1) Birmingham News Online - The Love Shack Restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach
Lovin' A New Destin-Area Restaurant
Posted by Susan Swagler -- Birmingham News June 20, 2008
It's funky, fun and family friendly. The Love Shack decor is simple but tasteful with lots of warm wood and works by local artists. The tin roof is not at all rusted.
That's because The Love Shack is a brand-new Destin-area restaurant. (It's near the bay off East Hewett Road, which is off U.S. 98 just west of where U.S. 98 and County Road 30A intersect.) Open now for little over a month, it is as funky as the place in the B-52s' song -- but in a nice, rather sophisticated way. For one thing, it's not really a shack; but it is casual enough that families will love it. Also, it appears to have a solid local following -- always a good sign in an area full of touristy restaurants.
Inside, pretty lighting glows on warm wood walls and is reflected and repeated by strategically placed mirrors. These walls are decorated with schools of fish paintings, some on old barn wood, others are sculpture. Most are by local artist Joe Elmore (www.elmoreslanding.com). There also are several paintings by Justin Gaffrey, who has a gallery and studio down the road on 30A (www.gaffreyart.com). His thickly painted canvases of flowers and fish are dramatic and distinctive.
A wall of windows looks out onto a patio with a lovely pool and a small dance floor where a disco ball creates a colorful pool of glittering light. The actual pool, which features several pretty, graceful fountains, is open for diners (the restaurant is part of a new condo complex; everyone shares). Pack your swimsuit if you're so inclined; pack your kids' swimsuits if you want a little grown-up time at your table. Read More...
2) Wander over to picture-perfect south Walton County
Tallahassee.com By Andy Lindstrom • SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT • July 15, 2008
Strictly speaking, the Beaches of South Walton run from just west of Panama City's high rises to the luxury hotels and maxi-malls of Sandestin by Choctawhatchee Bay.
But the heart of south Walton County's stunning string of world-class beaches and summer homes is County Road 30-A, 18 miles of nostalgia-inducing resort communities fitted around zealously guarded scrub acres and sea-oat-crowned sand dunes that make the area unmatched for gently managed nature in the Florida Panhandle.
Seaside, the state's original planned community of faux Victorian wooden cottages that has served as a template for numerous knockoffs since its early 1980s origins, may be the centerpiece for recapturing summer vacations your grandparents might remember. But more recent developments designed to cash in on that old-time atmosphere such as Seagrove Beach, WaterColor and Rosemary Beach have sprung up along a bustling little road that didn't even exist until the late 1950s.
At present, more than 14,500 rental units — most of them second homes or condos, with an estimated 65-percent to 85-percent occupancy during the summer months — are available along this part of the coast. An amazing 70 restaurants — seven of them rated among the state's Top 200 by Florida Trend magazine — make dining out a major activity. Read More...