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Rosemary Beach

Show-Me-California meets Florida’s Gulf Coast

By Patricia Kutza 

I arrived at Rosemary Beach in early May with one thing on my mind.  I wanted to dispel the rumors I had heard about Florida’s Gulf Coast: The beaches are unbelievably white, the sand fine and the evening light luminous on the surrounding land.  Why embark on such a fruitless mission? 

To settle a bet.  It was as simple as that.  As simple as the conversation gets on starry nights in Montara Beach in Northern California.  This was when Cynthia, a West Indies native and good friend of mine, suggested that the Gulf Coast might actually hold a candle to some of the best beaches Big Sur has to offer.  While I’m not a California native I have since succumbed to that Show-Me-California attitude.  I had to see for myself.

I was humbled in my first hour on Gulf sand.  It is pristine, very white and a twilight cocktail party on the beach aided by some fine wine helped me appreciate the power of a northwest Florida sunset.  Yep, I was upset.  I would have to eventually return home and cough up an equally fine bottle of wine to my West Indies friend.

Enter stage left, the Rosemary Beach muse.  Meandering down the winding footpaths on my way back to Faraino Cottage, one of the private rental cottages, I felt like a castaway transported to some of the West Indies towns Cynthia has talked about. 

Rosemary ‘s eclectic cottages integrate the shapes and silhouettes of   West Indies, early Florida (St. Augustine), New Orleans and Charleston architecture.  Cynthia would feel at home here.  More importantly she could fulfill a dream she confided to me while we counted stars over Montara that night.

A stepmother who has worked hard to earn the respect and love of her stepchildren, she was recently encouraged to travel with her step grandkids.  Cynthia was racking her brain, unable to find a place within the US that would suggest the slow pace and ambiance of her West Indies home turf.  This is the gift she wanted to share with them.

So with much excitement I hatched my plan.  I first found the wine, thanks to Rosemary Beaches’ Online Concierge Request service that allows folks to book (even in advance of their arrival) everything from scuba and deep-sea fishing trips, golf tee times and beach equipment rentals to baby furniture and housekeeping services.  Then I gathered (when no one was watching, I hope) some of the wonderfully fragrant rosemary that grows wild all over this development.  I tied it in a small bundle and set it aside.

Next I headed for the Coquina Pool, one of three swimming pools on Rosemary’s property.  I drew more than a few stares when I crouched down almost parallel to its surface and photographed the water folds produced by its negative edge.  It is truly an amazing sight and I could just see Cynthia’s and her grandkids mouths agape.  They would probably stare at it for hours.

Except that being the sports nut she is, Cynthia would be torn by what- to-do-when.

There are tennis courts, bikes for rent and that impossibly fine sand to nudge with your toes.  I was mulling the paralysis she might feel when presented with all these options when I came upon the finishing touch.

Leaving the beach after watching that luminous twilight, I took an alternate footpath back to my cottage.  I could hear lilting laughter creeping out from the shuttered porches as lights appeared in one cottage and then another.  I thought about Dorothy Parker and one of her clever rhymes.  I copied it on the back of the Coquina pool photo.  I also (but just for a second) thought of drinking Cynthia’s bet and stuffing both the rosemary and the photo/poem in the empty bottle.  And say that I found it at low tide. (I practiced it but I couldn’t get the grin off of my face.)

You’ve probably guessed that Cynthia drank all the wine.  She also used the rosemary in a rice dish and has framed Coquina’s negative edge.  But not before chuckling at Dorothy’s wit and how she had won our bet.

So here’s our deal.  When you get to Rosemary Beach, check out that Coquina Pool.  I bet you that Cynthia and her grandkids won’t be far behind. 

Contact Information:

Rosemary Beach Cottage Rentals
1-888-855-1551 (toll-free)
www.rosemarybeach.com  (website)
rentals@rosemarybeach.com  (e-mail)

Images by Patricia Kutza and courtesy of Rosemary Beach

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