Continuing our review of Seaside . . .
If bed and breakfasts are not your thing, there is also a good old motel with retro rooms. It would run you about two bills a night to stay here. Really not bad, considering the location:
In the center of town, there is a little commercial district with restaurants and shops. One thing that is amazing about 30A is that there isn't a McDonalds or BurgerKing. or any of the other ubiquitous fast food joints, anywhere along the entire 26 mile stretch. I don't know how they manage to keep the riff-raff out, but it makes it nice. A tourist town without the crap. Nice.
What you will find in the little towns along 30A are small, independent, local, businesses. There is a popular coffee shop here in Seaside:
And, as you would expect, there is a frozen yogurt shop:
By far, my favorite business in this town is a gourmet market called Modica Market. From what I understand, the market was opened by a fellow named Charles Modica, who originally operated a grocery store in Alabama. He and his family moved to Seaside 20 or so years ago, and opened this market.
At this point in my story I should mention that this was not my first visit to Seaside. In fact, the TCD gang has been visiting Seaside for years. We have rented houses in town, and spent weeks at a time over the past dozen or so summers. Maybe later, I'll post some photos from back in the day. The TCD twins were toddlers when we first stated visiting. Back then, Mr. Modica was in that market every single day. All day. He looks a bit like Santa, and the TCD girls thought he was the best. And he always spoke to the TCD girls. So, the TCD gang is friends with good old Mr. Modica. In fact, Mr. Modica gave us an account at the store. We don't use money there. They just keep track of our purchases when we visit, and we settle up on the last day of our trip. How's that for old-fashioned customer service. Unfortunately, Mr. Modica is no longer in the best of health, so he is only in the store on occasion. The store is now run by his son and daughter. They are great, too. Luckily, on this trip we got to see Mr. Modica. Of course, he fussed all over the girls about how much they have grown up and how pretty they are. The guy is a charmer.
Anyway, here's some shots of Modica Market:
First the outside:
Now, the inside. It is a cool place!:
If you watch The Truman Show movie, you will see Modica Market featured in a couple of scenes. And, Mr, Modica and his wife are even seen in one of the scenes shot in the market. Here is a tribute to the movie hanging on the wall:
If you have seen the movie, you will remember the ridiculous product placement that went on in the movie. In one of the scenes, a sign for Modica Market is displayed. This is the actual sign from the movie. If you remember, Truman's town was called Seahaven- and you will see that referenced on this sign:
One last shot from inside the market:
And, since you are reading along so diligently, let me give you a little tip on how you can look like a local instead of a tourist should you ever visit Seaside and Modica Market: Modica is pronounced mode-ick-ah. Not mod like Mod Squad. Mode, as in rhyming with road. You're welcome.
Not too far from Modica Market, you will find a store called Sundog Books. This place has managed to stay in business the entire time that we have visited Seaside. I don't know how, but they have. It is a good, old-fashioned, independent book store. It is just a delight to go in there and browse around. Upstairs, they sell CD's and records, and they have a coffee shop with free wireless internet. Yes, I said free. And, it works great. Here is Sundog Books:
The Seaside Bike Shop is right next to Sundog Books:
I'm not sure if you can read the prices here, but they charge $30 a day to rent a bike!:
Here is their inventory:
At thirty bucks a day, you would think that most of those bikes will sit there gathering dust most of the time. If you thought that you would be wrong. They routinely sell out. I wish I had a part of that action.
There is a great balcony on the second floor of Sundog Books where you can see things like this:
What we are looking at here is the retail area on the South side of 30A, and then you can see the beautiful Gulf there in the background. In the foreground of the first photo, you see a large, green, space. This is the Seaside Amphitheater. All summer long they have free concerts, plays, and even movies that they show here. That green space will be filled with people, and every parking space you see will be full.
Here is another shot looking toward 30A:
You can see there is some construction going on here. They are enlarging the amphitheater's stage. Also, do you see what appear to be a bunch of old Airstream trailers lined up along 30A? What could that possibly be?
You'll have to check back to find out.
TCD
Right Karla? 
. Great trip report!
So glad to know that you and the family are all well.
