QUICK LOOK: Once Upon a Tide is a large (3,208 square feet), freshly renovated, extremely clean, 3-story home that faces the ocean and backs to a lake. It’s location is perfect with the ocean across the street in the front and a beautiful lake in the back. Each of the 4 bedrooms include a private bathroom, king size beds, and new 4K televisions. The first floor bedroom is attached to the front patio, the three 2nd floor bedrooms all have balconies, and the third floor tower bunk room features 3 twin beds and a wraparound observation balcony.

Now for a closer look. . .

My wife and I sincerely thank you for considering our Carillon Beach Home for your next vacation. Tammy discovered the neighborhood of Carillon Beach several years ago while she carefully clicked her way through the hundreds of available properties along 30A, from Destin to Rosemary Beach, including Seaside, Seacrest, Watercolor, and Alys Beaches. It was to be our first family vacation to Florida and the pressure was on to find that perfect balance of location, price, and amenities.

Our good friends take a yearly pilgrimage to Rosemary Beach (just 2.5 miles west), so Tammy included 'Rosemary' in her internet search. Ultimately, she found a home in Carillon Beach as having met our wishes for easy ocean access, attractive pricing, and everything we needed to enjoy a stress free vacation. To say Carillon Beach "met our wishes" is a gross understatement. We literally fell head-over-heels in love with this private beachfront community. Since that time, we've returned every year at least once and often more. We've stayed on the north side near the Family Pool, east side near the Lakeside Pool, west side near Pinnacle Port, and the south side close to the Gulf and Oceanfront Pool.

There is no 'bad' place to stay in Carillon Beach. All homes in the neighborhood have access to the three swimming pools, beach walkovers, tennis courts, basketball court, park, chapel, restaurants, and shopping. But still, we did find that some homes are better than others. Ultimately, Tammy and I decided we want to move to and live in Carillon Beach, so during our last several visits we made a point to survey the available homes for sale. We toured homes with local Realtors, received alerts when homes went on the market, and visited with many of the full-time residents. Over the next 36 months, we carefully considered every home offered for sale and purchased a home that offers a perfect balance of everything that makes a good home great.

Excited, we named our new home "Once Upon a Tide" as we envision fairytale like memories at the ocean. Being a newer home, the interior was certainly nice, but we wanted to make this a place of happiness and comfort and to remind you of the awaiting beach just across the street. Tammy and I spent the summer getting to know our general contractor very well. His crew did a fantastic renovation from crisp, white sand inspired paint, shiplap walls, new lighting, TVs, and beds. Tammy and her decorator selected new linens, furniture, bedding, pillows, and decor. When the work was complete, Amy, Betty, and I were in charge of what ended up as a 100 hour deep cleaning. We are truly proud of this home and now want to offer it to your family to make your own fairytale memories.

I’d like to share with you why we think Carillon Beach, regardless of the home you select, is the perfect vacation spot along the Emerald Coast.

Simply put, there are no crowds in Carillon. Not on the beach, not in the village, or fitness center, or pools, or roads, or restaurants, or gift shop. We lived here all summer and frankly, expected July 4th to get crowded and rambunctious even in our little oasis neighborhood, but it simply didn't. On many occasions we hopped in the car and headed west a couple miles up 30A and invited the crowds into our lives and did enjoy a patio meal and people watching, but were able return home to peace and serenity.

It’s apparent that many people enjoy the traffic and crowds of 30A as seen by the lines of cars, hundreds of bicycles, waiting lists at restaurants, string of gift shops, and willingness of people to stay quite far from the ocean and use a rented golf cart to make the journey. If you enjoy that scene for your entire stay, then Carillon Beach may not be your best choice.

Our MAIN reason for vacationing in Florida is to enjoy the beach and ocean. Regardless of if we stayed in Carillon Beach or anywhere else along 30A, it was the beach that brought us here. An outstanding feature of Carillon Beach is that no matter which home you select, there are no busy roads to cross (I'm looking at you Highway 30A) and all enjoy access to one of at least 8 walkovers. Once Upon a Tide is only 53 yards from the beach walkover. Some homes in Carillon are 1/4 mile away from a walkover. We learned that going to the beach with family isn't just trunks and a towel. Floats, snorkels, buckets, shovels, nets, water, sunscreen, ice chest, and a host of other supporting items are needed and every step counts. We also learned that many will need to return home throughout the day for breaks, snacks, naps, or just to grab a forgotten item. Once Upon a Tide is so close to the ocean that you won't think twice about 'running home real quick'.

