One bad thing about vacations is that it can be really hard to get back into the swing of things. Our week long getaway at Grayton Beach in the Florida panhandle ranks up there as one of the most enjoyable vacations I’ve ever taken. We had plenty of time for activities, business planning, eating some great food, long walks on the white sandy beaches and of course the all important relaxing, making it hard to return to normal life.
We chose this location because Grayton Beach was voted best beach in the nation in 1994 for its white sugar sand, its state parks featuring deserted stretches of beach and a phenomenon known as coastal dune lakes which exist in only 5 locations worldwide and our recent discovery of this area’s themed developments. My wife read about Grayton Beach several years ago and we finally got the chance to take a vacation here.
We stayed in a beautiful 4 bedroom 3 bath home that was much larger than what we needed, but was also much less expensive than what it would have cost us for a room or condo at a resort or a “vacation rental” for a week. The home was ideally located in a community on Highway 30A that runs along the beach towns of Walton County. Watercolor, Seaside and Alys (pronounced Alice) Beach are some of the planned towns that were within a few minutes drive or slightly longer bike ride from our accommodations.
These meticulously scripted developments all feature shopping, tons of nice restaurants, bars, numerous coffee shops and of course ultra-pristine beaches with a non-commercial, very relaxing atmosphere. The only drawback of this Disney like lifestyle is that it’s hard to find a home in any of these planned communities valued at less than $1 million, meaning that prices in restaurants and shops are relatively expensive. As an example, the occasion did call for a tasty $12 (ouch!) margarita at what became our favorite taco bar. If you’re concerned about spending money here, it would be less expensive to be a crackhead in Grayton Beach than it would be an alcoholic (I’m sure the Chamber of Commerce will love that line).
Here are some more pictures of a super enjoyable vacation:
Beautiful beaches:
I actually got my wife to ride a Waverunner with me. Not much of an action pic, but this is where we picked up our Waverunner. It was actually several miles west of Grayton Beach in Destin, FL.
Enjoying coffee at PJ’s, the best coffee shop in Grayton Beach:
Insane property values on Grayton Beach. This is a $13 million home we saw in a real estate magazine and then realized it was right beside our development’s beach access. I’m not sure why it’s so expensive.
We had a great time, but it’s time to get back to work and implement some of the plans made on vacation and things I’ve been learning at PPC Coach to offset what is shaping up to be a very slow September for affiliate earnings. The goal is always to make life more extraordinary than it is normal.