The best beach towns give us deep-down good feelings. Every stretch of waterfront has its own character and each of the communities along Scenic Highway 30A has a personality to match.

Florida boasts thousands of miles of tidal shoreline, yet Northwest Florida and its beaches aren’t like the rest of the state. And the 20 miles of coast that parallels a modest county road known as Scenic Highway 30A, isn’t like the rest of the Panhandle. There are no incorporated towns, and for a long time it was barely indicated on the map. Yet this string of beach communities nestled along the Gulf of Mexico between Destin and Panama City flourished in their relative obscurity. Over the years, the area evolved and grew in popularity.

Take a journey with Eleanor Lynn Nesmith and photographer Jean Allsopp along Scenic Highway 30A, for their words and images illustrate why this vivacious, pristine stretch of coastline is so special. Decades before Seaside drew national attention in the 1980s, generations of Southerners flocked to South Walton’s pristine beaches for summer holidays. Santa Rosa was a thriving town and Grayton was emerging as a coastal resort 100 years ago.

From Seagrove to Seaside to Alys Beach, 30A Style opens the doors of 22 homes within historical villages and vibrant new towns. Along the way, discover the rich traditions of the region and pioneers who saw the potential in protecting the natural landscapes of this corner of Northwest Florida. Explore New Urbanist towns that prompted the unofficial title of “The Design Coast” for these 20 miles of Scenic Highway.

30A Style is a full-color, 192-page coffee table book showcasing diverse communities and individual houses, as well as the homeowners who share a role in this unique architectural proving ground. Each home featured in 30A Style is a distinctive expression of the personality of its inhabitants and the characteristics of the terrain.

The book offers both the novice and aficionado of architecture an engaging take on why homes matter to a community and how communities come together. Whether the owners are born-and-bred locals or loving transplants doesn’t matter. They share a passion for the locale and belief in a broader purpose. 30A Style is a celebration of a unique way of life along the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a book worth going back to again and again.

Eleanor Lynn Nesmith

In a simpler time, summer meant getting away to camp or A country cabin. The annual retreat to rusticity meant swimming, sunburns, watermelons, and s’mores. It was about learning a love of nature and growing up a little. Those fond memories are the inspiration for a new vacation home community in Callaway Gardens, the horticulture-rooted resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Called Camp Callaway, the development features cottages that are a dream version of old-time vacation cabins. “Camp Callaway is a woodsy feeling place, ” says project manager Jeff Quinn of Cousins Properties, developer for the community. “The first phase is 18 units tucked into the woods on a little peninsula on a lake.” Because Camp Callaway cabins are vacation homes, Jeff says the architects thought small. The cabins are no larger than 1, 400 square feet. “We worked with Historical Concepts, an architecture firm experienced in living smaller, ” he says. “That is the trend today.”

Making the most of available space means the little cabins are a perfect fit for families. Cabin owner Karen Sheheane sums up the scale of the place when she says it has “a three-butt kitchen.” But she agrees that it works. Karen and her husband, Herb, first heard of the development last December at a family gathering at Callaway Gardens. “Our son picked up a brochure. We went to the realty office and said, ‘We have 15 minutes, sell us a cabin.’” Sold! The couple closed on their cabin in March. Karen and Herb grew up in nearby Columbus, Georgia, and Herb once worked as a lifeguard at the resort’s Robin Lake Beach.

Buyers may choose an interior design package for their retreat. The Sheheanes, who live in Tallahassee full time, turned their décor over to Atlanta designer Elizabeth Spangler who has created the interiors of three of the seven cabins that have been built so far. “Our concept was a vintage, hip, cottage style, ” Elizabeth says. “We wanted it to be easygoing and engaging with the environment.”

Camp Callaway’s environment was the inspiration for the cottages’ color schemes. Earth tones, such as stained wood walls, set the scene, with daubs of nature’s colors enlivening the interior. Interiors are sprinkled with poppy red, greens, and yellows.Antiqued red doors, traditional sliding barn doors, bunk rooms, claw-foot tubs, sloped ceilings, and screened porches make rustic references. “We used garden colors, ” Elizabeth says. “We wanted different materials, textures, and colors—as in nature. The browns are the soil, the greens are the vegetation, and red and yellow are the flowers.”

Vintage metal signs and ordinary objects repurposed, such as a coat rack fashioned of water nozzles, help set the camp mood.

But it is Camp Callaway’s setting that really works to decompress vacationers. When Elizabeth and her crew were installing their interior design, the windows were open and they found their usual deadline stress was soothed.

“We could hear the creek and the birds, ” she says. “The quiet was so relaxing. It was the most serene installation.”

Cabin-in-the-woods peace is one of the blandishments of Camp Callaway, along with neighborhood amenities to entice youngsters away from their electronic amusements. “At the end of the street there is a fire pit, ” Karen says. “We roast marshmallows with the grandchildren, and my husband tells ghost stories. I see my grandchildren playing on the same beach where I played. It will be great to spend time outdoors with them. I feel like Camp Callaway will give us a family focus.”

Callaway Gardens is a 13, 000-acre resort that combines conservation, education, and recreation. Summertime offerings include swimming, water skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, cycling, hiking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, laser tag, and more. For less strenuous fun, visitors may rent a beach chair, stroll through well-tended gardens, shop, or opt for a relaxing spa day. The beauties of Callaway Gardens include:

• The Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, where butterflies of more than 50 species flit among tropical plants.

• The John A. Sibley Horticultural Center, five acres of indoor and outdoor gardens, includes a sculpture garden and a 22-foot indoor waterfall.

• Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden, familiar to viewers of PBS’s The Victory Garden, demonstrates the cultivation of fruits, veggies, and herbs.

• The Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel, is a miniature Gothic structure with nature-inspired stained glass windows. On Saturdays and Sundays in the summer, a pipe organ is played for visitors strolling the trails.

• Three manmade lakes and a mile-long manmade beach are the center of sun-and-sand activities.

• Two golf courses set amid nature’s beauty, ensure a worthwhile outing regardless of score.

• Gently rolling hills and a winding path carry bike riders on a grand adventure through Callaway Gardens. The 10-mile Discovery Bicycle Trail combines sightseeing with an outdoor excursion that puts you in the middle of Southern flora and wildlife.

For more on Callaway Gardens and properties and rental homes at Camp Callaway, www.callawaygardens.com

Lucy Merrill

Water activities get top billing, of course. Whether you go for skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, or touring the lake in a pontoon boat, you can rent all you need at any of Russell Marine’s marinas: Kowaliga, The Ridge, River North and Real Island—and at Wind Creek State Park. For information, call Russell Marine at 866-355-8050. Call Wind Creek at 256-329-0845.

• Hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders will want to explore Russell Lands’ 80 miles of forest trails. For details, call 877-215-7011. Wind Creek State Park also has two hiking trails and one horse trail.

• Golfers can get their fix at the state park’s Lakewinds Golf Course and Willow Point Golf and Country Club (private), or the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Grand National course, and FarmLinks Golf Club, both about an hour from Kowaliga.

• The Fourth of July means the annual floating parade, with decorated boats gathering at Kowaliga Marina at 10 a.m. to show off their colors. In the evening, a concert and fireworks display at the Lake Martin Amphitheater end the day with a blast.

•  AquaPalooza, a festive gathering of boaters and landlubbers for an afternoon of fun, is set for July 23 at Kowaliga Beach.

Lucy Merrill