrett Realty Services — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:57:54 +0000

What It’s Like to Live Along … Highway 30A

Ever dream of living in a beach town? Escape the rat race with a hot property along Scenic Highway 30A in Northwest Florida.

by Mike Ragsdale | Photography Tom Tavee

Enlarge Photo

Only a few resort communities possess an entirely original vibe. Northwest Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A — or just 30A, as residents call it — is such a place. This meandering 19-mile stretch of panhandle road, tucked between Destin and Panama City, is actually a string of small beach towns. Deliberately arranged fixtures — from a grove of live oaks to a promon- tory overlooking the Gulf of Mexico — are what set 30A apart. The latter-day history of 30A begins in 1979, when Robert Davis inherited an 80-acre par- cel of white-sand beachfront and turned the remote scrub into a new kind of coastal oasis. The town he built is Seaside; the movement is New Urbanism.

It entails designing traditional enclaves intended to create an enhanced sense of place. Sidewalks, bike paths and old-fashioned white picket fences (no two patterns are alike) make Seaside a walkable and architecturally compelling town. Seaside fostered an innovative impulse that is the germ of 30A’s identity. Planned communities modeled after Seaside quickly sprouted.

Stroll the shaded boardwalks of Rosemary Beach and you’ll think you’ve strayed into Charleston. Just down the road lies the bleach-white enclave of the Mediterranean Alys Beach. WaterColor is a wonderland of parks and Old Florida-style homes. Spectacular architecture embodies the 30A life- style as much as the emerald-green water. Traditional designs in muted pastels with rocking chairs on verandas are reminiscent of The Truman Show (the film was shot in Seaside). True lifelong locals are almost as rare as the coastal dune lakes that loosely link the towns. Most residents call 30A home by choice. “We just decided to move to the beach” is how the story usually begins.

“Each community has its own vibe,” says Julie Brown, who sold her house in Atlanta and moved to Blue Mountain Beach in 2008 with her husband. They prefer living on the western end of 30A. It’s quieter and “home to full-timers,” yet close to the area’s boutiques and dining. In contrast are the resort communities — WaterColor, Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, WaterSound, Seaside as well as Sandestin — with townlike qualities. Other neighborhoods, such as Blue Mountain Beach, Grayton Beach, Seagrove Beach and Dune Allen Beach, have been on the map for decades but were never branded as resort hamlets.

Brown was taken aback by how many people she and her husband met in their first weeks. “It [30A] is just one road, but, boy, is it tight-knit,” says Brown, who owns Furry Fanatics, a natural pet food store. “I’ll go for a run on the beach or ride my bike on 30A.” On the way home, she might park her bicycle in front of Barago, a restaurant in Grayton Beach known for its homemade Italian fare. “We eat at the bar, which is where all the locals hang out. On any given night, we’ll know half of the people there.”

Dan Bailey moved his family to 30A in 2004 and now lives in his former Seagrove vacation home. Since then, he has opened Amavida, a coffeehouse with one location in Seaside and another one in Rosemary Beach. “It [30A] is all about extraordinary spaces,” he says, noting that this idea inspired his coffeehouse concept. A dramatic thinning of the crowds marks the off-season. Fall is the locals’ favorite. Between the Gulf and the 129-square-mile Choctawhatchee Bay, 30A is insulated, and its ambient temperatures in January and February hover in the low 60s, allowing locals to walk their beloved beaches year-round.

The sense of communal pride inspires locals and wannabes to emblazon their cars with circular Gulf- blue “30A” stickers. Some compare the area to a college-style town for adults, with an out-doorsy population and plenty of boomers in the mix. Artists and musicians have migrated here in abundance. Rocker Sheryl Crow occasionally shows up at the Red Bar in Grayton Beach.

On any given day, you’ll fi nd locals on YOLO (an acronym for “You Only Live Once”) boards, which are used as stand-up paddle boards on the Gulf and 30A’s coastal dune lakes. “When the wind is calm, I’ll take the YOLO board out on the Gulf,” says Blake Morar, a 30A realtor and owner of Destin Real Estate. “You’ll see schools of rays and dolphin as you cruise the shoreline.” It’s an experience he shares with his two sons. Afterward, they head to Amore’s, their favorite Santa Rosa Beach pizzeria, just across the street from the beach access.

“An increasing number of our buyers are in the market for a primary residence,” Morar says. “It’s a developing trend. People are looking to move here for the same reasons I did 15 years ago — they love the beach and they love the energy. Interestingly, we’re seeing a lot of cash buys.”

