After experiencing what it was like living within such close proximity to the ocean, I knew I wasn’t ready to leave that feeling just yet.
Thus, I ended up in Mary Esther, a small town located in the panhandle of Florida. After speaking with the owners of the condo that I was renting, the weather was starting to warm up as was the Gulf of Mexico. While I only had four weeks in this destination, I was most looking forward to waking on the beach, relaxing in my beach chair after work and picking up a new hobby - shelling.
Much like Savannah, I am happy that I was not in Florida during the hot summer months, but the month of May provided me with picturesque weather. Nearly every day was in the mid 70s to 80s. Perfect for a beach bum if you ask me.
To be honest, I didn’t interact much with the local community as most of my time was spent exploring the miles of white sand beaches but the area seemed to be a little more diverse than a snowbird community. This could also be contributed to the time of year I was here as well! It was difficult for me to connect with people my age and most of the people that I did interact with when out seemed to be on vacation so it is hard for me to judge the locals in this area.
Public transit was non-existent in this location but I am not so sure I would have enjoyed getting on the local bus with all of my beach gear anyway! I was surprised to see that there was more traffic than expected for an area that didn’t seem too populated. It was nice that there was one major highway that took you anywhere you needed to go from east to west in the panhandle. This made navigating the city and surrounding area very easy!
The fresh sea food was one of the highlights of my stay here. One of my favorite local places to visit after a day at the beach was Stewby’s Seafood Shack, and it was just that. A beach shack that served fresh, great quality seafood with minimal bells and whistles. If you are not a fan of seafood, the options were few and far between to satisfy your palate. This was not an issue for me, but I could see a lack of options becoming tiresome if I were to live there for a long period of time.
I feel at peace when I am around water, specifically the ocean. This community provided me with the perfect space to be at ease, relax, and enjoy the slow 30A lifestyle I have only ever read about.
