Full Abalone is the perfect beach house. Located on scenic 30-A, it's just a few steps from the brilliant white sand beach and miles away from the high-rise condo crowds. With four bedrooms and a loft, we have room to sleep 12 comfortably.

Relax in the master suite with a king-sized bed, a large TV and home theater system, and a walk-out porch with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. The roomy bathroom includes a whirlpool tub, a double-sink vanity and a separate shower.

A second bedroom has a queen bed and shares the second-floor porch. There's a king bedroom on the first floor, two double bunks on the second floor, and a trundle bed in the loft that can be two singles or a double. The loft has a spacious walk-out sundeck with great views of the Gulf and Oyster Lake. 

Amenities include:

Pool just a few steps from the house
New 46-inch Widescreen TV and home theater
Free Wi-Fi Internet access
TV and DVD player in all bedrooms
Flat-screen TVs in both king bedrooms
New leather sofa and loveseat
New porch chairs
New gas barbecue grill
Outdoor shower
Washer, dryer, iron and ironing board

The public beach at Dune Allen is about 100 yards from our front door. It's a quiet beach used almost totally by our neighborhood. Here's a close-up Google view.
 
A lovely paved biking and jogging trail runs past our house. The 17-mile trail loops around beautiful Oyster Lake and goes all the way to Grayton Beach, Seaside and beyond. The shops, restaurants and artists' center at Gulf Place are within easy walking distance, as is the Santa Rosa Beach Club, which has a restaurant overlooking the beach and one of the top-rated golf courses in the area.

Make Full Abalone your home for a week

Email: ricman@iglou.com  Home: 812-945-5423 Cell: 502-523-9525

30A flyover

Here's a look at the 30A corridor from the air, thanks to pilot Russell Stegemann. He uses a powered paragliders, a form of ultralight aviation where pilots wear small motors on their back and can stay aloft for up to five hours on one tank of gas. Here's more about Stegemann and his rig, the 30A Flyer.

Our beaches rated among the world's best

What do our beaches have in common with beaches in New Zealand, Hawaii, Colombia and Bali? They are all among the Ten Best Beach Destinations for 2011 selected by editors and readers of Smarter Travel.

The January profile praised our pristine white sand but also noted that there's plenty of shopping, fine dining and recreation nearby -- and easy access from the new airport at Panama City Beach.

Here's some of what Smarter Travel had to say: "Recently celebrating its centennial anniversary, Santa Rosa Beach, and its long stretch of untouched sand and calm seas offers a quiet escape on the Hogtown Bayou. Though the lapping waves and cool sand are the main attractions, there is plenty to do inland, such as shopping, fine dining, and golfing, and exploring the town's many art galleries and nature trails."

30A gets a theme song

The scenic road that runs past Full Abalone now has it's own song. "Life Shines," also known as The 30A Song, is the creation of singer and songwriter Bryan Kennedy with help from Mike Ragsdale of 30a.com.

Area restaurant reviews

Find out what residents, regulars and visitors have to say about South Walton restaurants at SOWAL.com. The website has profiles and maps for every eatery from Acme Oyster House to Zoe's Kitchen, all up and down 30-A. You can also read and write comments and give your favorite (or unfavorite) restaurant a star rating.

Fly to the beach!

Full Abalone is served by two nearby airports. At the new Panama City Beach airport (ECP), Southwest Airlines has non-stops from Baltimore, Nashville, Houston and Orlando and Delta has flights from Atlanta and Memphis. The Ft. Walton Beach Airport (VPS) has flights from Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Memphis and Charlotte.

SoWal's best pizza

The SoWal.com website asked readers to nominate and vote on the best pizza shops in the 30-A area.  The winners were to Bruno's, Pizza By The Sea, Fat Clemenza's, Bud & Alley's Pizza Bar, and Pickle Factory.

Two of the winners are not far from Full Abalone. Fat Clemenza's in in Sandestin, just past the outlet mall, and the Pickle Factory is on Hwy 283 at Grayton Beach.

Our vote goes to Amore, which has more than a dozen specialty pizzas and is just down the street at Gulf Place.