| The Market Shops at Sandestin. Neat place, all the shops opened to the outside, and there were these interior courtyards/atrium gardens. All the shops were unique too, like art galleries, a chocolate shop (yum), a garden art shop, several clothing stores. Not what you'd find in any old mall. |
| More of the market |
| More of the market |
| Chan's Market Cafe - the market itself wasn'tmuch of anything, they had just a few little items like crackers and the like. Wines, I think, too. The deli/cafe was the main thing. I sat out on their deck here, by the duck pond. The food was just marginal, certainly not the best I had on the trip, by a long shot. |
| A pic of Seaside, Florida. Very touristy, very crowded. I can't imagine living here. It's a tourist town, plain and simple. I'll bet few people really live here full-time. |
| Seaside again, although this could really be a picture of any of dozens and dozens of communities along the coast. Seaside was built with this idea of "new urbanism", a walkable town where cars weren't supposed to be needed - but if anything I think it's just a "new suburbanism". The pastel cottages with their white trim and tin roofs are being cloned and plopped down in developments all around this area, and even elsewhere in the country (I've seen similar developments in Texas). I dunno, maybe its just cuz I'm a Texan, but I'd rather have a unique home with a BIG lot, rather than being crowded in at arm's length from a bunch of cookie cutter neighboring homes... |
| Of all the stops along 30-A, Grayton Beach was my favorite. Uncrowded, small, yet different from the other towns hunched along the coast. Grayton seems to be hidden in the trees, just a short ways from the beach. Here's a pic of some new shops in Grayton (I didn't go visit the older/artists colony area, although I did drive by there. it's quite different from all this.) |