Our story about what’s great about living on 30a. My wife Karen Holder and I first found 30A in August of 1990 and immediately moved to the area and adopted it as our home. It was a very different place back then. The pace of life was slow and most of the extracurricular activity along 30A was dominated by locals. Seaside was establishing itself and garnering the attention of architects and planners from across the country. The Winters along 30A in the early 90’s were slow and uneventful. Fast forward to 2013 and it is almost like a different universe.
30A has truly been discovered first by people from throughout the Southeast and now by people from across the United States. The popularity of 30A as a vacation destination has reached a level where we are now challanged with managing the growth here in a responsible way. Building, sign and noise ordinances have done much to keep the ‘vibe’ here on the beach from getting too fast paced and unmanageable. So…given the changes we have experienced, the question we ask ourselves now is this…”what is it you love about living here on 30A?”
One of the first things that comes to mind is the fact that we do not have a lot of bar oriented night spots along 30A. Most places where you can go enjoy a happy hour or just catch a quick cocktail are also restaurants. The way I like to describe it is that we have restaurants that serve drinks and not bars that serve food; big difference. This has been a big reason why 30A is a “family destination”.
Another thing I like about Hwy 30A is that we have had an influx of artists and musicians who now call 30A home or who participate in many of the festivals and concerts that are constantly taking place here throughout the entire year. There is music for every taste, great venues along 30A for listening to live music and the now quite famous 30A Songwriters Festival that draws thousands to our community once a year. We have many artists who are recognized on a regional and national level who have galleries here on 30A and also offer their work on a consignment basis in many of the shops found along the beach. The 30A Arts Festival is an annual event here that attracts artists from around the country offering outstanding work in all mediums of expression.
Hands down the single biggest reason we like living here on 30A is the beach !!! There is no other area in this part of the country that has the clear, emerald green waters along with the snow white beaches here. We are fortunate in that the watershed that runs to the Gulf of Mexico here is filtered through limestone and quartz which gives the water its beautiful color and the sand its brilliant snow white color. I am sure everyone has their own list of things they love about 30A and I would bet that “the beautiful beaches” would be somewhere on everyone’s list.