30A Travel Guide
It’s September! Holy moly, where is the time going? Between school starting and summer coming to an end, I feel like the last few weeks have flown by at a rapid pace.
My sister, cousin, and I snuck away for one last summer hoorah on a girl’s trip to Seaside, FL and it was one for the books. We stayed near Seagrove Beach on 30A, and found this great little cottage just walking distance to the ocean!
The first morning we walked down to this cute little breakfast place called Prema Organic Cafe right on Highway 30A, and got some delicious smoothie bowls and the best coffee. Everything was organic, healthy, and SO YUMMY. Mmm. I wanna go back just for the food alone! We headed to the beach after that and it was the most gorgeous day. A few things I would recommend for the beach:
Pack 1-2 beach towels. I didn’t pack any and assumed there would be spares at the beach house, but there weren’t any, so we had to share towels, which was fine, but it’s just nice to have one to keep the sand off.
A lounge chair and some type of shade (if you can). We saw lots of people setting up their EZ-ups in the morning and staking out a good spot on the sand. The later it got in the day, the more crowded the beach got, and it made it hard to find a good spot.
Lots of snacks and lots of water! We didn’t rent a car for this trip so we didn’t get any groceries and mostly just ate the remainder of the snacks we brought on the plane, so we were all pretty hungry by the time we left the beach. A cooler would have been nice too so we could have kept the water cold, but since we flew, we didn't have as many amenities as we might have if we had driven.
A speaker or something to play music. I actually brought one but I think the sound was going out on it so it wasn’t near loud enough. We could hear lots of other music around us, which was fun, but also a bit conflicting to hear multiple people in different directions playing music, so our own would have been nice to listen to in our spot. A bonus would be if it’s waterproof so you can bring it out into the ocean and keep the vibes going!
A waterproof phone case. I use this one below from Walmart and even though it’s cheap, it really is the best!
This might sound a little odd, but honestly bring a first-aid kit! First day there I got a wicked jellyfish sting and it hurt so bad! Luckily, since we were staying close by, my sis walked back to the cottage and brought some supplies back down to the beach for me. The apple cider vinegar and Advil ended up helping the most for pain. I literally asked my cousin while she was gone if she knew anything that helps with jellyfish pain and she goes “well…I could pee on it..” Hahahaha (iykyk).
If you plan on walking, pack some good, comfortable shoes. Since we didn’t rent a car, so we mostly walked everywhere and it was pretty fun! There are lots of places to eat and plenty of sights to see and the houses along 30A were amazing. So many cute and quaint beachfront properties mixed in with the luxurious and extravagant ones that left us with all the heart eyes. Our favorite place within walking distance was definitely Seaside. It ended up being about a mile from where we stayed and it POURED down rain on us on our walk there, haha, but then we saw the most beautiful rainbow and a gorgeous sunset from the rooftop!
I recommend getting a rooftop spot at Bud and Alley’s if you can! The view was incredble.
Aside from the beach, my favorite part of the trip was hands down our spa day at Hotel Effie. We hopped over to Sandestin for a few hours on Saturday and spent the afternoon at the spa. I booked the Hot Sea Salt Stone massage and lemme tell you IT WAS AMAZING. Wow. Just wow. It was different than I expected; the stones weren’t smooth like I imagined, but I liked them so much more! I had Cindy as my masseuse and she was extraordinary. The massage itself was wonderful, but what made it even more fun was that we got there early and got enjoy the Relaxation Room beforehand in our cozy robes and slippers, complete with a glass of champagne and snacks. We didn’t want to ever leave!
We spent the evening at the rooftop bar enjoying a fun drink and good music and loved the view!
I would highly recommend spending a day at the spa and going up to roof afterwards if you’re going to be near Hotel Effie or the Sandestin area. We can’t wait to go back!
XO,
Meg
