Since before school got out, Jeff and I were talking about a
vacation and getting away for some relaxation.
Booking a vacation is stressful for me.
I looked at Cruises, Disney, Beaches, Great Wolf Lodges and other
Adventure Parks. Each time I’d begin to
look, I’d get so overwhelmed with all the options and hotel choices and cruise
ships…. I needed a travel planner! Weeks went by and we did nothing! I knew I was about to resign from my job so
there was also a bit of hesitation on booking something. Well, we waited so long that I looked at the
calendar one day and realized we only had 2 weeks left to do something because
of volleyball camps and tryouts.
Everyone always raves about Destin and it’s a relatively short drive so
I found a reasonable hotel and booked it.
I would have preferred a condo but since it was such a short notice, the
condos were quite pricey.
We left at 4 am on a Wednesday and drove to Destin. It was only about a 9 hour drive; the kids
slept off and on and watched movies the rest of the time. It’s not a very pleasant drive, kind of
boring actually. We were able to check
into our hotel early so we did that and then headed straight get something to
eat. We went to a place called Harbor
Docks that was referred to us by the hotel staff. The service at first was not good, we didn’t
get waited on for 10-15 minute and they were NOT busy. I was thinking we should
just up and leave but we stuck it out and were all so glad we did. The restaurant was on the water so while we
waited, Jeff took Taryn down to the boardwalk and watched fishermen cut some
massive tuna, red snapper and other fish.
She thought that was pretty cool.
Once our drinks came, service was great for the remainder of the meal
and the food was delicious. IT was too
early in the day to not do something fun or relaxing so we headed to the
beach. Everyone was right, the sand and
water in Destin is amazing! I wish now
that I would have bottled some of the sand up just because it was that soft and
pretty! Soft like baby powder! Jeff and
the kids all buried each other and then had to break out of the sand. Jayden
and Jeff threw the Frisbee while Taryn and Kiarra built castles. After enjoying the beach for a few hours, we
headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. We couldn’t decide what we wanted and we were
not super hungry so we landed on pizza.
We found this great place called Merlins Pizza just down the street;
actually everything is “down the street”.
We arrived and it wasn’t busy so we found a booth, ordered and they said
it would be 75-90 minutes… WHAT!! We had
a choice, we can wait the 90 minutes or we can leave and try to find something
else and wait an hour at any other place… so we decided to wait it out. By the
time the pizza came out, we were all quite hungry and it was YUMMO! Not as great as Flippers Pizza in Orlando but
pretty close. Once we ate, we were all
exhausted so called it a night.
 |
| Taryn driving the boat!! |
Thursday was the only day we had real plans. For the most part I wanted to wing each day
(yes, I said it – Mrs. “I plan every minute of every day” said I wanted to wing
each day!!) but this day was planned. We
got up and had breakfast in the hotel and all got ready to go to the boardwalk.
We planned to spend the entire day there because we had a dolphin watching
excursion planned for 7 pm that we knew we had to check in at 5 pm. On our way there, roughly 10:00 am, it
started pouring. POURING!!! Ok then, change of plans. We decided to do a little souvenir shopping
instead. Each of the kids got a really
cool t-shirt made and we picked up some things for the family and
co-workers. We were in the store for
almost 2 hours. By the time we left, the
rain had stopped and everything had dried up.
We headed back to the boardwalk when we faced yet another setback. This setback sent up to the pharmacy and back
to the hotel. 2 of us stayed at the
hotel while Jeff and 2 of the kids went to get us lunch. He picked up some shrimp po’ boys and they
were pretty good. Our kids had never had
a po’ boy before… can you believe that!?!?
Taryn was the only one that didn’t get one, she got pasta instead. Finally around 2:00, we were able to go to
the boardwalk for real! Parking was
nightmare but other than that the boardwalk was a great time. Kiarra and Jayden zip lined and Taryn climbed
a huge rock wall. Jeff, Kiarra and
Jayden did this freaky 4D zombie shooting thing while Taryn and I watched them
on a screen. It was finally time for our
boating excursion to go see some dolphins.
Some friends of ours were in Destin at the same time we were there so we
met up with them and they were able to book the same excursion. We did get to see some dolphins and a
beautiful sunset. Every Thursday in
Destin, they have fireworks off of a barge in the water so we booked this
excursion so we would be on the water for the firework show. While waiting for it to get dark enough for
it to start, we were getting bored and decided to play the game Heads Up. It didn’t take long before every kid and half
of the adults on the boat were playing the game with us. It’s such a fun game!! Finally, the fireworks started. I love fireworks. There is something so beautiful and magical
about them. It was so nice being on the
water with family and friends during that moment. Once it finished, our excursion was over and
we were pulling back up to the boardwalk.
We’d had such a late lunch that we didn’t eat before getting on the boat
so now that it’s 9:30, we are all starving!
We left to find something to eat.
