Famous Faces, Famous Places and Famous Foods
A Gift From the Sea
"Welcome to our Florida dream house, " Lisa Knower drawls in a soft southern accent. "Would you like some lemonade?" asks her friend Donna Pelous, inviting me onto their porch. A sign on the golden yellow wall says "The Banana Bungalow," and the garden is wild with banana trees, saw palmetto palms, and wild rosemary. Beaney, their fox terrier, jumps into my lap, apparently thrilled to have a guest.
When was the last time you were on vacation and someone invited you into their house for lemonade? At Rosemary Beach, it's part of the culture. This elegant town on Florida's northwest gulf coast is a real community where neighbors party and strangers are welcome.
"We live and work in New Orleans," Donna tells me, "but we come here twice a month for long weekends. Our neighbors are from Texas, Birmingham, Atlanta, other Florida cities. Someone is always throwing a barbecue or cocktail party. In fact, there's one this afternoon, wanna come?"
"I'm booked for an ocean kayak lesson," I reply, "but thanks for the invite."
Located between Panama City and Destin, Rosemary Beach was designed by town planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, who created the internationally renowned Seaside. That town, 6 miles west from Rosemary Beach, marks its 20th anniversary this year, lauded by Time Magazine as "the most astounding design achievement of its era, a catalyst for the New urbanism and Smart growth movements."
Rosemary Beach embraces similar concepts: a community where people live, work and play; a town where people walk to the beach, restaurants, shops, tennis courts, outdoor and indoor pool. There are weddings on the Western Green, meetings and classes at Town Hall, delicious meals at Summer Kitchen Restaurant, cookbooks at Rosemary Beach Trading Company, batik at L'Artiste art gallery, and ice cream cones at The Sugar Shak. Pedestrian footpaths, meandering boardwalks, and lush manicured lawns make it easy to run into someone for the latest gossip.
"We have no traffic, pollution, or crowds," says Lisa. "I can jog through town or just sit on the beach with a margarita, listening to the waves.It's heaven on earth."
Called the Emerald Coast for good reason, Florida's Gulf of Mexico beaches are miles of serene perfection. The ecru sand squeaks when you walk on it, the texture is like sugar. The ocean is a translucent green, calm enough for a toddler's splash party. Sandpipers dart in the frothy white waves, gulls wait for a sushi snack. People shorefish, kayak, sail, and amble the mesmerizing beach.
"The beach is not the place to work, read, write or think," wrote Anne Morrow
Lindbergh in 'Gift from the Sea'. "Rollers on the beach, the slow flapping of herons across sand dunes, drown out the hectic rhythms of city and suburb, time tables and schedules."
Rosemary Beach has no walls of condos, no tacky souvenir shops, no bikini babes with attitude. Just elegant homes in muted grey/greens, pale gold and pearl beige looking out over sand dunes and graceful sea oats. Native plants frame the lawns and yards, like groundsel which attracts orange monarchs, and wild rosemary, for which the town was named.
Lisa and Donna spent two years designing and building their Banana Bungalow with architect Tom Christ. But you don't have to own a house here to enjoy a delightful low key vacation. Of the 208 homes, 100 are available for rent. Choose from a two story home that's 1000-6000 square feet, or a cozy carriage house, 450-1000 feet. Each has a fully equipped kitchen, stocked with coffee, cookies, popcorn, bottled water, and juice. Other amenities include a washer/dryer, telephone, cable TV, VCR, and stereo. Some of the bathrooms have Jacuzzi tubs, others have outdoor showers.
Architectural styles are reminiscent of homes in the West Indies, New Orleans, and St Augustine, with vaulted ceilings, screened porches, and palmetto palm-bladed ceiling fans. Interiors reflect the taste of each home owner, but all luxurious and comfortable. You'll find stone tile floors, built in shelves stocked with classic books, sleigh beds, and original art from all over the world. Gardens have bubbling fountains, water lily ponds, and fragrant yellow jasmine. But no matter how ideal the creature comforts, the point here is to get out and make new friends, even if you're just here for a week's vacation.
"We don't want anyone locked up all day in their air-conditioned house watching CNN," laughs Richard Gibbs, Rosemary Beach town architect. "Go to our monthly pot luck dinners, sign up for tennis lessons, hang out at our street parties, enjoy the people who live here."
If you're really lucky, you might be invited for lemonade at The Banana Bungalow, with my new friends Donna, Lisa, and Beaney.
Daily rental rates at Rosemary Beach range from $157 to $810.
Ask for Carriage House packages offering a fourth night free lodging, when Guests book three nights.
Information and Reservations:
Kenneth L. Gifford, Vice President/Managing Director
Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental Company
Post Office Box 611040
Rosemary Beach, Florida 32461
toll free 1-888-855-1551
web: www.rosemarybeach.com
Rosemary
Beach has no walls of condos, no tacky souvenir shops, no bikini babes with
attitude. Just elegant homes in muted grey/greens, pale gold and pearl beige
looking out over sand dunes and graceful sea oats. Native plants frame the lawns
and yards, like groundsel which attracts orange monarchs, and wild rosemary,
for which the town was named.
Lisa and Donna spent two years designing and building their Banana Bungalow with architect Tom Christ. But you don't have to own a house here to enjoy a delightful low key vacation. Of the 208 homes, 100 are available for rent. Choose from a two story home that's 1000-6000 square feet, or a cozy carriage house, 450-1000 feet. Each has a fully equipped kitchen, stocked with coffee, cookies, popcorn, bottled water, and juice. Other amenities include a washer/dryer, telephone, cable TV, VCR, and stereo. Some of the bathrooms have Jacuzzi tubs, others have outdoor showers.
Architectural styles are reminiscent of homes in the West Indies, New Orleans, and St Augustine, with vaulted ceilings, screened porches, and palmetto palm-bladed ceiling fans. Interiors reflect the taste of each home owner, but all luxurious and comfortable. You'll find stone tile floors, built in shelves stocked with classic books, sleigh beds, and original art from all over the world. Gardens have bubbling fountains, water lily ponds, and fragrant yellow jasmine. But no matter how ideal the creature comforts, the point here is to get out and make new friends, even if you're just here for a week's vacation.
"We don't want anyone locked up all day in their air-conditioned house watching CNN," laughs Richard Gibbs, Rosemary Beach town architect. "Go to our monthly pot luck dinners, sign up for tennis lessons, hang out at our street parties, enjoy the people who live here."
If you're really lucky, you might be invited for lemonade at The Banana Bungalow, with my new friends Donna, Lisa, and Beaney.
Daily rental rates at Rosemary Beach range from $157 to $810.
Ask for Carriage House packages offering a fourth night free lodging, when Guests
book three nights.
Information and Reservations:
Kenneth L. Gifford, Vice President/Managing Director
Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental Company
Post Office Box 611040
Rosemary Beach, Florida 32461
toll free 1-888-855-1551
web: www.rosemarybeach.com