The Shops of Ruskin in Seaside, Florida

Seaside, Florida, is a brilliantly laid out, planned beach community on Highway 30A in Florida. The entire town speaks to a different time, when there was time to spend drinking iced tea on porches and when it was important to always say hello to your neighbor. At Seaside’s core is a central square that surrounds the community amphitheater. This square houses a collection of shops, cafes, and ice cream parlor and the like which afford beach-goers some air conditioned relief from the very sunny days. Chances are you’ll duck inside these stores every ten minutes or so during the very hot days of July and August, but during the rest of the year, the trees provide enough shade and encourage more lazy wandering. All sorts of shops can be found here — art galleries, clothing stores, restaurants and funky stores that are difficult to categorize.

An ice cream shop beckons in Seaside, Florida

If there’s one word that could sum up this entire area, it would be charming. The architecture somehow alerts you to the fact that the ocean is just a few steps away, even if you couldn’t actually smell or feel the sea breezes. The paint colors are light and bright and decidedly beachy. The shops here are an ideal place to search for that non-cheesy beach souvenir you’ve been looking for — because they have plenty of the cheesy sort at the Snappy Turtle (I’m not judging! I bought a necklace there, too) . Maybe a painting of Seagrove or Rosemary Beach to immortalize your trip? Or a beautiful picture frame to capture your own special beach memory?

A little bit of everything in Seaside's shops

The neat thing about Seaside’s Shops at Ruskin is that even though they are shops, nothing feels pushy or commercial — there’s an old world charm to how the shops are organized, decorated and presented. The shops here quietly say “hello, have a look if you like” as opposed to “Come inside and buy stuff!” To me, that is the greatest fault of so many beach towns — the overuse of neon colors and ridiculous signs to draw shoppers inside. That is an obnoxious habit that tends to drown out the relaxed vibe a beach town is supposed to represent.

Shady trees and beach cruisers in Seaside, Florida

So go — do have a look. And buy some ice cream. It’s very, very good.

Photos:  Jenny Bengen-Albert