The recent rebound in sales has been a boon to confidence in the market. For $300,000, Morar says, you can settle into a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot home in Seacrest within walking distance of the beach. “Prospective buyers are showing up because they’ve heard great things from friends and family,” Morar says. “They’ve heard that 30A is a different kind of paradise.” 30a.com

Come for a visit…call Garrett Realty Services, Inc., helping the true beach lover find their perfect vacation rental along Scenic 30A, since 1987.

30A ~ A Music Lovers Highway!!!

Garrett Realty Services — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:01:19 +0000

30A Songwriters Festival is back by popular demand and only a week away! Voted in 2011 as the hottest Annual Event on 30A, this year over 125 songwriters are ready to turn up the heat for 2012. From January 13^th- 15^th, you can enjoy three full days of folk, country, rock, and alternative music along the beautiful beaches of South Walton, Highway 30A.

Venues vary from intimate settings to open air amphitheaters and include 30A hot spots such as: Gulf Place Amphitheatre, Naked Grape, First Note Music Hall in Blue Mountain Beach, and Bud & Alley’s in Seaside. Performances by The Bangles, Rodney Crowell, Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, Indigo Girls, Joan Osborne, and so many more. Truly a world class event of amazing performances at one of the most beautiful spots in the Country!

For a full list of artists and venues or ticket information visit www.30asongwritersfestival.com. Need accommodations, call Garrett Realty Services @ 1-800-537-5387

Summer at the Gulf

Garrett Realty Services — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:00:07 +0000

Escape to Florida’s Panhandle, where the water sparkles clearer, the sand shines whiter, and the fun never stops. Our Editor reveals his favorite haunts.

(Post from Southern Living Magazine )

by John Alex Floyd, Jr.

I have vacationed here as a child, as a teenager, as a newlywed, and as a father. My wife and I plan to vacation here when we become empty nesters. That’s not uncommon for those who call this 95-mile stretch of Florida’s Panhandle, simply, The Beach. The lure of the place, once experienced, tugs for a lifetime.

From Destin east to Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe, you’ll find a curious mix of old and new Florida. Posh resorts vie with tiny bungalows. Bustling cities glitter in stark contrast with quaint fishing villages. Fabulous or rustic, tacky or elegant, vibrant or laid-back, the area has something for everyone. The common thread that runs through it all remains the emerald green waters and finest powder-white sand in the world.

Lodging–Family Fun on the Emerald Coast
To newcomers, the discovery is Destin–the sleepy fishing village-turned-mega-destination. Many families or couples spend an entire week here and never have to get into a car. Condos are the lodging of choice. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is the area’s largest resort complex and features fine hotel rooms, condominiums, four great golf courses, upscale shopping, and a variety of eateries.

Seaside, the Panhandle’s first planned community, sets a look and style that still gives Scenic Highway 30A, the 19-mile loop off of U.S. 98, a fantasy feel. Next door to Seaside sits the WaterColor Inn and Resort, a swank new spot that opened last year. Nearby you’ll find upscale restaurants, shopping, condos, and private homes. Lodging in the Seaside area costs anywhere from $100 up to any price you want to pay. Rosemary Beach is also a favorite destination in this area.

Panama City Beach is a family beach, a teenage hangout, and a splash of old Florida all rolled into one. Classic family-owned motels have dotted this stretch of sand for decades, though remodeled chain hotels, high-rise condominiums, and private rental homes are common today. Marriott’s Bay Point Resort Village, which is on St. Andrews Bay, sports fine golfing and big-league resort accommodations. But beware: Traffic on Front Beach Road is a tangle on summer nights.

While the coastal towns of Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe are different, they feel the same. They echo the unspoiled scenes from the postcard days of travel. It’s not an area that time forgot, just one devoid of today’s crowds. Your best lodging bets here are beach cottages, bed-and-breakfasts, family-run motels, and beach campgrounds and cabins at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. (RV campgrounds are in the area too.) The easiest way to find a bunk is to check the cities’ Web sites.

An Eco Tour in Walton County Is a Natural

Garrett Realty Services — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:58:25 +0000

…The Dune Lakes

An Eco Tour in Walton County Is a Natural

Lori Ceier/Walton Outdoors

Information and Photos used courtesy of WaltonOutdoors.com

You’ve heard the expression, “When in Rome.” Well, when in Walton County, you cannot overlook the opportunity to get up close and personal with the stunning nature around you. With state parks, preserves and wetlands making up 40 percent of the area, “green with envy” takes on a whole new meaning. Walco Eco Tours provides hands-on eco-tours guided by owner Murray Balkcom. An avid outdoorsman, Balkcom has been paddling on the coastal dune lakes of South Walton and the Gulf of Mexico since 2002, and has been leading guided nature walks and guided kayak tours in Walton County since 2006.