Although there are no 'busy roads' in Carillon, some are busier than others. Once Upon a Tide is located on a cul-de-sac named Beachside Drive and only a small number of homes are accessible beyond our home, so most traffic is elsewhere. On the other hand, Parkshore Drive gets the most traffic day and night because that road is the only road that leads to Pinnacle Port (a condominium rental community about 1/2 mile west). As it turns out, the closer to the ocean you are, the less traffic there will be. Win-win.

Good sleep is paramount to a good vacation and we find our best sleep in king sized beds. OK, I admit, sometimes out of convenience we will stay in a hotel that only has queen sized beds available, but we will always pick king beds when we have a choice. Once Upon a Tide features king sized beds in all four bedrooms. Our decorator begged Tammy to go smaller to make two of the rooms 'cuter', but we think you too would prefer a king bed.

It's gotta be clean! For us, cleanliness should be a 'given'. I like staying at high-end hotels, not so much for the amenities, but for the implied assurance that it will be clean. Our approach is clean as much as possible so that regardless of your expectation, you will agree that Once Upon a Tide is clean. We believe Once Upon a Tide is the cleanest property in Carillon Beach.

It's gotta be fresh! Along with being clean, we love 'fresh' accommodations. By fresh, we mean fresh towels, linens, mattresses, appliances, and furniture. Ten year old towels may be clean, but they are not fresh. Ten year old mattresses may be clean, but not fresh. Your family will be one of our first guests, expect it to be fresh.

Excellent views are better than not so great views. Oh, the views of Once Upon a Tide. Of all the homes we stayed in and shopped at Carillon Beach, this one has some magnificent views. The home faces the ocean so that you can, from the 2nd and 3rd floor front balconies see the water and sand, watch the pelicans glide by, see the occasional bald eagle carry home dinner, or enjoy the unique military aircraft fly across the horizon as you relax with a cold drink. As most Carillon homes simply don't face the ocean, we didn't discover how wonderful an upgrade it is to be aiming south.

Did I mention the excellent view? Most Carillon homes are built with another home in the 'backyard', but at Once Upon a Tide even those that take the rear bedrooms will have a treat on their balcony with a beautiful view of Carillon Lake. If you're not up for paddle board yoga, it's still fun to watch. If you're not up for attending the live music at the village during the summer, pull up a chair on the back porch and take it in from there. Or our favorite, just sit and listen to the orchestra of frogs singing in the evening.

Size does matter. Once Upon a Tide is just over 3,200 square feet of living space. Tammy received a Facebook message from a classmate who told her that she had recently stayed at Carillon Beach. Tammy asked for her thoughts on her stay and she replied that she loved the neighborhood, but the house she selected was simply too cramped. We found the listing and saw that the square feet of the house was not disclosed. Once Upon a Tide is one of the larger homes in Carillon Beach and when it’s time to curl up with a book, you’ll find a quiet, cozy spot.

A properly equipped home makes for a great vacation. While we can't say we ever stayed in a Carillon home that didn't have pretty much everything we needed, we can say some were better equipped than others. Once Upon a Tide features a modern, full size, front-load washer and dryer (no 'apartment sized' unit here), a Technivorm coffee maker, Kitchenaid Pro Series toaster and mixer, Scottsman dedicated pellet ice maker, Dyson cordless vacuum, Samsung French Door fridge, Nest digital thermostats, Nest smoke and CO2 detectors, two well maintained bicycles (we stayed at one place that did include bikes, but they well worn out and rusted - we rented bikes instead), blow dryers, makeup cloths, choice of feather or foam pillows, ceiling fans throughout, 4K TVs throughout (with a selection of 4K movies), Playstation 4 (in the bunk tower), outdoor shower for sandy feet, built-in gas grill, two porch swings, and a driveway made for at least 3 vehicles.

The beach awaits with four privately reserved beach chairs and a pair of umbrellas for your leisure.

In closing, thank you again for considering Once Upon a Tide for your next vacation. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write.