To New Yorkers, a Florida vacation usually means Miami or Palm Beach with a little Key West or Naples occasionally thrown in. And as for timing, it’s usually anytime except the summer, when South Florida gets way too steamy for most.
Well, there’s a beautiful New Urbanist enclave in Northwest Florida between Panama City and Destin called Rosemary Beach where the season’s just getting started. While spring and fall are temperate, its true beach season mirrors our own, running from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Renowned town planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (also responsible for nearby Seaside) had a lot of lovely tricks up their respective sleeves when designing the town — pocket parks, pedestrian footpaths, boardwalks, secret walkways and green spaces at every turn. There’s even a butterfly garden.
Everyone walks or bikes to the shops, restaurants, parks, pools and absolutely gorgeous white-sand Gulf of Mexico beach just minutes from any house you rent — the primary form of lodging.
Stay
Sultry Southern cities like Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans inspired Rosemary Beach’s evocative architectural style, including street-facing balconies, muted colors, front porches, languid shutters, pocket courtyards and flickering gaslights. Most cottages have charming carriage houses, which can be rented separately or along with the larger house. Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental (rosemarybeach.com) offers a wide range of possibilities —from a studio carriage house for two at $227 per night to a spacious four-bedroom cottage for 14 at $3,955 per week. Apartments and lofts are also available through the same company, as is the well-located Pensione Inn. It’s right in town, but steps from the beach — and with just 11 rooms, it has an intimate but luxurious feel. Summer rates start at $255 per night.
Savor
Breakfast tacos evolve into drunken shrimp tacos at funky town favorite Cowgirl Kitchen (cowgirlkitchen.net). At the other end of the spectrum is Restaurant Paradis (restaurantparadis.com), where low lighting, cushy seating and impressive chandeliers set the tone for fine dining without a hint of stuffiness. Here, local ingredients get the royal treatment: Oysters Paradis are Apalachicola oysters baked with chorizo and lump crabmeat, topped with manchego cheese. Line-caught Florida grouper arrives over lobster orzo and fennel. Former mortgage broker Kevin Neel is the town’s budding Danny Meyer with two spots humming right along. His trip to Barcelona inspired La Crema Tapas and Chocolate (lacrematapas.com) where serrano-wrapped figs are the perfect melding of salty and sweet; pair with one of the many Spanish wines. Desserts tempt children and their parents who can’t resist the triple chocolate cookies with an espresso cream center and warm chocolate sauce. Across the street, Kevin’s spiffy new Aqua Coastal Sushi (aquacoastalsushi.com) offers what seems like art-directed sushi that tastes as good as it looks. Even the ubiquitous California Roll is elevated in stature with snow and blue crab (no crab sticks here). If sushi isn’t your style, Aqua serves slim slices of tuna, Kobe beef and duck you sear yourself on hot, black river rocks. For dessert, Chocolate Sushi in Heaven appears in a dissipating cloud. Made from dark chocolate rolled with sweet coconut, chocolate ganache and toasted coconut, it’s Mounds for the discerning palate.
Sun
Rosemary Beach has plenty of town beaches, an airy fitness center, a racquet club and several artfully designed town pools. A flat, easy bike path runs through the nearby town of Alys Beach to Deer Lake State Park with its boardwalk that sweeps across a landscape of sand that looks like snow, leading to a pristine beach. Bicycle rentals are available in the town square at Bamboo Bicycle Company (bamboobicyclecompany.com). Coastal dune lakes, perfect for paddle boarding, are found throughout the area. These calm inland lakes are a local phenomenon and offer an easy intro to the sport. Sea Oats Beach Service (seaoatsbeachservice.com) arranges rentals of boards, boats and all things beachy — even the makings of a bonfire.
Shop
While Rosemary Beach is a great place to sun, it’s also a surprisingly good place to shop. Boutiques offer merchandise you’ll actually be happy to have once you’re back home. Browse the nicely curated titles at the Hidden Lantern Bookstore (thehiddenlantern.com) and test-drive your selections on the cozy blue couches. Pish Posh Patchouli’s (patchoulis.com) offers locally made soaps with names like Beach Bar and Florida Sun, as well as custom creams and artisan brands of makeup. Willow (willowchicboutique.typepad.com) carries cool apparel brands like Current Elliot and Theory. Visit Tracery (traceryinteriors.com) for home accessories — and if you end up buying a house in Rosemary Beach, tap into their sophisticated take on coastal interior design. When you need sunscreen or swimwear, head for Bombora Sun & Surf, named after an Australian term for a wave that breaks outside the normal surf line. Like just about every merchant in town, it’s a whole lot better than what you’d expect.