Balkcom describes the coastal dune lakes as rare national treasures that are unknown even to longtime locals. He explains that this particular type of lake is found only in New Zealand, Australia and Walton County, where there are 15. “Our tours are a great way to reconnect with the outdoors, and provide a great alternative to a day at the beach,” he says.

Walco Eco Tours offers two wonderful ways to explore Walton County’s Western Lake and the surrounding animals and plant life that call it home. Opt for an excursion that combines kayaking and walking/hiking or try the new offering — a YOLO Yak. YOLO, an acronym for You Only Live Once, is a brand of stand up paddleboard birthed in Santa Rosa Beach. The YOLO Yak is a hybrid board designed with elements of a paddleboard and a kayak to facilitate better stability while paddling. This tour combines a YOLO Yak ride and walking/hiking. Both experiences are two hours long and are customized to the level and interest of the group. Tours launch from the boathouse at WaterColor, located on Scenic Highway 30A.

The kayak tour requires two people and maxes out at eight. It is open to kids ages 5 and up. Adults are $60; kids under 10 are $30. The YOLO Yak tour is $60 per person and open to kids ages 12 and up.

When you go, wear waterproof shoes, sunscreen and a hat (as long as it is secured). And don’t forget to drink plenty of water before you venture into the sun on the tour. For more information, visit WalcoEcoTours.com.

Vision Airlines’ flight plan: Bargain airfares to Florida

Garrett Realty Services — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:39:08 +0000

Vision Airlines, a company that started by giving tours of the Grand Canyon, will begin offering commercial flights to 20 U.S. cities on Tuesday, promising to save vacationers time and money on getaways to Florida.

Vision says fares, some initially as low as $49 one way, will go on sale Tuesday for trips between the beach communities of northwest Florida and such cities as Baton Rouge, Knoxville, Tenn., and Little Rock starting March 25.

Flights aimed at business travelers shuttling between Louisville and Atlanta began Dec. 13, while service between northwest Florida and Miami and Niagara Falls, N.Y., launched Dec. 17.

The carrier, based in Suwanee, Ga., is taking a page from the playbook of Allegiant, one of the most profitable airlines in the country, by flying non-stop from smaller cities to tourist spots and offering vacationers one-stop shopping by selling packages that include everything from the hotel room to the rental car.

“If Allegiant Airlines is Coke, then there’s always got to be a Pepsi,” says David Meers, Vision’s COO. “Our goal is not to take over the aviation industry. It’s not to go out and try to poke the large carriers in the eye. We believe there’s a niche available in the marketplace to provide … packages to consumers at discounted prices.”

Low fares, non-stop service and large jets — perks more often enjoyed by fliers through major hubs — will be key, Meers says.

“We’ll be flying from cities that have been neglected by large carriers with large aircraft for a number of years,” Meers says, adding that many visitors to the tourist hubs of Destin and Fort Walton Beach in northwest Florida often drive to avoid connecting flights and high fares.

“It opens up the ability for people from all these communities to not only go as they normally would (but) to go more frequently,” he says.

Vision’s entry into commercial passenger service comes as the airline industry is starting to climb back to profitability after skyrocketing fuel prices and the economic downturn that caused leisure and business travelers to cut back on flying.

Still, airline analyst Mike Boyd says that Vision is carving out good turf. “They’re not going into business to meet pent-up demand, they’re going into places to provide a product that wasn’t there before,” Boyd says. “It’s an entirely different business than an airline, but I think it’s going to be a very successful one, as Allegiant has been. They’re creating their own business, a low-cost, high-value vacation to the Florida Gulf Coast.”

Vision started in 1994, operating tours of the Grand Canyon with small planes, and grew into a charter service for celebrities and others.

But it’s long been a goal to become a full-service travel company that offers commercial flights and other packaged travel services, Meers says.

Vacation packages should be available on Vision’s website in the next 60 days, he says. And in the next three years, “It’s realistic to expect we’d add cities out West … and we’ll look at the Caribbean and Mexico.”

Some smaller airports are welcoming the new service, seeing it as a way to boost Gulf Coast tourism, which dipped after the BP oil spill last year, and to get travelers who would usually drive to take to the air instead.

Vision’s non-stop service could even help Florida residents traveling within the state, such as those who now take a connecting flight or drive seven hours from the Destin area to get to Tampa, says Greg Donovan, director for the Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Fort Walton Beach.

“The communities that they’re going to be flying to are difficult to get to via hub connections,” says Donovan, who adds that fares on larger carriers such as Delta and US Airways are often more than vacationers want to pay. “I think it’s going to bring back many people we’ve lost to driving,” Donovan says.

