Beach at Night
John Wellborn • August 02, 2016
Beach at Night
The beach at night is one of the most underused assets of 30A. Many of my best memories of 30A occurred on the beach after sunset. Here are a few things you must try while you are here:
Go for a walk the beach
Completely safe at night. I have never in my life felt unsafe nor have I ever heard of any incidents on the beach (actually, I’ve never heard of one during the day either) in my thirty years of being here. A beach walk at night is as peaceful as anything you will ever do. My favorites are Seagrove Beach around Dear Lake Park, Grayton Beach and Grayton Beach State Park, Rosemary Beach and Inlet Beach and Seaside.
Beach fire
Get the family and/or friends down to the beach for a fire. We do these for guests all year and they almost always tell me it was the best night of the trip. I had a the mother of a family of 18 (including grandparents, cousins, etc) or so recently tell me that the last day of the trip they all were eating dinner and she asked “what was the highlight of the trip?”. They went around the room one at a time and every single person said the beach fire. I’m not sure what it is- the sand, the fire, the water, the s’mores or maybe just good quality time with the family with little distraction of TV and ipads. Whatever it is, it works. Usually when a family does one fire with us they end up doing it every time they come down. My favorite spots are Grayton Beach, Dune Allen and Inlet Beach just East of Rosemary Beach. We can also do beach bonfires for Seaside and Watercolor guests.
Go for a night swim or a night paddle
This is for the adventurous ones of you out there. I used to go swim every night during the Summer and still do it fairly regularly. This is a true high you can’t get many places. I’ve been swimming in the Gulf for 30 years and have never had any kind of problem. Summer nights are the best when it’s warm and the water is calm. Grayton Beach and Seagrove Beach are great!
Watch for shooting stars
At a beach fire recently, an eighty year old woman told me she had never seen a shooting star. I immediately grabbed her hand and led her away from the fire. Within about 35 seconds we saw a huge star blaze across the sky. She was completely amazed. This has happened to me several times since I’ve been putting together beach fires for 30A guests. I see them constantly- probably 20-30 a night when I’m out there for more than 30 minutes. Here are my tricks: look away from the light of Panama City or Destin or a house that’s close with the lights on, don’t look at a specific place- just try to relax and slowly scan the sky not really looking at any one place (similar to how you would look at a painting or a body of water). Lastly, relax. Slow your breathing down, try to connect with the universe and wait for the lights to shine. A little wine helps to see more shooters too.
Live Well 30A services include: bike rentals, beach chair rentals, beach bonfires, golf cart rentals, yolo and paddle board rentals, kayak rentals, airport shuttles on 30A, transportation on 30A, baby crib and highchair rentals, chef services, concierge services and much more.
Live Well 30A serves all of 30A including Rosemary Beach, Seaside, Watercolor Beach, Watersound Beach, Alys Beach, Grayton Beach, Blue Mountain Beach, Seagrove Beach, Inlet Beach and Dune Allen.
Live Well. Love Much. Vacation Often.
