Anyone else feel like 2024 is flying by? I can’t believe the school year is almost over. As we are starting our summer travel schedule in a couple of weeks, I thought it was a good time to share our spring break travels. The good news is that even if you are heading to 30A another time of year (anytime, really!), everything in this post is still relevant. It’s paradise year-round!

It’s no secret that the 30A area is home to my favorite beaches and beach towns. When my husband and I first started visiting the area in 2010, it still felt like they were a mostly hidden secret. As the story always goes, that is no longer the case. It’s getting more and more crowded each year and the beach access issues are out of control. (30A Mama blogger Jami Ray wrote a bit about what is going on in this post. If you’re traveling to the area, it’s good to familiarize yourself). The situation is unfortunate, but it is what it is. Fortunately, you can avoid many of these issues by staying in one of the incredible Florida state parks!

Our favorite state park in the area is the Grayton Beach State Park. We’ve stayed several times now and love how the location allows us to enjoy peaceful days at a pristine beach away from the crowds, but still access the local restaurants and shops. We always stay in one of the cabins, which have two bedrooms (one with a queen and one with two twins), a bathroom, a full kitchen, gas fireplace, patio, and picnic area. The cabins are rustic – meaning no TVs or phones – but each one provides a selection of books, games, and puzzles. The cabins are the perfect size for our family of five. Our 2-year-old daughter stayed in a travel crib in the twin room with her 4- and 6-year-old brothers, but I imagine as she gets older we will utilize the pull-out couch in the living room. There are four loops with cabins and we have been lucky to snag a cabin on the first loop for each of our visits. The best part about staying in the cabins is that you have access to a private beach only for cabin guests. The first loop is just a short walk to the beach!

Now let’s talk about the beach! Grayton Beach is truly like nowhere else in the world. Sugar white sand, crystal blue water, and a thriving ecosystem make it the perfect location for both sun-worshippers and nature lovers. If you’re a bird-watcher, you will be in heaven as many shorebirds nest in the area. We’ve also seen sea turtles, dolphins, and stingrays in the water. The coastal dunes support much of the wildlife in the area. During our visit, the weather was perfect for kite-flying. If you haven’t flown a kite in a while, I highly recommend it! I felt like a kid again running around on the beach with my kids.

One of the most unique aspects of Grayton Beach are the coastal dune lakes. These natural lakes are only found in four places in the world, one being Walton County, Florida. Grayton Beach State Park has three coastal dune lakes. When the lake levels exceed a certain height, they can breach the lakeshore and create an outfall that leads to the Gulf of Mexico. These areas are brackish, and are great for kids to splash in. This is especially true when they recede and form tide pools.

This was our first spring break visit to 30A, although we’ve been visiting the area for many years. Typically, we only visit in the summer, but it worked out that we were able to visit for our kids’ spring break from school. The only downside of traveling in March was that the water was still cold (in the low 60s), but the chilly mornings made for great hiking (and running) weather. I started several days with a run on the 30A Trail. It’s a fantastic, paved trail that runs the length of 30A past coastal dune lakes and towns. I enjoyed my morning runs, but if you’re an early riser like me, make sure you bring lights as it is pitch black before the sun comes up.

Another morning, I took a great donation yoga class in the Backyard of Love at Hibiscus Coffee and Guesthouse. After breakfast, we’d spend our mornings hiking or playing at the park, afternoons at the beach, have dinner, watch the sunset, and repeat. Perfect, relaxing week!

Grayton Beach State Park has two excellent trails and I recommend both. The Grayton Beach Nature Trail is a one-mile loop that begins near the public beach parking area (a little over a mile down the road from the cabins). It winds through sand dunes, flatwood pines, and sand scrub oaks to the edge of Western Lake (another coastal dune lake). It is the perfect distance for small children and with the variety of surroundings, it felt like we were explorers on an adventure, which our kids loved!

Flatwoods Trail is part of the Grayton Beach Hike and Bike Trail, which begins across from the main park entrance. It is a 4.5-mile one-way trail that traverses through the forests and around Western Lake. We probably walked about 1.5-2 miles total. The kids found a few small animal skeletons right off the trail at one point, which was quite exciting!

