OUR BEACH TRIP + FAVORITES ON 30A

We just got back from a semi-relaxing vacation (can you really relax all that much when traveling with little ones?). We packed up our car and headed for one of my favorite places in the world, 30A. I say 30A because we were all over that road. We had an incredible time with our friends and snuck away a good bit to explore as a family. We also took every opportunity to soak up the salt water and sand. "Salt life" and "YOLO" were our trip themes. We stayed with one of my very best friends and her family as well as some other awesome folks. I grew up vacationing in Seaside, so it's always nostalgic to be there and I'm always amazed by how much it has changed over the years. One of our first stops was Barefoot BBQ which is a food truck in Seaside. We are mildly obsessed with this bbq and may or may not have eaten here three times. The bbq nachos are the absolute jam, just make sure you share them with someone. So.good. Our favorite way to follow up the bbq (did I mention how great the macaroni and cheese + baked beans are?) is to walk over the lawn to Heavenly for some amazing gelato. Some of my favorite flavors: mocha, salted caramel, tahitian vanilla, and nutella. Um and yes I did have them all while we were there. Other foods of note in Seaside: Veggie wrap from Raw and Juicy, Wild Bill's hot dogs, tacos from the Taco Bar, and the fries from Pickles. Yum! As far as shopping in Seaside goes, I didn't get to do a ton of that, but these are some of my favorite shops that I at least had to breeze through:

Duckies - great kids shop with a lot of my favorites like Zebi baby, Toysmith, Rody, etc

Sundog Books - one of my all-time favorite book stores. We always let Matilda pick out a souvenir book. Records can be found upstairs.

Perspicasity - really awesome open air market with great sarongs, straw hats, cute sandals, and fun jewelry.

If you visit on the weekend, check out the farmer's market. Plenty of fresh produce and fun local treats. We actually stayed in Santa Rosa which is a short drive to Seaside, Rosemary, WaterSound, Alys, and Water Colors. While the charm isn't quite so rich, the rates are better and they have the Donut Hole. Maybe reason enough to stay there? The beach was lovely and we made sure to take a sunrise walk as well as a few sunset strolls during our stay. We had friends just a few houses down on the beach so we set up camp every day and the kids (there were eight!) literally made sand castles for 8 hours. We got lucky and the kids napped almost every day on the beach. The key is having a tent my friends. One of my favorite memories was taking the kids to look for crabs. They each had a flashlight and it was incredible to watch. I asked Matilda what she thought about the crabs the next morning and she said they were "freaky deaky." She's her mother's child, what can I say? We ended up making a really fun morning ritual out of going to get a bag of donuts and bringing them to Starbucks to go with our lattes. They have this really lush patio with lots of succulents, tropical plants, and a koi pond. Wish our coffee shop at home was like that. Our last day was spent at the pool at WaterSound. Aren't those dunes and house amazing? Sam and I are scheming on how we can have our very own beach house. I can't wait to go back, but it's always amazing to come home. Feels so good to jump back into a routine and sleep in our own bed. Now it's birthday prep time. Matilda turns four on tuesday!

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