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I love Rosemary Beach Florida. This is my 2nd time there and it did not disappoint. This little town has grown since the last time I was there (maybe 20 years ago) but it has not lost any of its charm or vitality. In fact, I think it is even better.

One of the 1st things you will notice in Rosemary Beach (RB) is the architecture. There is nothing like it in the world. Every house is different. Different roofs, building materials, and styles. I remember taking about 1,000 photos last time I was there. This time…not so much.

I was there on a much needed family vacation and, as usual, I was in the moment, not in a blog post about travel. My kids took some great pics so I am using their's.

There are many rentals available in Rosemary Beach.

We rented through Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental Agency. They have a GREAT reputation and some nice houses available to rent. We are very glad that we did. We arrived at the beginning of Hurricane Sally (thankfully only in the outer edges with 40 MPH winds) and our house had a leak. The agency sent someone to look at it and tend to it right away.

We also rented through them because we then had access to all of the amenities. The pools, beach, and gym. I am not sure how VRBO, AirBNB or other rental agencies operate.

We had 2 days of solid rain…which did not stop us. We rode out bikes and got soaked (no photos of that). The ride home was incredibly hard because we were riding into the wind. And. of course, we laughed like loons! Isn't a vacation all about memories.

Rosemary Beach, FL Pearl Hotel

There is a great hotel in Rosemary Beach called the The Pearl. We were unable to go due to the hurricane. The outside is amazing. It overlooks a massive green and faces the Gulf of Mexico. Those views must be amazing!

There is a long stretch of highway called 30A with many little towns within a short distance. From Rosemary Beach we travelled north through Sea Grove, Alys Beach (all the houses are white with the same roof)…up to Seaside and then Watercolor.

We ate out every dinner except 1 (the rain was torrential). My son and his wife got a to-go meal and it was terrible – we still laugh about the menu description vs the actual meal. 🙂

All of our other meals were just amazing. We ate at:

FOOW (used to be Fish Out of Water) in Watercolor. Loved it. We celebrated 3 September birthdays that night.
The Old Florida Fish House in Santa Rosa Beach- OMG. The setting was amazing (outside) and the food was great.
Pescado in Rosemary Beach. We sat on the roof top (hence the great image in this post). Food did not disappoint. (We were not really happy with the social distancing and none of the staff wore masks.)
George's in Alys Beach. Actually we had lunch there. This was my personal favorite. I loved the weather, the setting and the food.
Bud & Alley's in Seaside. We ate inside in a secluded area – the Gumbo was perfect. So were the Scallops. They have a roof top bar and are located on the Gulf of Mexico – but it was raining when we were there.
Airstream trucks in Seaside. I had a pimento chesse grilled cheese. There were ice cream and gelato stores, PLUS a bunch of other restaurants.

What else is there to do besides eat you ask…

1. Bike riding – so flat and easy to ride. Rental areas everywhere. You can rent at the Bamboo Bicycle Company Rosemary Beach or Peddler's Bike Rental in Seagrove Beach.

2. Go to the beach. RB has the most beautiful beaches. Normally the water is turquoise and rivals the Caribbean…we had a lot of churn do to Sally. They have 3/4 private beach accesses.

3. Shop – many cute shops to hang in.

4. Go to the pools. RB has 4 pools. 1 is indoor. We did not need to make a reservation (went during Covid) but they do limit the number of people who can go in.

5. Work out at the gym. 2 great gyms. They have most everything that you would need (so I am told 🙂

6.Relax and hang. Check out all the other towns and the great architecture.