These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things (in Navarre Beach/Santa Rosa County)

Unique Holiday Gifts Brought to You By Navarre Beach/Santa Rosa County’s Local Businesses

The holiday season is a special time in Navarre Beach/Santa Rosa County. The air is crisp but not freezing. The lights are lit. Historic downtown Milton glows. You may need a jacket on the beach or Pier, but these places are just as beautiful during winter as in spring or summer. With our eclectic array of locally owned shops, we offer visitors a unique opportunity to acquire one-of-a-kind gifts for friends, family, or yourself.

Here are six unique items that will give anyone’s holidays a lift. They range from durable but stylish beach gear to one-of-a-kind artworks — and a different way to stock the fridge with beer.

• A “Navarre Beach” blanket from Southern Specialty — This bountifully stocked boutique on Navarre Parkway just three miles from the beach offers an enticing array of products, and always adds a nice selection of holiday-themed items. The beach is year-round here, and you’ll want to bring along a Southern Specialty beach blanket decorated with the latitude and longitude of Navarre Beach. They’ve quickly become among the store’s best sellers. While you’re there, have a look at the creative array of women’s fashion items curated by owners Lisa Gambill and Magda Morton. You’ll also find jewelry, purses and bags, candles, soaps and bath bombs, and even select items for men. If you want to remember your vacation until you return next year, Southern Specialty sells Navarre Beach signs as well.

• A growler of craft beer from one of our local microbreweries — Sure, you can pick up a 12-pack of mass-market suds to add a bit of extra relaxation to your holiday stay in Florida’s Most Relaxing Place. But how about trying some inventive and thoroughly original brews made right here in Navarre Beach/Santa Rosa County? Stop in and pick up a growler at such gathering spots as Beardless Brewhaus in downtown Milton and St. Michael’s Brewing Company. A growler is a 64-ounce refillable container that keeps craft beer fresh and drinkable. That’s eight ounces short of a six-pack in a jug-style container made of glass, ceramic or stainless steel. Not sure which brew to take home with you? Order up a flight of brews, sample the brewery’s line up, and head home with your favorite.

• A “market” bag from Saltwater Cottage — Just two miles from the Navarre Beach Pier, Saltwater Cottage — or “the sweetest little shop,” as one Facebook reviewer called it — offers all sorts of unique products, including decorative items and artworks, distinctive jewelry, local jarred beet pickles, and lots, lots more. On the more utilitarian side, pick up a “market” bag, ideal for carrying your beach gear to water’s edge. Made in Morocco, this roomy, thatched-style bag comes with leather straps that enable you to wear it backpack-style, so it’s the perfect accessory for holiday shopping as well. Saltwater Cottage, with its weathered-wood exterior and white picket fence, is an absolutely charming “beach shack” that’s wonderfully cozy on the inside.

• Locally created art and/or home decor at Sand Dollar Cottage — From one cottage to the next in just a mile. Sand Dollar Cottage is an artists’ cooperative and gift shop with a decidedly coastal theme. Colorful paintings crowd the walls, featuring beach scenes and images of boats, fish, and turtles. Tables are filled with sculptures, fun bric-a-brac, household items (wooden spoons, spatulas), baskets, birdhouses, hand-painted seashells and a whole lot more. Sand Dollar Cottage is a terrific place to go for items that will provide lasting memories of your time in Navarre Beach.

• A personalized tumbler from Pizzaz — You’re going to need something portable to keep your water cold or coffee hot as you make the rounds in Navarre Beach/Santa Rosa County. Pizzaz has the ideal item — a sturdy 30-ounce stainless steel tumbler that you can have custom engraved. The store’s Blues on the Beach series also includes a stemless wine container, a stainless beer holder and a stainless lowball, perfect for warming you up on chilly nights. All are in brilliant blue, a nice color complement to our Gulf waters. Located on the western end of Navarre Beach (just past Gulf Island National Seashore) in Gulf Breeze, Pizzaz also sells kids clothes, gifts, home items and other coastal-inspired products.

• Locally made jewelry from The Flair Boutique — Kari Rubin, a retired Navy veteran, owns this cute shop with her friend Sandi Clark. Along with casual women’s clothing (including a lot of sundresses), the Flair Boutique sells handmade soaps, candles, bags, home decor and all manner of tchotchkes. The store also features handmade jewelry. Kari makes fun costume earrings, necklaces, bracelets and charms out of metal. A local glass artist creates starfish, jellyfish and other sea life that often include sterling silver and freshwater pearls, as well as this clever memento: glass beads ingrained with sand from Navarre Beach. Jewelry prices range from $5 to $85. The Flair is just a seven-minute drive from the beach.