With my family being in Orlando and Jake’s in Massachusetts we alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving. Instead of going to Orlando we decided to make a full blown family vacation in Rosemary Beach, FL. None of us had been, but it was a place I always wanted to go, so I got my whole family on board. They were immediately sold when they saw the house I picked.
We stayed in a rental house I found on Airbnb – I’ll link the exact house at the end. It was five bedrooms and seven bathrooms – a huge outdoor kitchen, tv/patio area. We were all in love with it’s beachy charm. Our house ended up being perfect – central to everything, with a tram that drove us to the beach, four bikes to get around the town, and smack dab in the middle of Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach. Each morning we were able to walk to coffee and bike to shops. It was perfect! The roof of our house had a great view with the ocean and perfect sunsets in the distance.
Rosemary Beach is very family friendly! There are lots of open lawns to play on, live music and family friendly restaurants. The first day we arrived we had our thanksgiving dinner – ordered from Whole Foods and picked up on the way.
Day #2 was our first full day with lots of exploring to do. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant, La Cocina. The food was great and the margaritas were strong – my kind of place! We walked around the town and popped into the shops. We also checked out The Pearl hotel and relaxed on the lawn that overlooks the beach.
On Day #3 we took the tram in our neighborhood over to the beach. It ran every 15 minutes or so and held 8 people plus our beach stuff. The rental house had beach chairs, an umbrella, beach toys and a bottle of sunscreen which was nice to have! The water was kind of chilly but it was very sunny and the beach was full! The beach was huge – lots of white sand and a shower to rinse at the top.
Day #4 was full of bike riding and shopping. We checked out the Seaside Neighborhood and spent a lot of time in Alys Beach. The weather started to get a bit chilly and we noticed that everyone that was there for Thanksgiving was leaving. This part of town is VERY seasonal. By the Monday everyone was gone and Tuesday the place was a ghost town – a lot of the restaurants also shut down for the season.
If we were to go back we would definitely want to go for a spring break or the summertime. Thanksgiving was great weather-wise but because it’s a seasonal destination the stores and restaurants were either closed or packed. I know summer is the busiest time, so keep that in mind if you’re interested!
Here’s the listing for the house I found on Airbnb. It was a 10/10 in our book!
https://abnb.me/fOyJhj2h52
Have you been to 30A? Let me know your favorite spots!
xo,
Jacci
