How many of the coming six weeks at The Big Chill are actually holiday weeks? Going by the venue's own calendar, not many. Between now and the end of December, the food hall and lawn at 7000 E County Hwy 30A in Watersound Beach mostly keeps its ordinary rhythm of football on the Jumbotron, bingo, karaoke and trivia. A handful of dates break that pattern. The venue closes on Thanksgiving Day, holds a short Saturday morning with Santa, and throws a New Year's Eve party with a countdown that lands hours before midnight.
For anyone living a few minutes up 30A in WaterSound West Beach, that calendar is worth knowing. The holiday dates are few, and the weeks around them look much like any other weeks at the place down the road.
A Familiar Name Under a New One
The venue's own site still introduces it as "The Big Chill on 30a, Formerly the Hub30a," so anyone who still calls it the Hub isn't wrong. Its contact page also lists the address as 20 Hub Lane, another trace of the old name.
The current homepage names three food counters:
- Mile Marker 15 for tacos, burritos and quesadillas
- Nectar for coffee, breakfast and smoothies
- Duos for all-American food
That covers a morning coffee, a lunch on the lawn and an early dinner in front of a game, which happens to be how the venue's holiday calendar is laid out.
The Ordinary November Week
Most of the November calendar runs on a fixed weekly schedule:
| Day | What's on |
|---|---|
| Monday | Art studio, 10 a.m. to noon; NFL on the Jumbotron at 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday | College football, 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Steve's Music Bingo, 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Thursday | NFL on the Jumbotron at 7 p.m. |
| Friday | Face painting, 5 to 7 p.m.; family karaoke, 6 to 9 p.m. |
Steve's Trivia fills one more slot on the calendar. It ran on November 11 and comes back on Wednesday, December 2, from 6 to 8 p.m.
All of this is weeknight programming, and most of it ends by 9 p.m. Families with children are part of the plan, with face painting and family karaoke on Friday evenings. Football fills the rest of the week. Thanksgiving week rearranges those same pieces.
Thanksgiving Week Reshuffles the Schedule
The week of the holiday keeps the usual elements and moves them around:
- Monday, November 23: NFL on the Jumbotron at 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, November 24: Face painting with Uniquely Clever Art, 5 to 7 p.m., and a DJ Dance Party, 6 to 9:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 25: Live music on the lawn, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., then NFL at 7 p.m.
- Thursday, November 26: Closed all day.
- Friday, November 27: College football on the Jumbotron, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Wednesday lunch music is the new addition. With relatives arriving and grocery runs piling up, it's a midday break that doesn't ask anyone to stay out late.
Then the calendar stops. Thursday is listed as "CLOSED for the holiday!" all day. This isn't a one-off. The listing traces back to a 2023 Thanksgiving entry and is set as a recurring event, so the venue has made closing on Thanksgiving part of its standing calendar.
Friday makes up for it with 11 straight hours of college football, the longest single block of programming that week. On Thursday itself, the usual Thursday-night NFL is off and the public gathering is farther east.
Thanksgiving Morning Moves to Rosemary Beach
While The Big Chill is closed, the 15th Annual 30A 10K Thanksgiving Day Races take over Rosemary Beach, with courses along Scenic Highway 30A that start and finish in town. As 30A.com's fall events guide lays it out, the morning runs on a set schedule:
- The 10K starts at 7:30 a.m.
- The 1-Mile Fun Run follows at 7:35 a.m.
- The 5K goes off at 9:30 a.m.
Registration is $95 for the 10K or the 5K and $45 for the 1-Mile Fun Run. There's no race-day registration, so anyone in the house who wants a bib has to sign up before Thursday morning. Registered participants get a commemorative race shirt and a custom finisher medal. After the races there's an awards ceremony, a DJ, local vendors, breakfast and a complimentary mimosa and Bloody Mary bar for adults.
The race series has given more than $1 million to nonprofits over its history. This year's registrations support four local partners: Children's Volunteer Health Network, Children in Crisis, Habitat for Humanity of Walton County and Bailey Brigade.
The two schedules fit together neatly. The race and its breakfast take the morning, the house and the meal take the afternoon, and the venue that usually anchors a Thursday evening near WaterSound West Beach stays dark.
Saturday the 28th, Santa Before Noon
The first holiday event at The Big Chill comes two days later. Pictures with Santa runs Saturday, November 28, from 9 a.m. to noon, and college football returns to the Jumbotron at 11 a.m. that morning. Visiting grandchildren are often still in town that weekend, and a morning slot leaves time to get to the beach afterward, or to pack.
It's a three-hour window on one morning. Nectar opens for coffee and breakfast, so the wait for photos can start with a latte.
A New Year's Eve Timed to Halftime
The last event on the venue's holiday calendar is the one that strays furthest from tradition. The New Year's Eve Celebration on Thursday, December 31, runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and promises college football bowl games on the Jumbotron, an early countdown and a family-friendly beach-ball drop.
The countdown follows the football clock. According to The Big Chill's event page, the ball drop happens on stage with DJ Dan Davis during halftime of the game that starts at 6:30 p.m., and:
"The exact timing of the countdown & ball drop will depend on the progression of the game!"
So New Year's Eve down the road ends early. A 6:30 kickoff puts halftime somewhere in the eight o'clock hour, depending on how the game goes, and the whole event wraps at 10 p.m. A family can see the ball drop, get home, and still have time for a second toast at midnight or an early bedtime. The event page describes it as a family-friendly celebration with bowl games on the Jumbotron all day.
Getting There on Foot This Month
Anyone planning to walk or bike to any of these dates should know about a change on the 30A multiuse path. On November 2, Walton County Public Works began repairing the pedestrian path on the west side of the Deer Lake Bridge. The work includes removing the handrail, stabilizing the base, and installing a new handrail and new asphalt. The county's notice says the multiuse path near Deer Lake is closed for the duration of the project, path users need to find alternate routes, drivers may see temporary delays in the work zone, and the work depends on the weather. The county's projects-in-progress list also includes maintenance of the pedestrian bridge approach at CR 30A and Deer Lake.
Deer Lake is already part of daily life in WaterSound West Beach. The community association describes its private boardwalks as reaching the beach through Deer Lake State Park. The park itself makes a good stop between holiday plans. Florida State Parks lists it as open from 8 a.m. to sunset every day. Entry is $3 per vehicle carrying two to eight people and $2 for pedestrians, bicyclists and extra passengers. The park has two trails: the one-mile Orange loop and the half-mile Blue trail, which ends at an overlook of northern Deer Lake. There's also a boardwalk to a half-mile of beach, along with picnic facilities and restrooms.
One caution for the busiest holiday days: the park page notes that the park may close temporarily when it reaches capacity, and pedestrians and bicyclists can't enter until it reopens. A Thanksgiving-weekend walk on the Orange loop is more likely to work out early in the day.
At Boswell Builders, we design homes around these holiday weeks: a kitchen island that can hold Thanksgiving with room to spare, a porch wide enough for the whole family after the 10K, and guest rooms ready for the relatives who stay through New Year's. If your house on 30A needs to handle the holidays more easily, we'd be glad to sit down and sketch it with you. Work With Us.