Another state park we visited in the area was Eden Gardens State Park. I’ve wanted to stop there for years and am so glad we finally made the time. Eden Gardens is a 163-acre park that was once part of a historic homestead. The Wesley House is a beautiful, historic mansion from 1897 where you can enjoy a guided tour several days a week. However, we opted to stick with the 1-mile Living Shoreline Trail. There are 18 marked plant species in the gardens. Our kids loved identifying them and then learning about each plant. About halfway through the trail is a dock and we enjoyed watching two pelicans fish for their lunch before they moved on.

Of course, with 2-, 4-, and 6-year-olds, no week is complete without a visit to at least one playground. We went to local playgrounds at Helen McCall Park and Padgett Park. Both parks have restrooms, picnic areas, and splash pads in the summer season. Helen McCall Park is a bit older, but has a great playground with areas for both younger and older children and a fun car that kids can pretend to drive in. Padgett Park, which we preferred, has an extensive playground and a trail that encircles the park. We enjoyed reading the story walk along the trail. If you haven’t seen a story walk before, it’s one of my kids’ favorite things (we have a few local parks with story walks) and I love them too! Along the trail, there are several markers spaced out with a page spread from the book at each. Once you’ve completed the trail, you’ve also read the book!

Another morning, we opted to drive to Seaside for a few hours. Seaside offers paid parking, or, if you don’t need your car, you can park off of Highway 283 and take a free shuttle.

While in Seaside, we did shopped at Duckies Shop of Fun (the toy store), and Bump + baby (the baby/toddler Seaside Style store). We sat and listened to Stories by the Sea, a kids improv performance by The Rep. The story we heard was loosely based on the Three Little Pigs. Our kids loved it, especially when their suggestions were used in the story! When asked for the cutest animal they could think of, my 6-year-old suggested a hamster and hamsters ended up being the main characters! After the performance, our kids enjoyed running around the Seaside Amphitheater and pretending to perform their own stories on the stage.

For food, we typically ate lunch at the cabin, while we ate some breakfasts and dinners at the cabin and some out, rotating favorite spots from previous visits with new restaurants we wanted to try.

For breakfast, we went to Black Bear Bread Co. in Grayton Beach for coffee, bagels, and pastries one morning. It was so good that we ordered breakfast sandwiches to take back to the cabin another morning! And of course, no trip to 30A is complete without a stop at Donut Hole for breakfast and donuts! We visited the original Santa Rosa Beach location, as that was closest to our cabin.

For dinner, we tried North Beach Social on our first night. North Beach Social is located right on the Chocktawhatchee Bay off of Highway 283. We will absolutely be back as it’s perfect for kids. If you sit at the tables outside, the kids can play in the sand (there are lots of trucks and beach toys) or splash on the shore while you eat and watch them. The food was great and the cocktails were even better, but really the ambience is just perfect for a family.

Another night, we went to The Big Chill (formerly The Hub 30A) for a family night and DJ dance party. It was a lot of fun, but it was extremely crowded. In hindsight, we should have gotten there earlier to be able to find a table and to get our dinner more quickly. There are several food options available – from burgers to BBQ to tacos to seafood. We ended up ordering fried shrimp baskets from The Tackle Box mostly because it had the shortest line by far. If you have little kids, I’d recommend getting there by 4:30-5, getting a table, ordering food, and hanging out until the music starts at 6. We got there around 6, had to wait a long time for our food, and had to sit at a high-top table with only a couple of stools. It wasn’t ideal for our family, but we still had a great night!

On our last night, we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, the Old Florida Fish House. Make sure you make a reservation in advance! Old Florida Fish House specializes in local seafood, oysters, and sushi. Everything we have ever ordered there is fresh and delicious! We arrived for an early dinner around 5 and enjoyed a lovely dinner al fresco with live acoustic music. As big and busy as the restaurant is, the service is astoundingly quick and we were done within the hour. We walked around the property for a little while, taking photos from the deck and playing in the boat before heading back to our cabin for the evening to enjoy one last sunset.

And that’s it for our spring break trip to 30A! Have you been to the area for spring break? Please share some of your favorite activities and restaurants in the comments!