Looking for a condo next to beautiful Rosemary Beach, Florida?

We are in the process of building a beach house in Inlet Beach, just next to Rosemary Beach, Florida. Now that we are nearing the completion of the architectural plans for our house, so we are listing our condo for sale.

Our condo is ideally located in Seacrest Beach, a 2 minute walk from Rosemary Beach on scenic 30-a. We have deeded beach access where a 2 minute tram ride will take you to the beautiful emerald coast shores. If you prefer to walk, it’s about a 5 minute walk to the beach.

The condo is a spacious 1,453 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It has 12 foot ceilings with travertine floors, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. We have really enjoyed the condo and I am sure you will too.

If you are interested, visit the MLS listing here: http://www.flexmls.com/link.html?1534m083v5cg,16,1. If you are interested in the condo, contact Robin Morrow at 850-570-7290. We have it listed for $379,000.

 

Our Top 20 Pictures of 2013

Traveling in 2013 – Our Favorite Pictures

After traveling for about 7 of the past 12 months, you can imagine how many pictures we took along the way.  That is why it was so hard to narrow down the list that (I think) represents the best 20 pictures.  Each picture brings back memories and reinforces how fortunate we are to have been able to experience this in 2013.

1 – Oregon

Crater Lake has to be the most beautiful lake on earth.  We felt a connectedness to nature as we sat along the top rim of rocks overlooking the lake.

Crater Lake, Oregon

2 – Grand Tetons

It took 3 days to get this picture, as the first 2 days were overcast.  It was worth the wait, the old barn in the Grand Tetons is very photogenic.

Old Barn in Grand Tetons

3 – Oregon Coast

I took this picture without even getting out of the car.  I figured it would be just another picture but once I started reviewing the pictures at the end of the day, this picture really grabbed me.  I love the saturated blue hues juxtaposed with the grey trees in front.

Oregon Coast

4 – Whistler

After taking the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain, we spotted this small lake at the top, which really stood out among the mountains in the background.

Whistler, British Columbia

5 – Rosemary Beach, Florida

Just minutes from our front steps, we took this picture on the beach as the day was coming to a close.  We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

Rosemary Beach, Florida

6 – Point Reyes, California

I love seeing the waves come crashing in during Spring at Point Reyes National Park in California.  Notice at the end of the peninsula is the Point Reyes lighthouse.

Point Reyes National Park, California

7 – Washington (State)

We came upon this rusty old truck when hiking in the Olympic National Park in Washington State.  One of friends once told me that anything old and rusty photographs well.  I agree.

Washington State

8 – Alaska

We were on a photography tour when the guide showed us how to simply point our camera towards the sun when pointed right behind plants.  I was surprised how this little trick created such a cool picture.

Alaska

9 – Grand Tetons

The Grand Teton mountains make a great backdrop to this lake we saw just outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Grand Tetons

10 – Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco offers so many great photo opportunities, the iconic Golden Gate bridge never disappoints.  We missed a better shot of the bridge.  One day fog was hovering all the way up to the middle of the bridge but we could never get into a good position to come out with a good picture of it.  I also used Photoshop to take out all colors but red for a cool look of the bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco California

Just the reds of the bridge

11 – Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone provided so many great pictures but this one stood out.  I love the foreground reds with the smoke coming out of the geyser in the background.

Yellowstone National Park

12 – Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock is probably one of the most photographed places in Cannon Beach. One day we were strolling the beach and found ducks going for a swim in the ocean. This felt very odd, as I had never seen them do that before. They lined up perfectly with Haystack Rock in the background for a great picture.

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

13 -Vancouver

Vancouver and the surrounding British Columbia area is incredibly beautiful, especially in the summer. We snapped this picture on the way from Vancouver to Whistler.

Vancouver, British Columbia

14 – Butchart Gardens, Victoria

We took lots of great floral pictures in Butchart Gardens so it was hard to narrow it down.  I really like the aperture of this picture, with the flower focused while the greenery of the background takes a backseat.

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia

15 – Alaska

I love photographing waterfalls.  We came upon this one in Alaska and it did not disappoint.  I set the shutter speed (ISO) at about 100 and set the aperture small enough to maximize focus (around f/10). That gives the water a more silky look as it falls.

Alaska Waterfall

16 – California Coast

The California coast is beautiful. I love the color of the water, the green grass and the orange cliffs.

California Coast

17 – Alaska

The shadow of the rock is what struck me when I snapped this picture.  People stack these rocks — we saw lots of this when traveling around Alaska.  Not sure why they do it, but it does create a nice photo opportunity.

