by Ken Alan
Our concierge discovers the perfect southern-situated beachfront hideaway
2013 hasn’t been my best year.
Actually it has been a fantastic year, a really productive and exciting time in my life. My son just turned eighteen (college-ho soon enough!), my daugh- ter is now in the throes of her “tween- age” years at twelve (“Oy, vey!”), and my wife and I are doing well health and job wise. Oh, I finally bought that sweet little two-seat roadster I’ve always wanted. It’s “look-at-me” red. Now I can drive toward my mid-life crisis in style!
But I lost my dad in May. He left us after a brief battle with cancer.
After his passing, time seemed so much more fleeting that it had been prior, and also, many once set-in- stone arrangements began to quickly take a backseat to more pressing family matters.
Among these drastic changes was the cancellation of the family trip - “The Big One.” We were supposed to go to Paris.
Still, we just had to get away, and by August at the latest, if possible, which just couldn’t arrive quickly enough for us.
“We’re going where?” my wife asked when I came home with the news. “The Emerald Coast of Florida,” I told her. “Where’s that?” she wanted to know. “It’s along The Florida Panhandle,” I explained.
“Great. Um, where’s that?”
Okay, Florida’s Emerald Coast doesn’t exactly have the same verbal zing as, say, “Miami,” “Tampa” or “The Keys.” In fact, most of us here the Mid- Atlantic haven’t even heard of this spectacular region along The Panhandle, which runs west of Panama City to Destin, just east of Pensacola and not too far from the Alabama border.
It’s a sub-tropical slice of the Gulf that absolutely astounds the senses, due in part to the unexpected charm of its quaint coastal towns, which are a per- fect mÈlange of salty, palm-lined waters (the deep jewel-green waves giving this area its gemological name); a “total package” for the visitor - beaching-it or laying poolside, scads of shopping at adorable independent stores and international retailers; golf- ing, plus tons of other outdoor activi- ties and sports...
And then there’s Highway 30a.
This twenty-four mile macadam con- nector is a nothing-like-it state route ramble: Think good old Route 66, add to that the Americana-feel of family- favorite shore towns and tons of scenery; lots of shore biking and nifty stops along the way, and there you have this unheralded, yet ulti- mately exciting, sun and fun para- dise.
It’s a Bucket List-worthy drive whether you’re in a car or on two wheels.
Our airplane departed at 7:30am out of PHL, and after one quickie layover in Atlanta we had a car rented at Panama City’s airport and were checked-in by lunchtime [Travel Note: Southwest flies direct out of BWI to Panama City].
Billing itself “The Coastal Retreat with a Southern Accent,” Watercolor Inn doesn’t just tout its warm hospitality and outstanding accommodations - industry sages such as Conde Nast Traveler (“Gold List”) and Travel & Leisure (“Top 50 Resort in U.S. and Canada”) do it for them on a perennial basis.
Unlike nearby Destin’s blocky high rise resorts, or some of the coastline’s simpler B&Bs, Watercolor is the per- fect mix of everything - golf on three competitive nearby courses, tennis, water sports, biking, hiking and fishing - or nothing: Lounge under an umbrel- la along sugar fine beachfront, or, by one of the resort’s splashy pools.
For lodging there are 60 beautifully appointed, newly renovated boutique guest rooms, and 499 lush acres through
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