Most restaurants close at 10:00 so I got online to find something open
until 11. The only one I could find was
Bubba Gump Shrimp. When on vacation, I
hate eating at places that I can eat at any day of the week while home but we
didn’t have much of a choice. We got to
Bubba Gumps a little before 10 and gave our name to be put on the list. The staff was kind of rude but it was late
and I didn’t think much of it. We didn’t
have to wait long and they called us to seat us. One girl had a major attitude so Jeff asked
if something was wrong or something like that.
She said “we close at 10 – or are supposed to close at 10”. I about snapped. I was quick to say, “Your website says 11:00!” She said “yea, that’s wrong, we close at 10”.
I was willing to leave, I didn’t want
the chefs spitting in my food for coming into the restaurant so late. I was
outta there, but they insisted that we stay and that it wasn’t a problem. Food was mediocre; dessert was disgusting
(they forgot to put the fancy sauces on the bread pudding). I just wanted to get out of there. We were the last ones there and it just
didn’t feel right.
 |
| Taryn with her cute face paint. |
 |
| Bubba Gump Restaurant |
 |
| Taryn climbing the rock wall |
Friday was the day I was really looking forward to. The beach – ALL DAY! The weather was beautiful. We wanted to go to a different beach than the
one we went to on Wednesday but that didn’t work out so well for us. All the beaches by the condos are private
beaches for people staying in the condos we went back to the place we’d already
been. It was just as gorgeous on Friday
as it was 2 days prior. We set up our canopy and Taryn went straight to making
sand castles. I sat in the sun and
soaked up as much as I could. It wasn’t
long before it got a little hot and Taryn was begging me to get in the water
with her. I refuse to get in the water
in Galveston but this water was blue-ish and I could see my feet even being in
the water that was to my waist. The
waves were strong and knocked us down but it was a lot of fun. I sat with her for hours and played in the
sand (yes, I know, for once I actually got my hands in the sand). I literally could of stayed there for 5 more
hours but we didn’t plan the day very well and didn’t take our normal “beach
food” so everyone was hungry. Since we
skipped lunch we decided to have an early dinner. We cleaned up and decided to go to Old Bay
Steamers in Fort Walton Beach. It was
only 12 miles from our hotel so we thought it would be a quick trip. We left the hotel at 5:15 and called ahead to
see if there was a wait. They said to
come on in because they had not wait.
Sweet! As we pulled out of the
hotel we realized we would not be getting there anytime soon. Traffic was horrible. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to travel
12 miles! I thought Houston traffic was
bad… Houston traffic has NOTHING on the traffic in Destin. By the time we go there, there was an hour
wait for the 5 of us. Ugh, we’d already
skipped lunch and the kids had been saying for hours now that they were hungry
(right before leaving the beach, during our cleanup/shower time at the hotel
and the drive to the restaurant). We
were able to order drinks and appetizers from the bar which I’m glad we
did. They had great appetizers. The wait wasn’t so bad either. We were seated and ordered our food. If you
are ever in Destin or Fort Walton beach and don’t mind spending a little money
on a nice dinner, you HAVE to go to this place.
Our food was so good. Some of the
best seafood I’ve ever had. They steam
or grill everything, nothing is fried. I
had lobster tail, shrimp skewers with rice and veggies. Soo sooo sooo good! We all really loved our food.
 |
| Old Bay Steamers - Lobster Tail and Shrimp |
 |
| Old Bay Steamers - Pineapple Shrimp |
Saturday we packed up to head to New Orleans to spend the
evening with Jeffs parents. Before
leaving we went to the place next to us where the kids could ride go
carts. They had a blast. We probably could of stayed there all day
doing that. Then we headed to the
outlets to do a little shopping. Talk
about disappointing. I was ready to
spend some money and get the kids school clothes knocked out….. Or not!
I bought 3 things. A pair of
shorts and a tank top for Taryn and lunch!
That is it. The shops were
terrible. I couldn’t even find thing
that we liked that were overpriced where I had to disappoint the kids and say
no. They just didn’t have anything we
liked. Guess I shouldn’t complain, saved
us some money J. From there we headed to New Orleans. On the way, we went through Pensacola which
is where Jeff was born and lived until he was 8 years old or so. We even drove by the house he grew up
in. It was our luck to hit traffic in 4
places on our way to his parents’ house so we arrived much later than
anticipated (guess I should of planned each of these days better and we
wouldn’t of had all these mishaps).
Thankfully, Shirley had dinner prepared for us so we didn’t have worry
about that. We visited with them and got
up the next morning and headed home.
Although it wasn’t a super fancy vacation, I am so grateful
to be able to spend a few days relaxing and spending quality time with my
family. The day before vacation is when I’d
given my notice at work so that was a huge weight off my shoulders so I was
able to relax and enjoy. I’m also very
glad we didn’t stay longer that we did.
Destin is not as big as I thought.
I was expecting this huge island and night life and a million things to
do. It’s definitely not that, but it was
perfect for us.