Stacked Rocks in Alaska

18 – Washington Coast

We stumbled onto this secluded beach when traveling along the Washington coast.  A lot of debris gets washed up along their shores and the trees are heavily washed by the thrashing ocean.

Washington Coast

19 – Glacier Bay, Alaska

The glacier is obviously awesome but I happened to catch this seagull in mid flight, which adds a new dimension to the photo.  He was changing his direction, almost stopping on a dime.

Glacier Bay, Alaska

20 – Husky in Alaska

How can you resist photographing such a cute puppy?  This Alaskan Husky will most likely run the Iditarod in Alaska when he grows up.

Alaskan Husky

The Truman Show: Seaside, FL or Seabrook, WA?

Idyllic Town Fit for The Truman Show

When planning our trip to the Northwest US, we used the Internet to find this quaint coastal town called Seabrook.   From the pictures, it looked like a hip, upscale town, and it felt oddly familiar.  Many of my readers know we live in Florida but may not know exactly where.  We live on scenic 30-a, a beautiful coastal highway that runs along the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in a town called Seacrest.  Seacrest is nestled right between the trendy towns of Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach.

Only a few miles down 30-a is a town called Seaside, Florida.  This is where they filmed the 1998 movie “The Truman Show” (starring Jim Carrey).  In the movie, they called the town Seahaven, but most of the iconic houses, interior roads and shops were shot in Seaside. I think they chose Seaside as the location for this film because of the small beach homes with tin roofs and white picket fences.  Here are some pictures of Seaside (not all of these pictures are my originals).

If you wish to see a slide show, click here: http://www.webetripping.com/Gallery_USA_WA_Seabrook.asp

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

When we arrived in Seabrook, we talked to several of the locals and they all talked about how Seabrook was modeled after The Truman Show and Seaside, Florida.  We then knew why this felt so oddly familiar.  Since we stayed here a week, we formed our own opinions about how similar yet different the two communities are.

First, the houses in Seabrook are little more in the “New England Nantucket style”, with gray shingles and standard roofs.  We certainly have houses on 30-a in this style (think Watersound).  I think I actually prefer the look of these Seabrook homes over Seaside:

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Seabrook, Washington

Score one for Seabrook.  

Seaside has lots of little shops and plenty of eateries.  If you haven’t been to Great Southern for the best cheese grits around, you’re missing out!  Seabrook has one eatery (Mill 109).  It has good food but it is small and limiting.  Seaside has lots of food choices.

Score one for Seaside.

Seabrook has some cool hiking trails that lead you around the community and it is set in a beautiful mountain setting.  Huge alpine trees and wonderful vistas.

Score one for Seabrook.  

We brought our bikes and found that Seabrook is not very bike friendly.  You can ride around the community, but you get about 10 minutes of biking time and you run out of places to go.  As anyone that has visited Seaside and anywhere on 30-a knows, we have over 28 miles of paved bike trails on 30-a.  And most of the way, it has beach views.  Simply awesome!

I took this picture from scenic 30-a while biking

Score one for Seaside.

Seabrook is flanked by a small fishing town, Pacific Beach. This town is really small, has no movie theater, and has no endearing restaurants.  If you want to drive about 25 minutes, you can drive to Ocean Shores.  Ocean Shores does have a small theater that offers 3 different movie titles.  It offers a few touristy things to do (a casino, go carts, golf, and bowling).

But when contrasted with Seaside, it pales in comparison. In Seaside, you can take a quick trip to Pier Park with tons of restaurants, bars, fishing piers, shopping, and a proper movie theater.  Or you can jump in the car and visit Destin, who has a Bass Pro Shop, lots of restaurants, water parks, golf, mini golf and more than you can imagine to do.

Score one for Seaside.

The biggest difference between the two communities is the beach.  Seaside wins hands down.  In Seabrook, the beach has dark, mud-like sand while Seaside offers white, powdery, sugar-like sands.   In Seaside, you will see tons of people on the beach, building sand castles, swimming, surfing, snorkeling, and lounging under umbrellas.   In Seabrook, you may encounter 10 people on the beach, some flying kites and a few kids making mud pies.   With Seaside summer temperatures in the upper 80’s and low 90’s as compared to Seabrook’s mid 60’s, you can understand why.

Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Score one for Seaside.

The final contrast I’ll draw is the people.  People are friendly in both locations but you won’t hear that infamous southern drawl in Washington. For me, that is a good thing, I get tired of hearing my own southern drawl.   Now you know why these blogs are written and not in video form.  🙂

Score one for Seabrook.

Seabrook, Washington

With all that said, we think they are both great beach communities and we really enjoyed our stay. We highly recommend you visit if you travel to the Northwest US.  And of course, if you want stunning beaches, you gotta go to scenic 30-a.