February 5 -6, 2011 Grayton Beach, the famous Seaside, and SuperBowl!

We camp at Grayton next to an Airstreamer from Canada. He too thought it would be warm.

In the morning we drive east on 30A in what feels like our first sunny day and our spirits bloom. Soon we spy a lagoon with a solitary boat adding visual contrast. 

Then, with no warning, the road splits around some palms and we enter a beautiful planned community called Water Color. We drive a few blocks in little traffic and a few bicycles and find ourselves in Seaside, a planned community that predates Water Color. Although both are residential with small retail, Water Color seems more resort oriented and has an inn.

As I keep qualifying in this blog, it is January. Few people are around and we have no problem parking next to a small charter school. We walk around both developments admiring the friendly small-scale architecture, pastels, covered porches, inconspicuous and rare garages, walking distances, and silence. The homes all have signs with the names of the owners, but perhaps most owners are here only in the summer. This looks like a community where the seniors ride three-wheeled bicycles, kids always wear bicycle helmets, and you never hear loud TVs. We speak quietly although there is nobody to notice.

We walk toward the water in Seaside. On a narrow road behind an Amphitheater we spy a bunch of Airstreams and think we have encountered our NorCal buddies. As we approach we realize all six are vintage trailers on blocks, making an appealing row of snack shops. Naturally, we have lunch.

After lunch we walk through some shops and down to a beautiful clean white beach. We return and explore Water Color and circle around Seaside, but find there are few walkways or roads connecting the communities and we backtrack. It is easy to fantasize living or vacationing here, but a Zillow look-up shows most of the properties sell around a million dollars. Time to move on.

Driving east along the coast encountering yet another planned community, this in a Mediterranean motif. We continue to Panama City and explore its beautiful beaches, but the community has less appeal. It is high-rise oriented and the downtown is essentially a mall turned inside out. Guest Services suggests some places for dinner, but we turn down the Simon Properties spots and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and elect instead to go to the Red Bar in Grayton, which we hear is nice for seafood. This is our last night feral and a celebration is in order, as tomorrow we arrive in Tallahassee and the start of the WBCCI Florida Fantasy caravan.

We arrive at the Red Bar and walk to the beach in time for a beautiful sunset. On return to the restaurant to find it packed with Superbowl revelers and the dinner menu has been suspended; instead, for $10 each, we settle for bottomless appetizers including smoked salmon, quesadillas, chicken tenders, Jello shots, stuffed jalapenos, fried mozzarella, egg rolls, a hot dog, and a bowl of chili. We leave satisfied at half-time and are surprised we cannot catch the rest of the game on our trailer TV.

This is our last night as independent travelers for several months, and the end of at least this phase of our Florida blog.