there wasn't much happening out this way in the early 1970s sandestin had just broken ground
nearby but otherwise this 300 acre property was pretty much smack dab in the middle of nowhere
fast forward nearly 50 years and today seascape finds herself in the heart of everything
located in the far southwest corner of walton county florida people often confuse this area with
destiny which is actually one county over seascape was founded in 1975 by a land developer out of
atlanta the current owners purchased the property in 1983 and they've owned it ever since seascape
is a true resort a golf resort a tennis resort a beach resort it's home to over 1 300 residential
condominiums with enough amenities to suit just about every age interest and taste
for oyster fans it really doesn't get much better or much more authentic than the trays of baked
grilled and raw oysters you'll find at acme oyster house the original acme was born in 1910 on
royal street in new orleans famous grinch quarter think of this acme location as her coastal cousin
there's a hidden haunt on property 2 located on the ground level of one of seascape's condo towers
a local's favorite cabana cafe features regular live
music a casual coastal menu and enough spirits to lift any spirit
seascape is a golfer's paradise her par 70 6100 yard course features 18 lush fairways
that wind their way through pine forests and around tranquil lakes indeed 15 of the
18 holes boast challenging water features there are more than a dozen man-made lakes on property
these lakes look so natural that locals once sought to protect the largest lake
stewart lake as a rare coastal dune lake worthy of added environmental protection
but after digging into it no pun intended they discovered that stewart lake wasn't
a coastal dune lake after all it was what they call a borrow pit that's a place where
the developers dug up dirt to use for the golf course and other construction needs
so although stewart lake isn't a rare coastal dune lake after all it sure is pretty
seascape is also home to six clay tennis courts the decades-long domain of tennis
pro fernando grawaci fernando migrated to the united states from chile in the 1970s
he attended the university of alabama on a tennis scholarship before landing here at the beach
in the 1980s so the first day was like very quiet and we thought that what a perfect challenge we
really wanted to actually build something being such a nice place it looked like a good fit for us
and now as you can see after so many years obviously shows that it has been
we all know the florida panhandle grows on you tremendously when we first came believe it or not
i rode a bicycle on highway 98 on the big highway 98 on to destin where they had just finished
building it sometimes when people tell me you know ask me you know they say oh you know i've been
here for 10 years so you don't have any idea how it's changed and i'm like i think i have seen it
you know so so i'm not surprised fernando raised a family here growing up right alongside
this beautiful property his daughter alexa played tennis on these courts
ever since she was a little girl when she was about eight years old i was trying to
motivate her to keep the ball going and and i remember we went to the outlets and she said dad
do you think if i can hit the ball over the net 50 times like you want me to you can buy me a skirt
that i saw so i said wonderful so the next day she showed up when i was giving a lesson and she said
dad i need to talk to you if you buy me a top that goes with the skirt i can do it 100 times over
and she did like in about 10 minutes two weekends after that she played the tournament and she beat
the girls like love and love which is like 6060 both of the girls and the and the parents and the
coach there was like what did she do and i'm like practice you know so so from there on it always
has been you almost have to put a little bit of a carrot in front of her you know and uh and i
i think till this day you know in a professional level she puts her own carrots in front when alexa
attended the university of alabama in her father's footsteps she broke just about every tennis record
bama ever had today she's ranked 15th in the world in doubles but no matter how world-class
the tennis courts are or how lush the greens are or how fabulous the dining and shopping is or
how fun the events at seascape are there's one amenity that always dominates the conversation
the beach seascape owns over two thousand feet of blindingly white shoreline
along old highway 98 and for many this is their very favorite stretch of white sand in the world
a bike ride or stroll in either direction will lead you to countless bars restaurants and shops
but why go anywhere when you have the iconic whale's tail right out your sandy back door the
whale's tail is the kind of place you can't build anymore grandfathered in long before setbacks
became a thing she stood strong against decades of hurricanes but ironically burned down in 2010
on a regular sunday afternoon the community was quick to rebuild their beloved beach hangout
volleyball corn hole crab claws cocktails this is a beach bar this is a real beach bar
but if it's too much beach buzz for your liking there's a tiny tiki hut just down the way
it's not always open but if it is grab a nice cold pina colada
sit back watch the waves count your blessings and watch the kids grow up
you