VRBO | Sherry Lachelle Travels

I arrived in Seacrest Beach, Florida at noon Central Standard Time on the 7th after a 7 hour drive from Savannah. I remembered I had audio books on my I-Pod which made the last couple of hours go by quickly. Seacrest is located in between Destin and Panama City beaches…Rosemary Beach is a few blocks to the East.

I’ve never been to the Panhandle of Florida and am delighted with the area! The sand is soooo white! I called a few Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO) properties and negotiated a rate of $350 inclusive of tax and cleaning for a week’s stay! The owner even included use of her bicycle during my stay because I asked.

This isn’t their busy season, but the weather is supposed to be 70-75 degrees during the day and 50-60 degrees at night. Perfect for walking/jogging on the beach and bicycling on the 18 mile stretch between the beach towns.

This is the view from the balcony of my studio condo. The ocean is a couple of blocks away.

There’s a “Murphy bed” (it pulls down from the wall/hidden behind doors during the day) behind where I stood to take the photo.

After I unpacked, the hot tub was calling my name! I basically have the place to myself. I saw one other person walking their dog. I hope I don’t get lonely! 😦

I know…it’s hard to feel sorry for someone in a place like this!

The grocery is located about 5 miles from the condo and I purchased my week’s supply of food. Eggs for omelets–homemade blueberry preserves–fresh strawberries, blueberries and yogurt for smoothies–Boar’s Head Chipotle Chicken lunch meat, cheese, and freshly baked bread Italian 5 grain bread for sandwiches–crisp romaine lettuce, avocado, tomato, red bell pepper, squash, and cucumber for salads–a frozen organic Mediterranean pizza–a frozen lemon & dill wild caught salmon–baby peas–a frozen P.F. Chang’s Shrimp Lo Mein dinner–Crunchy Shrimp Sushi–and Coco Lopez cream of coconut, pineapple pieces and rum for Pina Coladas!

After putting the groceries away, I ate the Sushi for dinner and noticed the sun was getting lower in the sky. I was informed that the beach access was 1 block East and then 1 block South, but I shimmied through the gate of a community right across the street (bad Sherry)!

Here are my photos…

Can you say…Ahhhh!

p.s. I realized there is no oven/stove here. She does have a George Foreman type grill, a toaster oven, and microwave!

Fake, or So Real it’s Blowing Your Mind? (placemakers.com)
The Beach Week Experiment (highgroove.com)

Have you ever gone on a vacation and everything was perfect…the weather, the train pulls up just as you walk to the platform, the locations you chose to stay in, the traffic is light, the whale comes within 20 feet of your whale watching boat! This was one of those trips. I fell in love with the VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) in Seattle. As you can see from the photos, the views were spectacular.

You could walk down to the beach…

The location is only a 10 minute drive from downtown Seattle and situated on the Puget Sound, in a neighborhood called Magnolia. The first day was a little cloudy, so I was very surprised and in awe the morning of Day 2, when I looked to the South from the picture windows and rising, like an apparition, was Mt. Rainier, in all of its glory. I had no idea it would be so dramatic and spiritual in nature.

We had dinner at Palisades Restaurant, which also has a lovely view. If you have reservations for 5pm seating, it’s only $29 for a 3 course meal. The food was good…not great.