Seaside!

 

I'm so excited to share our vacation finds from this particular day, because THIS was the whole reason we went to the panhandle of Florida in the first place. 

Years ago, I watched the Truman Show for the first time. If you aren't familiar, it's a movie from the 90s starring Jim Carrey. His character (Truman) is living this picturesque life in a too-good-to-be-true little town, and the whole time, he has no idea he is actually the star of a reality show being broadcast all over the world. The show adopted him as a baby and has been filming (and scripting) every part of his life, including his marriage, his job, and everything else. The movie begins just as he's starting to figure out something isn't quite right. I love that movie, and I love the town where it was filmed...which is actually a real place! It's a little community called Seaside, Florida, and it's just outside of Destin. Visiting Seaside in person has been on my bucket list for many years, and now I have officially checked it off! 

It is as beautiful in person as you might expect! If I were independently wealthy, I'd want to live there. (I'm pretty sure you have to be independently wealthy TO live there. I checked out the real estate!)

We actually had planned to visit Seaside later in the week, but the weather forecast pushed us to rearrange our plans. We wanted to do Seaside on a beautiful day because it's a beautiful place! My original plans for the day called for us to start with breakfast at a little place down the road from Seaside called The Scratch Biscuit Kitchen. But when we moved the day of our visit to Sunday, we wanted a slow start to the day and the chance to watch our church online, so we skipped the breakfast plan. We never made it back to try that restaurant, but it looked good online, so if you go - give it a try!

I had read in my research that they have this thing called Airstream Row. It's a whole row of Airstream trailers (hence the name!) that have been converted into food trucks. So the day we went, we arrived around lunchtime and began our adventure with food. (Note, in case you ever go...there is parking around town, but you might have to walk a little ways to the main part of town. We were probably 4-5 blocks out, but it was a pretty day, so it was no big deal.) 

We shared a sandwich from The Meltdown, which was a grilled cheese truck. Our sandwich was a Cuban, so it had meat on it too, and it was quite delicious. We also got donuts for dessert - from Charlie's Donuts. (This was the same place - different location - we had planned to eat dinner the night before, but the location we had chosen for the night before also had food. This JUST has donuts. Note: they usually sell out early and close, so if you go, get the donut even if you aren't ready for it!) 

They had tables everywhere, but they also had an outdoor amphitheater location, so we sat on the steps there, watching kids play in the green space while we ate. It was very...Truman-show-esque.

The tree was actually lit, but you couldn't see it until you got up close, because the sun was so bright!

These were the steps we sat on and below that is the green space. 

Ryan commented that this is a perfect place to bring your kids to run around and burn off energy. There were so many of them out there playing ball, rolling down the hill, and just running. It was fun to see them enjoying a sunny day!

Next up? The famous Seaside Post Office! I have read that it is one of the most photographed post office locations in the world, and it is featured in the movie, too. It's a real, functioning post office, and I had to wait for pictures until people from the area were done checking their mail. 

Then we walked over to the Modica Market, which is also featured in the movie. It has such cool ladders for things on high shelves. (Like a ladder you would find in a library.) There is also a poster from the movie in there. It's an actual, functioning market, and they have coffee, too, so we got some!

Seaside has 9 different pavilions that lead from the town/residential areas out to the beach. Unfortunately, it is a private beach, so if you don't live there or are not a guest in a rental there, you can't go through to the beach. (Staying there was not in our budget.) I tried to take pictures of all the pavilions from the street side, because they are all different and pretty in their own way, but some were really hard to photograph because of foliage in the way. I'm sure they're much easier to see from the beach!

BUT! I was really excited that the most famous pavilion - the one featured in the movie - was visible enough for pictures, and we were also able to see the water from the town side. I took a picture to try to match what the movie showed that Truman saw. (Though the part he saw was a set with a wall at the back.)

Another fun fact: the house belonging to Truman in the movie is a real house in town, and you can do photo opps with it! In real life, the house number is different than it is in the show, but the owners have left the movie house number up for fun. You can see, in the photo below, that the numbers on the house (above the door) and on the picket fence are different.

We took a long walk around town, and all the houses are SO BEAUTIFUL. I told Ryan that I have always said if I lived at the beach, I would have to have a water view. I can't imagine living that close and not being able to see the water from my house. Seaside proved to be an exception to that. The houses away from the water were so picturesque that they would be worth missing out on the constant water view. 

There are park-like settings throughout town, too.

We saw the gazebo from the movie. It's so cute!

We had a snack from Airstream Row while we sat in Adirondack chairs overlooking that green space in the middle of town. I mean...life is rough.

We did more pictures around town...and walked a total of about 25,000 steps.

Not your mama's golf cart!

This sign is from the movie. It was one of the businesses in the fictional town. The building owners have left it up as a nod to the movie.

We window shopped (couldn't afford anything) and left to go back to our Airbnb just before sunset. We didn't arrive in enough time to walk down to the water for the sunset, but it was spectacular from up high!

We ate in that night and then Ryan watched football and I...

I am so happy we were able to have this beautiful and perfect day. I loved it so much. Seaside was all I hoped for and more. The only sad thing was not being able to get to the beach (but I knew that going in, so it wasn't a disappointment that day). I told Ryan that sometimes I feel like places are hyped up and then don't live up to the promises. Not Seaside. It was perfection in real life.