Where to Rent Your Beach Bikes on 30A

This is a picture of my sister's Pink Cadillac Beach Cruiser, the ultimate in beach biking comfort and style! Strap on the wicker basket and she is ready for the Farmers Market in Seaside, a little shopping at Rosemary's Wine and Cheese shop or just feeling the wind in her hair and the warm sun on her back as she cruises down the bike bath on 30A.

If you would like to experience this simple pleasure for yourself, there are dozens of bike rental businesses along 30A that have bikes to suit every age group. Many of them will deliver the bikes to your door and pick them up at the end of your vacation. Below is is list of links for a few of them:

Big Fish Bike Rentals: http://www.bigfishbikerentals.com/
Butterfly Bike and Kayak: http://www.butterflybikeandkayakrentals.com/
Sunny Days Bike Rental: http://www.sunnydaysbikes.com/
Big Daddy's Bikes and Beach: http://www.bigdaddysrentals.com/
Bamboo Bicycle Company at Rosemary Beach: http://www.bamboobicyclecompany.com/
Live Well 30A Concierge Services: http://www.livewell30a.com/

Biking Scenic Highway 30A

One of the great pleasures of vacationing in the beach communities of S. Walton is hiking or biking the 30A trail known as the Timpoochee Trail. This is a wide paved trail the runs parallel to Scenic Highway 30A, about 20 miles in length. It is mostly flat and meanders through some of the most stunning scenery in the panhandle. In addition to passing through all of the beach communities of 30A, from Inlet Beach on the East end to Grayton Beach at the West End and continuing to Highway 98, visitors will see rare coastal dune lakes, pine hammocks, secluded beaches, old Florida and new Florida architecture, wild flowers, a large variety of waterfowl, possibly a few alligators, deer and maybe even a black bear. For a preview, visit this link which has a map and photo tour of the trail: http://www.discover30a.com/tour/tour.html?/discover/guideto30a.asp

Caliza Restaurant at Alys Beach

One of the great joys of staying at our Seacrest Beach home is the opportunity to sample the menus of many fine restaurants, all within walking distance. Case in point, the stunning outdoor dining at Caliza, the pool at next door Alys Beach. Whether you plan to drop by for pre-dinner cocktails or make an evening of it, time spent in this gorgeous setting promises a visual and gastronomic feast. Follow this link for more information, more pictures, and to view the menus for Caliza: www.calizarestaurant.com/

30A Guide

Greetings again, fellow beach lovers. Today's post is to alert you to a great site for news, reviews and commentary about our favorite vacation communities along Scenic Highway 30A in the Florida Panhandle. The site is http://www.30aguide.com/ If you are planning to visit the area, the 30A Guide is a great place to start. See you at the beach!

Need a Little Sunshine?

And who doesn't need a little sunshine this time of year? Click on this link to view see what is happening at the beach in real time: http://www.alysbeach.com/BeachCam/tabid/225/Default.aspx

This is the beach cam from beautiful Alys Beach. In the late afternoon it points to the west so you can enjoy sunset at the beach!

Cheap Flights to the Panhandle!

Great news! Vision Airlines is offering several new economy non-stop flights to/from the Destin airport! The Destin airport is approx. 30 miles West of Seacrest Beach and an easy drive on US 98.

As some of you may already know, there is a brand new international airport in Bay county, less than 10 miles East of Seacrest Beach. This airport, the Northwest Florida Beaches International airport, can handle jumbo jets for international travel and also has a Southwest Airlines hub, providing yet another avenue of economical and convenient air travel to the area. Our concierge service can arrange pick up and delivery of your party from either airport if needed.

A Few Words About Last Year and BP

The above picture was taken at Seacrest Beach in August of 2010. As you can see, the beach is sparkling white and the water is crystal clear. Along our part of the Panhandle beaches we were very fortunate that there was very minimal impact due to the horrific BP Deep Water Horizon oil platform explosion and subsequent oil spill. However, vacationers canceled their reservations in the area in droves, and the local businesses suffered great hardship due to the lack of business at a peak time. BP was slow to pay and still hasn't come close to making up for the disastrous results of their carelessness. Bargain-hunters sought to take advantage of the precarious financial position of many of the vacation homeowners and made demands of up to 60% off usual summer rental rates because, as I was told, some rental money is better than no rental money, right? For the record, no, some rental money is not better than no rental money because at some point it is just not worth the wear and tear on your property and it deflates fair market values for all the other vacation home-owners. Rather than play this "make me a deal game," we decided to take our home off the rental market and use it more ourself, but not every business owner was in a position to do this. Many suffered great financial losses, all because there was the perception that our beaches were ruined by the oil. We were much luckier than beaches in other states. No thanks to BP, but our beaches were NOT ruined, far from it, and there were daily photos of the beach, webcam links and water quality test results to prove it. We are entering into a new rental season and we would like to thank our guests who honored their reservations last year and did not cancel at the last minute by giving them a 15 % discount on the rental rate this year. We all look forward to many glorious days on the beach this year and invite you to come and visit the 30A area. It is still as beautiful as ever. Come and see for yourself.