I replied to your other thread, but Seaside is actually a little closer to the Panama City airport.

Destin has a lot more commercial development than the Seaside area, but the Seaside area is still pretty densely packed with accommodations. They just aren't the high-rise condos like in Destin. I drove through the Seaside area a couple of years ago between Christmas and New Year's and it had plenty of activity, even though it was a bit chilly for hanging out at the beach. I would assume April might be similar.

What kind of "final feedback" do you want? If you are looking for isolation and nature, go to Cape San Blas. If you are looking for restaurants and nightlife, go to the Seaside area (from which Destin is also easily accessible). The beaches are beautiful all along the NW Florida Coast (until you get east of St. George Island), but the character of the beaches and how crowded (or isolated) they are varies with location. And the water will probably still be too cold to go swimming, unless you are from a cold climate.

Cape San Blas has Coneheads (great Hamburgers, BBQ, Ice Cream etc) and also 2 convenience stores (The Cape Trading Post and Scallop Cove. The trading post has a coffee shop, fresh doughnuts and both serve hot sandwiches, made to order pizzas etc. as well as offering most grocery items. You can see a list of restaurant options here: http://thecapeescape.com/Cape_San_Blas_Restaurants.html

Port St. Joe is 15-20 minutes away (depending on where you are on the Cape. It has a wonderful variety of restaurants as well as shops and a full size grocery, several drug stores and "dollar" type stores. Apalachicola is 25 or so minutes away and also had a wonderful variety of restaurants and the BEST oysters in the world as well as an excellent theatre!

Best of all you won't have the crowds at these restaurants (no waiting)! Seaside is "dense" with houses/stores etc. So much so it's hard to get a breeze. Just a matter of what you're looking for!

I agree with both the above replies. With only 3 days I would probably go with Seaside as it is closer to the airport and civilization. We love the 'no highrise, no motels, no hotels' of the Cape but maybe it best to save it for another time when you have more days to travel. There are no restaurants to just walk to on the Cape but St Joe, Appalach are within that 1/2 hr drive. Also, if you choose the B&B in Indian Pass, Indian Pass Raw Bar is within a few minutes away. They have great oysters! They also serve shrimp and hamburgs. It's in a converted gas station, when going in you help yourself to whatever you want to drink and take a seat. The waitress will come to your plastic table and ask what you want, after eating you go to the cash register and tell her/him what you had and pay. You have no bill. It really is a unique place. We love it but then we love oysters and theirs are fresh every day. But their days of being open changes freguently.

I was hoping that the weather in April would be okay to hang at the beach. I don't need to get in but certainly hope to maybe read some and relax.

The air temperature will be fine in April. You will be able to hang out on the sand. You just might find the water to be cooler than you expected.

I am now thinking I may just do Amelia Island or Cumberland. Both would be closer to Charleston, where I will be coming from and actually the average temp is warmer. I will decide in the next day or two. Part of my reason for the change is also because as I have checked for accomodations most want a week since it is Easter week.

When you say "actually the average temp is warmer" I assume you mean the air temperature (although I imagine it would apply to the water temp as well). Either way, though, I'm not sure I would base my decision on the average temperature being a couple of degrees higher. You probably would not even notice the difference.

The fact that accommodations want a week's commitment is more of a deal-breaker.

Well thanks to all of you for your help but we did switch and decided to stay at Amelia. It most was because of proximity to Charleston since that is where we will be coming from. The other reason was the challenge to find a place to stay for 3-4 nights (not at Destin). Cape San Blas is now on my radar and will definitely be another trip.