As many of us have experienced this year, lots of things have been different – vacations, eating out, weddings, etc. We had to cancel vacations, haven’t seen our friends and family as much and have been cooped up in our houses for a good portion of 2020. Because our trip to Italy was cancelled, we decided to head to Seaside for a week to enjoy the beach and escape reality! We were lucky enough to use a family friend’s house just steps from the beach but there are so many rental options there – one recommendation was using 360 Blue.

Seaside, 30A, and Watercolor – they’re all picture perfect with the cutest beach houses, fun shops and restaurants and people walking or biking everywhere!

We were able to stay socially distant on the beach and enjoy the sand and the sun without worrying too much about germs. A hurricane had just rolled through the week before we got there so the water was a little murky the first few days but once it cleared up it was STUNNING. I’m talking picture perfect felt like I was in the Bahamas water! I highly recommend going if you’ve never been!

Food

We tried to balanced eating out with eating at the house so we didn’t get to try too many places but I’ve listed some that we went to and a quick review of them!

Louis Louis

Our first night in Watercolor we drove to Louis Louis for dinner. We sat out front under a tent they had set up and the tables were socially distant. I thought the food was excellent – the salmon was cooked to perfection, the mashed potatoes were delicious and the creme brulee for dessert was to die for!

Great Southern Cafe

Great Southern Cafe offers breakfast, lunch and dinner but we decided to go for dinner early on in our trip. Due to COVID they had a large tent set up in front of the restaurant for plenty of outdoor dining but that didn’t stop the food from being delicious and the service was great too! I highly recommend eating here while on your trip!

Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water is located right by the Watercolor Inn and the pool. I have to be honest – I ordered the fried shrimp basket with fries and wasn’t too impressed. Everyone else in our party seemed to be fairly satisfied with their meal so I must have ordered the wrong thing! If you can, try to get a table outside that overlooks the Gulf while you enjoy your meal.

Meltdown on 30A

Meltdown on 30A is an airstream food truck located in the Seaside Circle with any kind of grilled cheese imaginable! I ordered a regular grilled cheese and added brisket and WOW it was delicious.

Heavenly’s Shortcake and Ice Cream

Centrally located in the Seaside Circle, this ice cream shop was a popular spot for tourist after dinner. They have flavors of ice cream, gelato and sorbet. We went probably three times during out stay and it got better each visit!

Donut Hole

Donut Hole is one of those staple restaurants you have to try while you’re in the Seaside area! They have a normal menu with a variety of entrees but they also have a case of donuts – we ate a normal sit down meal and then got some donuts to go!

Tips for Seaside

Order groceries for pick up or delivery

We ordered ahead of time on the Instacart app and had our groceries delivered the day after we got there as we arrived a day early thanks to the Hurricane! You can see what they have shopped and the shopped will communicate through the app if a certain item is out of stock and what you’d like to replace it with. It was nice having someone else do the physical shopping for us and getting it delivered so we didn’t have to run around the grocery store with 6-8 people getting food! If you’ve never used Instacart before, use code MBARRENTINE17416B for $10 off your first order!

Make sure to wear sunscreen

Being that I have very fair skin, I am usually pretty good about applying sunscreen often after my fair share of burns in my 27 years. The one thing I didn’t account for was getting sunburnt shins while it was extra cloudy out – note to self: put sunscreen on no matter the weather! Definitely apply it after getting back out of the ocean and drying off – my dad learned the hard way with that one.

Catch a beach sunset

Be sure to catch a sunset on the beach at least one night while you’re there! It’s picture perfect, the beach is usually fairly quite and the waves are very relaxing.

All in all, it was a great trip with friends and family and I cannot wait to go back!

XO,
Morgan