The Beach Life

 

We spent the third week of March at our favorite vacation spot, Seaside, Florida on the panhandle between Destin and Panama City.  Although the girls wished for a bit warmer weather, as the water was chilly the first few days, Wade and I thought the weather was perfect:  highs in the mid 70's, lows in the 50's (it was actually record cool weather for there).  The air was crystal clear (usually there is a beach haze on the horizon) and both day and night we could see the highrise skylines of Panama City, 30 miles to the east, and both Destin and Fort Walton, 30 miles to the west.

the house we rented "Dreamcatcher"

This is the house we stayed in, within Seaside.  Seaside is a "new urbanist" community of beach cottages, and a "downtown" of shops, restaurants, art galleries, a grassy amphitheater, a repertory company, a public charter school, a farmers' market and community garden.  The movie, The Truman Show was filmed there some years ago.

This a view from the pavilion overlook at the end of the street our cottage was on.  Each street terminates in a pavilion and steps that lead down to the beach over the protected sea dunes and vegetation on the dunes.  These dunes protected Seaside from most of the damage from the hurricanes that hit the area during the year of Katrina and the two years following.