Rosemary Beach, FL

Three months ago I had never even heard of Rosemary Beach, Florida and now here I am, spending a week's vacation with my family.

My very good friend Amy had been determined to have a beach vacation for quite some time, and when Amy is on a mission, she will prevail.  So with a bit of research on VRBO, she found the perfect house to rent... big enough to accommodate two families.  So we were the lucky "other" family to go with them.  As it turns out, my husband has been really wanting a beach vacation too, and since I am the Official Vacation Planner for our family, I can tell you the beach was the last place I'd plan for a vacation.  I'm more of a city girl for vacations.  I know, I know, most people would think I'm crazy, but the thought of sun burns, and sand getting in everything, and squiggly squirmy things touching me in the water just doesn't appeal to me.
But I digress.

For all of you beach fans (who probably hate me right now), I will let you know that this story has a happy ending.  Yes, I can tell you now, after a full week at the beach, that I LOVED it!

Of course, I am now completely spoiled for what a beach vacation should entail.  The house we stayed in was located in a gated community with a private walkway about 100 yards from the beach (need I say more?).

Even though each day we had quite a bit of beach paraphernalia to carry, the walk was close enough that it wasn't a big deal.  The beach itself was very clean and was covered with soft, white sand.  The mornings were my favorite time because it was so quiet and empty.

The character of the neighborhood was darling, each house having a unique combination of colors.  Our bedroom was on the third floor which I loved because of the view of the rooftops.

Although I did spend everyday at the beach with the family, I had to take one afternoon for myself to go venture around the town of Rosemary Beach.  It was about a five minute walk on Hwy 30A to the shops.

Town Hall

My goal was not to shop, but just to walk around quietly and enjoy the architecture and design of the town.

However, there was one beautiful design shop that I found called Tracery.  I loved the way they created various vignettes throughout the store.  It was not a large space, but each area felt like a room of its own.  It had an eclectic feel, mixing new furniture with vintage pieces and natural artifacts, like seashells and driftwood.  They also had quite a bit of mercury glass bottles and votive holders, which I have become quite fond of in recent years.

The color scheme included variations of purples, grays, and neutrals, along with it's complimentary yellow.  There were other colors mixed in too, as you can see, but these are the colors that set the mood.

As it turns out, this is one of two stores, the other is in Alabama.  But beyond this, Tracery is an interior design firm.  Check out their website Tracery to see their portfolio.


As I continued on my walk, I also found a couple of restaurants that I wanted to come back to with my husband.

The bonus of going on a family vacation with another family is that you have built-in, trustworthy babysitters for a date night.  So the next evening for our date, Lance and I walked to the shops area to check out the restaurants I had found earlier.  The first was La Crema.... a tapas restaurant.  Since we spent our honeymoon in Spain, we celebrate every wedding anniversary by eating at a tapas restaurant.  La Crema has an outside patio area and the smell that was waffling through the air was amazing.

But since our anniversary is in May and this was August, and we were at the beach, we decided to eat at a seafood restaurant called Paradis.   It was dark and romantic - perfect for a date night.

Excuse the graininess of the following camera-phone photos.  It was a date after all, so I didn't have my Nikon with me. :)

They used a lot of mercury glass throughout the space.

Mercury glass candle votive.

The hammered flatware was a nice touch of texture that coordinated with the decor.

For the appetizer we shared the Diver Scallops:

Scallops seared and served with wild mushrooms, sweet pea risotto and a carrot beurre blanc.

As an entree, I had the Stuffed Shrimp Paradis:

Grilled jumbo wild shrimp, crabmeat stuffed and pancetta wrapped.  Served with smoked cheddar corn souffle and red curry sauce.

Lance had the Paradis Grouper:

Grilled grouper over sauteed lobster orzo and fennel, roasted squash and a beurre blanc.

It was all delicious, but we felt as stuffed as the shrimp, so we decided not to have dessert.  We walked around the shopping area, found a little coffee shop and sat at the sidewalk tables.  Very relaxing evening... and a very relaxing vacation.

This may end up as this year's Christmas photo

So the moral of this story is to try new things and not be so set in your ways because you just might discover something new about the world around you or even yourself.

Until next time,