Fall break – the “how are they off again when they were in school for hardly a month” break – at least for this family. But eventhough we always get caught by surprise, we love the late summer break – and always head out to the beach. We avoid it in summer as it is insanely crowded, too hot for anything and expensive.

Everyone in our neighborhood is always in awe with Rosemary Beach, FL. So we decided to give it a try this year. The 5 hour drive was manageable, small stop in Eufaula, AL (yes, that is a town) was culturally eye opening to city kids who thought we haven’t entered the town by the time we left it. We fully expected bunch of Trump signs throughout but were surprised to see a rather good mix of both.

Rosemary Beach didn’t disappoint. I never knew what the 30A signs are on Atlanta cards – my Russian always kicked in and I thought it was ZOA…. instead it is the road going through this FL area. Our apartment was spacious and modern – with balcony and gorgeous turquoise interior decorating – and our friends right next door couldn’t be more convenient. Our whole neighborhood literally was here as we kept bumping into random school friends everywhere. Our brood of 3 couples and 7 children took over the pool and got into the mood.

Beach – hot hot hot, not too crowded but mostly taken over by chairs and umbrellas. Can’t imagine what July looks like here…. unbearably hot I bet. So close to the apartment though – with comfortable walk or bike ride.

Food – scarce – lots of large families and not enough restaurants for my taste. Long waiting queues everywhere. Donut truck to bike to in the am was fantastic though. The bike paths in general are fantastic. Saturday market was also amazing. And the Seaside food truck night was super fun, laid back and casual – highly recommend.

Activities – bikes take over here and rightfully so. Pool/beach – what else do you need? We opted for no organized activity as we had a lot of people and it was fine – ice cream, donuts, biking, a small hike and watching presidential debate in our rooms was plenty!

And we topped it with Diwali party to show off our tan and our quintessential Indian out fits – annual!