March 2014nashvillelifestyles.com

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Weekend GETAWAYS

8 Amazing Adventures in the South

Best Places to live in Nashville (and what you can buy there)

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The Florida Panhandle may be best known for Panama City and Destin—the two biggest and most recognizable spots—but it’s Scenic Highway 30A that really steals the show. A 28-mile stretch of untapped beauty in South Walton, 30A is rife with sugar white beaches, under-the-radar oceanfront towns, and protected enclaves, each one worth stopping for a spell. —Kristin Luna

MorningOn Highway 98 toward the start of 30A on the west, you’ll finda line out the door for Santa Rosa Beach’s Donut Hole (6745 US Hwy. 98 W), a bakery and diner filled with sinfuldelights. Begin your day with a hearty breakfast, then drive six and a half miles east to the sleepy nook of Blue Mountain Beach, which gets its name from the soaring dunes, for a morning on the sand. Be sure

to grab a scoop or two at Blue Mountain Beach Creamery on the way back out. Just three miles down the road, Grayton Beach is one of the area’s most visited communities, thanks to its long-celebrated eatery and watering hole Red Bar (2120-2170 E. County Hwy. 30A). Grayton Beach State Park, the center for outdoor activity along the coast, is a popular spot with extensive hiking and biking trails and an abundance of water sports available.

GETTING THERE

Highway 30A starts east

of Destin off Highway 98,

about 440 miles—or seven

hours—due south of Nash-

ville. Southwest Airlines flie

directly to Panama City.

WHERE TO STAY

Lodging options in the area

are primarily condo com-

plexes and beach house

rentals, which is why bou-

tique hotel The Pearl (the-

pearlrb.com) in Rosemary

Beach was a welcome sight

when it arrived at the end

of last summer. Check into

one of the 55 luxury guest

rooms and let the sound of

the crashing waves lull you

to sleep.

BEST WEEKENDS TO GO

March 7 to 9 brings the 30A

Wine Festival to Alys Beach,

and May 11 to 14 brings

the ArtsQuest Fine Arts Fes-

tival to Santa Rosa Beach.

Download the free 30A app

for an ongoing list of what’s

happening in the area.

Gulf Coast: Scenic 30A

Alys Beach

The Pearl Hotel

AfternoonFurther east, the artsy community of Seaside features galleries and boutiques galore. The vintage Airstream food trailers parked daily in the heart of downtown offer a range of menu items, from grilled cheese to hot dogs. Looking for a sit-down kind of lunch? Try the raw oyster bar at Great Southern Café (83 Central Sq., thegreatsoutherncafe.com).

EveningThe most upscale developments of South Walton can be found at the other end of 30A, near Alys Beach. You’ll feel more like you’re in the Mediterranean than Northwest Florida when you nab a poolside cabana and cocktail at Caliza (23 Nonesuch Way; calizarestaurant.com). Next door in Rosemary Beach, Paradis (82 South Barrett Sq.; restaurantparadis.com) serves juicy steaks and the best dirty martini around. Need a cup of joe to fuel a late night (or revive you the next morning)? Fonville Press (147 Charles St.; alysbeach.com)—a café, bookshop, wine bar, and more—whips up one decadent latte.

Alys Beach

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The white-sand beaches off 30A

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MorningHop on the old-fashioned trolley (just $1) and head down Main Street to start your Memphis visit the way the King would—with breakfast at Arcade Restaurant (540 S. Main St.; arcaderestaurant.com), a well-known diner where Elvis was once a regular. Pop into the boutiques of South Main if you have money to spend before venturing over to the National Civil Rights Museum (450 Mulberry St.; civilrightsmuseum.org) to learn about the struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Celebrating its grand

reopening on April 4—the date Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in that very spot at the Lorraine Motel in 1968—the renovated facility will focus on immersive exhibits, activism, and how the past can be applied to the future.

AfternoonFor lunch, true Memphis barbeque is a must. There’s an ongoing debate over which establishment wears the crown, but you can’t go wrong with a pulled pork sandwich from Central BBQ (147 E. Butler Ave.; cbqmemphis.com), Rendezvous (52 S.

Second St.; hogsfl .com), or even Southern franchise Corky’s (5259 Poplar Ave.; corkysmemphis.com), which was born in Memphis. Adjoining neighborhoods Cooper-Young and Overton Square get a lot of foot trafficfrom the young, in-the-know crowd. Order a coffee at Otherlands (641 S. Cooper St.; otherlandscoffeebar.com), sift through piles of LPs at Goner Records (2152 Young Ave.; goner-records.com), and peruse the new specialty shops like The Square Olive (2094 Trimble Pl.) and Sweet Noshings (2113 Madison Ave.) that populate up-and-coming Overton.

While often overshadowed by Nashville’s growing popularity, Memphis is every bit as deserving of a weekend getaway. With acres of parks and green space (avid cyclists should check out the Greenline), an impressive jazz scene, and BBQ ribs that will knock your socks off, Tennessee’s largest city is guaranteed to wow you with its history and own unique identity. —Kristin Luna

Memphis

Beale Street

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