On Monday, October 12, the doors in Seaside started opening again. Hurricane Isaias had come ashore near Destin three days earlier as a Category 2 storm with 105-mph sustained winds. That day, Bud & Alley's was serving a limited menu, Pickles had reopened, and The Chapel of 30A was back to normal operations.
Two and a half weeks later, Seaside has two recoveries running at very different speeds. The shops, restaurants and the event calendar came back in days and kept the dates they had already announced. Walton County's storm-damaged shoreline depends on a county repair plan that will take most of the next year to finish designing. If you live along this part of 30A, you'll find the town much as you left it before the storm. The beach is where things look different.
Seventy-two hours, one doorway at a time
The National Weather Service's event summary for Isaias puts landfall near Destin around 8:30 p.m. CDT on Friday, October 9. WJHG reported Walton County gusts of 75 mph and a surge of three to five feet. Here is how Seaside and the blocks around it came back, going by each business's own announcements:
- Monday, October 12. Seaside announced a limited reopening. Bud & Alley's and Bud & Alley's Taco Bar opened with limited menus. Pickles reopened, and The Chapel of 30A resumed normal operations.
- Tuesday, October 13. 'drome, Shrimp Shack, The Meltdown and The Seaside Style reopened. Next door, the Watercolor Inn opened the same day.
- Wednesday, October 14. Watercolor Beach Club, Camp Watercolor, the Marina Pool and the Tennis Center reopened with some restrictions. Watercolor's nature trails and some of its pools stayed closed. According to WJHG, Walton County's debris pickup was set to start the same day.
Seaside's own account of that week, posted to its Instagram and shown on the town's events page, gave the credit to the people doing the cleanup:
"Since the storm, our Merchants, our team, and our neighbors have been working side by side to clean up and prepare to reopen."
A later post thanked the town staff for "preparing for the storm to helping our town recover in the days that followed." After that, the town's feed went straight back to the regular schedule.
The calendar didn't lose a date
The best evidence that Seaside's town life recovered quickly is the event calendar. Every date the town had set before the storm stayed where it was.
The Halloweener Derby was first up. Above the recovery posts on its Instagram, Seaside announced that the dachshund race and dog costume contest "returns to SEASIDE® next Saturday." The race was on the calendar for Saturday, October 24, in Central Square. This year's version also changed a bit. The 2026 listing styled it after Formula 1 and classic Ralph Lauren sporting culture, and the costume contest started at 9 a.m., ahead of the race. For the 2025 Derby, Seaside described an informal race that started at 10 a.m. and allowed only dogs that were "obviously dachshunds."
Halloween in Seaside is this Saturday, October 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. in Central Square. Last year's theme was the Wizard of Oz, with a yellow-brick-road trick-or-treat route past the merchants and the Seaside Post Office turned into the Land of Oz. This year, Seaside says "SEASIDE® is the Golden Ticket," and the town becomes a candy-colored wonderland with a trail of sweet surprises and characters along the way. The official listing runs until 7 p.m. One other calendar online shows an earlier finish, so go by the town's Halloween page if you're planning around the end time.
The Seaside Holiday Parade and Turn on the Town is Saturday, November 28. The parade steps off at 3 p.m. from Seagrove Plaza, follows 30A, and finishes in Central Square. The evening continues at the Seaside Amphitheater until 8 p.m. as the town turns on its holiday lights. Seaside published its winter preview on October 15, less than a week after landfall. It says more holiday events will be added as they're announced.
The same preview reaches into next year:
- 30A Songwriters Festival: January 15–18, 2027. Seaside is home to one of the festival's two main stages, and Friday night opens with headliners at the Amphitheater.
- SEASIDE SCHOOL Half Marathon + 5K: Race weekend is February 11–14, 2027, and race day is Sunday, February 14, which is Valentine's Day.
So less than a week after a Category 2 landfall, the town was publishing its calendar four months out. The storm interrupted the town for a weekend and didn't move a single scheduled date.
The shoreline is on a different timeline
The beach is a different story. In WJHG's first report after the storm, the South Walton Fire District was assessing 26 miles of beach. Lifeguard towers were staying off the sand, and crews warned that debris could be hidden in the sand and the water. Just west, in Grayton Beach, the surge went over the dunes and filled Western Lake. WJHG reported that the lake, which normally drains into the Gulf, flowed backward during the storm. A neighbor's dock ended up a quarter of a mile down the lake.
The county's fixes for the coastline come in two stages. The first is short-term. Walton County has met with FEMA about emergency repairs to the eroded dunes. Josh Ervin, the county's Director of Beach Operations, explained to WJHG which stretches of beach might qualify:
"In areas where you have a nourished beach and have an ongoing maintenance period, there would be some eligibility there. We are actually planning to bring that back to the board of county commissioners at the next meeting through our coastal engineer, Taylor Engineering."
The second stage takes much longer. Ervin said the design for a federally funded beach renourishment project will likely be finished in October of next year. That's about a year after landfall, and it covers only the design. WJHG also reported an open question about whether renourishment would apply to private beaches. The station had asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and was still waiting for a response. Which stretches of shoreline the project will cover, Seaside's included, has not been settled.
Cleaning up debris on land is a big job too. WJHG reported a county estimate of 250,000 cubic yards of debris, costing about $5 million. In its October 15 release, the county gave a preliminary cost of about $4.5 million and said the figure could change. Commissioners also expanded the debris-removal contract to cover public beaches and both public and private neighborhoods, and extended the local state of emergency. The station's debris report also said the county asked residents not to bag their storm debris.
Planning a Saturday around both timelines
With a town that's open and a shoreline still being repaired, a normal weekend in Seaside takes a little more checking than usual.
For Central Square and the merchants, Seaside's own winter guide says hours vary by merchant. It suggests checking ahead and booking early for holiday and event weekends. That advice matters more right now. Several restaurants reopened with limited menus, and some shops may still be on shorter hours while staff and deliveries catch up. Each business's own Instagram or Facebook page is the quickest way to check.
For the beach, the October 16 updates said beaches and the water had reopened, but some accesses were still closed because of storm damage. The Walton County Tourism recovery page keeps the countywide list. WJHG reported that damaged flag poles could leave warning flags missing at some accesses, so check the beach flag status before you get in the water.
For a walk farther west, Grayton Beach State Park is open for day use. WJHG reported that crews rebuilt its bridge in 16 hours after the surge collapsed it. In a notice effective October 18, Florida State Parks said all overnight accommodations at the park are closed until conditions allow, with no date set.
For Halloween, Saturday's Golden Ticket trail in Central Square runs from 4 to 7 p.m., with the trail of treats and characters starting in Central Square.
Since the storm, we've been helping people who own homes along 30A work out what needs a contractor, what can wait for the county's dune plan, and which local vendors are available this month. If a dune walkover, a fence line or a home that sat empty through Isaias is on your list, Andre Dominick & Theresa Felton can connect you with the builders, contractors and inspectors we've relied on for years. Let's Talk.
