Where will the birthday gal choose for the clan to gather this milestone year? Plans to celebrate the big Six-0 began last Christmas and her choice for the August date was Grayton Beach on the Florida panhandle.

Can’t remember who in the family first discovered this little pocket of peace, but there’ve been many return visits over the years. The last was some five years ago.

The trip down was by overloaded, vintage station wagon. The first wooden-body ones were favored up East for just such outings to the shore in the ‘beach wagon.’ The final leg along Highway 98 from Pensacola was vastly changed in the intervening years. An unbroken band of development. Heavy traffic. High-rises lining the beach. What would Grayton Beach be like?

All was much the same. Picked up the keys from the familiar rental office and drove through the original clusters of old-fashioned cottages built well back from the dangerous dunes. There were now many more grand vacation houses crowding the shore, but no high-rises hiding the shore and spilling hordes onto the unblemished beach. Never more than a few dozen people in sight.

Grayton Beach doesn’t have space for over-development. This smallish pocket is hemmed in on both sides by a state park and a nature preserve. All the glamor and glitz is close by at the original ‘new town’ concept of Seaside and the newer Watercolor.

Back in the dark ages of WWII , the drive from Pensacola to Panama City along 98 was mostly a lonely stretch of barren land with few signs of human habitation. Should have bought an acre or two for a few dollars.

This year’s ‘beach cottage’ wasn’t a showplace outside, but luxurious inside: five bedrooms, 5 ˝ baths, two giant plasma TVs plus smaller ones in each bedroom. Viking kitchen and a pool, too. All 100 yards from the gulf. No wonder the beach was never crowded. Everyone vacationed by their private pool or in front of the TV. Across the beach access path was an original beach shack of weathered cypress siding with two or three rooms, no window glass, only screened openings and exterior let-down shutters.

Foraging for food is always fun on vacations. Each family group was responsible for an evening meal. Either buy the food and cook at home or choose a restaurant and pick up the check. Birthday dinner was the old folks treat and the restaurant a real find. “Fire” was less than a mile inland from the cottage. A transplant from New Orleans, “Fire” originally was housed in an old firehouse in NOLA’s downtown warehouse district. Business was so bad after Katrina that the owner/chef made a scouting trip toward Florida for a possible new location, then brought the whole staff for a looksee. All agreed on Grayton Beach and moved en masse.

This “Fire” only opened in June and while waiting for a full liquor license, only serves wine and beer. Ingeniously, exotic spritzers and wine coolers are offered. Very tasty and the modified New Orleans menu was worth a revisit.

Now, don’t all of you rush to Grayton Beach and spoil it for those making their once-a-decade visit.

But do light my “Fire.”

John Fontaine is a Northsider.