Some airports are waiving fees for Vision and helping to promote its new service.

Northwest Florida Regional will waive Vision’s landing fees and terminal rent for two years, as well as spend tens of thousands of dollars on marketing efforts in targeted communities.

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, which will see non-stop service to and from Orlando Sanford International, as well as Northwest Florida Regional, which serves the Fort Walton Beach-Destin area, is also waiving some fees and tapping funds for new air service.

“We all try to secure low-cost carriers for our community,” Anthony Marino, Baton Rouge’s airport director, says of small and midsize airports. “The competition it creates in the market helps us when we’re dealing with (legacy) carriers like American and Continental and US Airways.”

Vision will continue to separately offer tours and chartered flights. That diversification, along with the vacation packages it sells, should create a healthy revenue stream, Meers says.
Source: USA Today

20th Annual Seeing Red Wine Festival

Garrett Realty Services — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:34:31 +0000

DATE: 11/04/2010

TOWN: Seaside

Set during one of the prettiest seasons on the Emerald Coast, the 20th Annual Seeing Red Wine Festival will feature hundreds of wines from around the world November 4-7, 2010.

In conjunction with Taste of The Beach, the main tasting on Saturday is often described as the perfect afternoon. Wine enthusiasts stroll through tasting areas, sampling a wonderful selection of wines.

Each setting also features world-class music. Intimate lectures and tastings with featured guest winemakers, dinners, and reserve wine tastings are all part of the festivities. Special packages are available in the award-winning town of Seaside for accommodations during the festival.

Thursday, Nov. 4: Winemaker Dinner
Bud & Alley’s 7PM

Friday, Nov. 5: Al Fresco Wine Walkabout
Ruskin Place 6-8PM
$145/person (866) 976-7990

Saturday, Nov. 6: Seeing Red Grand Tasting
Seaside 1-5PM
$120/person (866) 976-7990

Sunday, Nov. 7: Champagne Brunch
Great Southern Cafe 11AM

Southwest Airlines heads to Northwest, FL

Garrett Realty Services — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:44:51 +0000

Southwest leads the way to economic growth

By SCARLET SIMS | News Herald Writer Florida Freedom Newspapers

2009-10-29 21:56:15

SANDESTIN — Capturing Southwest Airlines as the low-cost carrier at the new international airport is just the beginning of boosting Northwest Florida’s economy, local leaders said Thursday.

“The next decade is going to be our decade,” said Janet Watermeier, Bay County Economic Development Alliance executive director. “Never have the global opportunities for Northwest Florida been greater.”

During the second annual Fall Leadership Summit, a daylong conference in Sandestin, hundreds of businesspeople and local leaders talked about working together to grow the economy.

Southwest Airlines announced earlier this month its plans to begin serving the new Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport in May. The decision remains the talk among leaders.

Southwest hopes to expand the Panhandle’s tourism industry exponentially by convincing people who might drive to Northwest Florida to fly instead, said keynote speaker Bob Montgomery, Southwest’s vice president of properties.

Southwest is known for its low airfare. Northwest Florida has some of the highest fares in the region, but those are expected to drop when Southwest begins selling tickets in December. Low prices create a demand and that means more people will come to Northwest Florida, Montgomery said.

Other carriers will consider the new airport, said Cynthia Kennedy, Walton Area Chamber of Commerce member.

Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said plans for the airport include construction to accommodate cargo planes. The airport also hopes to draw international travelers, Curtis said.

“It will take the entire region to make it work,” said Jerry Ray, a St. Joe Co. vice president. “What Southwest does for us is provide a global network.”

St. Joe is the major property holder in Northwest Florida and a major partner with Southwest. The company agreed to repay Southwest should the airline lose money during the first three years of operation at the new airport.

Southwest looked at serving the entire region when the company chose Bay County’s new airport, Montgomery said. Talks with the other regional airports, such as the one in Pensacola, will continue, but Southwest plans to focus on Bay County, he said.

Keynote speaker Brian Wilson said the airport and Southwest offer a golden opportunity to the region. Wilson is a veteran reporter for Fox News and part-time area resident.

“I believe that this particular part of the Florida Panhandle is poised for great things in the not-so-distant future,” Wilson said. “This is the right place, and the right time is just around the corner. The world is about to beat a path to your door.”

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Garrett Realty Services main office and all of our Vacation Beach Rentals are only 30 minutes from the new airport. Southwest Airlines tickets to & from the new airport will go on sale early December, 09. For more information about booking a vacation with us, call 1-800-537-5387 or visit us on-line @ www.garrettrealty.com.