Destin and the Panhandle
Just before school started this fall we headed down to Destin, FL for one last bit of fun. We drove to New Orleans first and from there to Destin– Ten hours to New Orleans, overnight there, and then four more Destin. It was worth the drive! Destin is the perfect choice for kids who are fearless but not great swimmers. Everything is close and the beaches are clean and beautiful.
We stayed in a friend’s rental property. It was in a little gated community just off the main street and walking distance to the mall and the beach–even for a 3 and 5 year old. The selling point for the kids though was the pool that was just outside our front door. The town house itself was huge– 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths and two sitting rooms. We were just four plus two dogs but the condo could have easily slept at least 10. We were there for 9 days so I was especially thankful to be in a place with a kitchen and a washer/dryer. Having such a great place to stay made the trip so much more enjoyable.
It was the beginning of hurricane season so we did have days with rain, but for the most part those days also included quite a bit of time of sun. On those rainy days we hung out in our house, headed to the Outlet Mall to do some back-to-school shopping or to the mall to catch a movie. I never felt like I didn’t have options.
The beaches got crowded later in the day but never so packed that I felt like my space was being encroached upon. The beach is perfect! The sand is beautiful and the beach clean. The water is shallow for quite a distance and the waves forgiving so the kids never felt apprehensive about getting in. Mostly the beach was populated with families but also a fair number of solo teens and adults.
It was a working vacation for one of us so most of the day it was just the kids and me. I took one backpack. The kids each carried their own stuff. These are the things I am glad I brought:
- A beach tent: Although there are umbrellas I bought a little beach tent. I had done some research before I got down there but I ended up getting a tent at a local Wal-Mart. It’s great. It collapses down to nothing, has a floor, held up in some substantial winds (our last day there was the day before a tropical storm hit) and it was cheap ($18). It allowed us to stake out a shady spot a little closer to the water. I also felt a little more confident leaving stuff unattended while I was in the water with my bag securely tucked into the tent’s back corner.
Floaties: Not those little inflatable armband things but a hybrid life preserver/arm band thing with a cute face. We also got them at Wal-Mart. They are basically a foam band wrapped in nylon life preserver material with two foam arm band similarly wrapped and attached on the sides, a nylon strap with clasp on the ends and a face smacked on the front for good measure. ES had a yellow duck and G a shark. Even with the big waves on the last 2 days they kids just bobbed right up. They felt safe and I felt like they were too. Nearly every nearby parent asked where I got them after seeing the kids in the water with them on. They were maybe $15 each.
- Goggles: Salt water burns little eyes and whining about burning eyes hurts big ears.
- Waterproof sunscreen: Lots of it. Spending all day at the beach meant we had to reapply several times a day. I used about twice as much as I thought I would and still it was not enough. Sorry, G. They say the lotion is more effective but I find the spray much more convenient once we get out and about. I compromise by applying lotion before we leave the house and bringing the spray to the beach. G tested Hint: Apple Cider vinegar works better than aloe vera gel to relieve the sting of a sunburn.
- Towels: I brought the large micro fiber ones. You can find them at Marshalls of at Outdoor Suppliers. I only had one backpack and one traditional towels would have taken as much space as four of these did. These were plenty and they dry much faster than terry towels.
- Beach blanket: I found this on the rainy day outing to the nearby outlet mall. Eddie Bauer makes it. One side is a waterproof nylon and the other flannel. It was big enough for 4 to sit on but rolled back nicely into it’s drawstring stuff sack. It was at the outlet for $15 so I’m not sure if it is something they still sell.
- Water: There are guys that walk around selling water and frozen treats but they didn’t seem to come by that frequently.
- Snacks: There are places to eat but quite a trek from where we were on the beach.
During the week we walked to our local Destin beach but on the weekend and some evenings we went to Seaside and Grayton. We were looking for good food and a dog friendly beach. The towns of Grayton and Seaside are cuter than the much bigger Destin– no malls, no big stores, lots of independent restaurants. In Seaside we ate and walked around to the little shops but didn’t go to the beach. Instead we stopped at a park and let the dogs and kids swim in the inlet. Turns out there are no public dog-friendly beaches in the whole county. But in Grayton not only can a resident bring their dog they can literally drive right up to the water at with a resident tag. It was late in the day so we risked it for old Joe– it was sad to be so close to a beach and be unable to bring the dogs with so many already there running free. It was Layla’s first time at the ocean and they both had a blast. The beach was beautiful but we did find it had more jellyfish and algae than just down the beach in Destin but maybe that was just the day we were there.
We came to go to the beach so that is what we had been doing everyday, but about midway through our trip I decided that we would mix things up and head to the water park: Big Kahuna’s. We got there in the early afternoon. You must pay to park and you must pay to get in and once you are in you pay for a locker. It was an expensive day out– nearly a $100 for three. I can’t say that I felt like I got my money’s worth. Maybe if they had not closed all of the pools a couple of hours after we got there because of the storm that rolled in, or maybe if the kids had been bigger we would have gotten more out of it. Little people had their own area and could go on some slides but they were frustrated by all that they were not allowed to do. Although the kids had their floaties (thank goodness!) one me alone with two young children among lots of unsupervised kids was a bit much at times. I think I will hold off on water parks until they are a bit bigger, better swimmers and/or the adult kid ratio is 1:1. They had fun at the water park, but had just as much fun at the beach or the pool in our little community.
You can find whatever you would like to eat in Destin: local favorites, overpriced tourist traps to national chains like Waffle House or Chili’s. If nothing in Destin is to your liking then all one needs to do is drive down the road to a nearby town. Unless you live in a very urban place everything you can find at home you can find here in much the same way—large grocery stores, Walgreens, Target, Wal-mart, Barnes & Noble and a whole outdoor mall complete with a huge Bass Pro Shop and movie theatre. It’s a tourism town.
We had a great time. Not too long ago G and ES were telling me that they were forgetting how to swim and needed to go back to Florida. I’m glad they enjoyed it as much as I thought they did. I would go back.
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