June 28, 2023The most popular words about Florida’s
most breathtaking vacation spot.
While searching for a vacation rental, or reading a travel magazine, you’ve undoubtedly come across a few ten-dollar words.
These essential tools of language help paint a more detailed or romantic picture of a home, restaurant, beach, whatever.
But over time, these proven workhorses of vacation blogs and beach home descriptions begin to lose some of their original flex.
The word ‘nestled’, for example, has become such a cliché, that even writing about it becoming a cliché, is a cliché. Please enjoy my clichéd list of my favorite 30A clichés.
nestled
It’s such a cute word, with nest at its heart, it’s no surprise it’s become so popular.
Does ‘nest’ mean people want more privacy during vacation? Is it about unwinding with ease and comfort?
Perhaps it’s all those things. Renting a beachy getaway, that’s tucked away from other homes, sounds delightful. And cozy.
And describing that unique nest-away-from-nest experience, with a single word doing the heavy lifting, is a real challenge. A common everyday example used here to describe a vacation rental:
The house is perfectly nestled in the Blue Mountain Beach neighborhood.
Using more of the original meaning:
When the Rosemary Beach Summer Concert Series began,
they nestled softly in their blankets, on the grass, and listened.
A few breathtaking Oversee properties:
breathtaking
When describing a good view, many (many, many!) pull out this old standby.
But. Is anything, anywhere, so awe-inspiring or astonishing as to cause suspension of regular breathing? Hey, I’m open-minded.
Are we to believe one’s breath can be momentarily taken away because a sunset was so awesome? Perhaps.
An everyday example:
The sunset views from the dining patio are breathtaking.
A verbal (spoken aloud) example:
“Honey, the cobblestoned streets took my breath away.”
“Oh my. I hope they give it back on our way out of town.”
Stand-ins: awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, stupefying, gee-whizz
More breathtaking Oversee properties:
eateries
Wow, this little beauty has sure gotten popular. It’s a very common substitute for
‘restaurant’. Why?
Not sure, but it has a friendly, approachable demeanor, adding a bit of fun to the conversation.
But does it feel correct to use eateries when describing fine-dining establishments and/or 4-star restaurants? Does an eatery have tablecloths?
“They’re opening a 4-star eatery down the street.”
But let’s be fair. Eatery is a great word, it’s just gotten too big for its britches. A taco stand, or an Airstream food trailer seems more like an eatery to me.
Hey, remember when ‘bistro’ was big, bad, and trendy?
“Steven, I could eat a horse. Any good bistros around here?”
Mouth-watering 30A eateries/restaurants:
memories / tranquil / boast / getaway
These honorable mentions and not-so-hidden gems have powerful meanings. They’re terrific words after all, they’ve just been to a few too many rodeos.
Memories. Everybody wants you to make or create them. Well, I can’t make dinner plans, let alone live every moment with one foot in the future. I’ve heard that making experiences is better.
“But mom! I don’t know how to make memories.”
Tranquil. Folks like to chill out. Especially on vacation. So finding a slice of paradise in tranquil surroundings sounds intriguing. I’m not sure of its full meaning, so I haven’t used it too much, but when I do uncover its magic, well, watch out!
Notice the correlation between a tranquil setting and a nestled setting:
Nestled out back, the dreamy oasis comes alive at night.
The glow of the blue underwater lights in the private pool
is surreal and tranquil.
Uh-oh, I’m rambling again. Remember, words are fun. They’re also precious, so when we uncover one we like, we like to keep using it. So bring on more 30A clichés! Word ninjas are waiting.
30A boasts the best events:
