Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

A nice lady in New Orleans had recommended a particularly beautiful campground in the beach town of Destin, Florida, and that's where we planned to go next.  Now since winter is not a popular time for family RV travel, we had gotten into the habit of picking out a town's campground on the day we were planning to arrive, calling, and finding the camp operator pleased to accept us on short notice.  But when we phoned the recommended camp, it was booked solid for the next couple of weeks.  In fact, every Destin campground we called was full.  Uh-oh.  Finally I was able to locate an opening in an adjacent town - Santa Rosa Beach - 18 miles from Destin - at something called Arnett's Gulfside Trail Rides, Stables, and Campground.

This turned out to be an interesting place.  It is about a mile from the beach, and that partially explains why space was available.  The campground is not the primary business, and the RV sites are unpaved and a bit sloppy - but we like it here a lot.

Arnett's is sort of a dude ranch.  Lots of good-looking horses in the stables and fields, and a friendly donkey wandering around free.

The night we arrived, they had a concert in a public space that also served as a church on Sunday.  We attended the concert (but skipped the church service).  The band was bluegrass and country, and the featured singer kind of a local celebrity.

When we drove through Destin on the way to our campground, it appeared to be a very touristy beach town, lots of expensive hotels and condos but lacking charm, at least from our vantage point.  The downtown of Santa Rosa Beach, on the other hand, is pretty and appeals to us much more than Destin.  Light traffic, nice shops, and we love the default home style of the town - pastel colors with white trim, balconies with white handrails, and light-colored metal roofs.  The photo below gives you an idea of the local architecture.  With all the palm trees, it looks like what you'd expect to find in Key West or the Caribbean.  Cheerful, casual, fun, and friendly.  We might like living here.