A Panhandle Paradise!

As Bill and I continue to find and explore portions of the country that we have missed – even with traveling nationwide for 12 years – we found ourselves this week in Rosemary Beach, Florida. Located in the panhandle between Panama City and Destin, Rosemary Beach is a luxurious oasis, founded as recently as 1995. At one moment you may think you are in a cozy European town with cobblestone streets, Spanish influence, and quaint eateries and shops, or at other times you may realize that you are in a very exclusive beach front community, with no property listed for less than a million or more – some much more! It is said that Rosemary is similar to Barcelona, Spain, both in climate and friendliness.

We settled into our Airbnb on Sunday, March 3 – comfortable yet somewhat tacky in decor – and took to the cobbled streets to explore. After walking through the weekly Farmer’s Market, we headed to the beach. The beach is amazing with pure white sand, and the eateries you pass in Barrett Square are all very inviting. We stopped at Cowgirl Kitchen, where we enjoyed our first drink and feasted on a NYC quesadilla – a twist on the traditional, stuffed with pastrami, pickles and slaw, along with fish tacos.We quickly discovered that we were on the verge of Spring Break, with the ultimate influx beginning the day after we depart – which is fine and preferable! Already however, we noticed many groups of young girls, dressed like they were on the prowl, and the girl groups outnumbered the boy groups!

I had read about a Chinese Lantern SeaLight Festival, so we traveled about 20 miles south to Miramar Beach on Sunday night to experience it. There were over 1,000 lanterns, created by Chinese artisans, using small pieces of silk cloth and steel wire. They were amazing to say the least! Some of the highlights included…

A Bianzhong, which is a musical instrument, dating back to the period between 475-221 BC, comprised of 65 bells, each producing 2 distinct tones, based on where the bell is struck.

Twenty-five cats, each having a different facial expression.

More than 50 little chicks, again with varying expressions.

A “flamboyance” of flamingoes which reminded me of a sign we had seen in a local store… “In a world of pigeons, be a flamingo!” How true!

At the end of the lantern walk-through was a tent where items and food could be purchased. We discovered Takoyaki…but passed!

One of the wonderful things that Bill and I received from our 12 years of traveling the country was the friendship of many amazing people. On Monday, after a long bike ride and exploration of Seaside and Seagrove Beach, we met Brian and Deb Castell and their pup, Remy, of course. We had the pleasure of working with them in Cape Cod at Atlantic Oaks Campground and have remained in touch throughout their travels and ours. We realized that they were going to be camping in the same area, so we met up at The Perfect Pig for lunch and spent several hours catching up on each other’s lives and travels. Bill feasted on grouper tacos while I enjoyed a Parmesan encrusted grilled cheese with avocado and bacon – both amazing! When working with Deb and Brian, Bill would always meet Remy with treats, so of course he brought him a few! It was great to see them all!

After lunch, Bill and I traveled up to Panama City Beach, east of us, and we drove the coastal road and stopped and walked the Panama City Beach pier.

After such a filling lunch, we didn’t need much dinner, but we grabbed a wagyu hot dog at Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs- amazing – one of the food trucks in Seaside, another coastal town close to Rosemary Beach. Another funfilled exploratory day in the panhandle!

Tuesday, unfortuanately, was a rainy day, but we made the most of it. After a stop for coffee and a donut at the Donut Hole, we ventured to Destin, west of where we were staying. Along the way we stopped at an Outlet Center and then a higher end shopping area. If you know me and Bill, you know we have no trouble shopping!

Our rainy day ended remarkably with dinner at Surfing Deer, a restaurant in Seagrove. Named for a local character, Cube McGee, who in the 1940’s had a pet deer named Bambi, Cube is responsible for shaping Seagrove into the vibrant, soulful place it is today. Each morning they could be seen on the beach, playing in the surf, and rumor has it that you might even see a deer playing in the surf at sunrise if you look close enough. We had an amazing dinner – Bill with scallops and myself with short ribs that were to die for, with french onion risotto, cremini mushrooms and guyere cheese. These entrees along with cocktails, wine and Irish coffee made for an unbelievable dinner!