Destin in Winter

Last year we went to Destin during the off season in October. Many people might think we were crazy. But it turned out to be one of the best vacation we have had.

The weather in Destin during October was unpredictable but mostly still warm. We got rained in a couple days but we were saved in the last day with Sunny Florida style day. The water was a bit cold but tolerable. We enjoyed Destin without any crowds. The drive along famouse Route 98 (Emerald Coast Parkway) was a breeze without any traffic. There were no wait in the restaurants.

We took a scenic drive along the coast from Fort Walton Beach up to Seagrove. We made a quick stop near Santa Rosa Golf and Beach Club. The sky was clear, the water was blue, the beach was empty as if we owned the whole stretch. The little townsquare lined up with plam trees and candy color building. It was a picture perfect day and we got to witness the beautiful wedding by the beach. Next time, we will have to linger a bit longer and rent a bike to ride around town.

On the last day, we enjoyed beautiful sunset. Not too far off the coast we saw several dolphins swam up to say goodbye to us. What a perfect vacation!! We can't wait to go back.

Check out other travelers' Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

A Good Day in Destin

Our last day at Destin was a GOOD Day indeed. We woke up to a sunny day. The weather was still a bit cooler than we would love to. But no problem, we could just spend the morning heading down to Seaside and got some lunch before beach time. After breakfast, we got ready and headed out for an adventure. We headed East past Destin and took the scenic route.

It was such a nice and leisure drive along the Route 98. We truly felt like we had been transported to a different time. The little cottages along the beach with different beautiful cotton candy colors lined up along the way. The contrast of the bright blue sky and the green turcoise ocean was memorizing..

After a quick drive by in Seaside, we headed back to our condo in Fort Walton Beach. The kids couldn't wait to head down to the pool. The water was definitely coldddddd.. That didn't stop them from jumping in and out of the pool. We warmed ourselves up with frequent visits to the hot tub. Ah.. Warm and relaxing tub with no one else there. Then we rode on the tube along the lazy river a few times. Then we headed out to the beach for some sand and sea...

Miss J was busy building her masterpiece but ended up spending most of her time catching and riding wave in the ocean. It took a bit of encouragment and convincing to get her into the ocean but once she was in.. It took a lot more to get her out.

Mr. Z on the other hand didn't really want to go into the water at all. He spent most of the afternoon by the beach building his fort or castle or house.. hmm.. I couldn't tell. After seeing how much fun Miss J had in the water, he had a change of heart and joined us. I didn't know how long we were there but it was long enough that my kids started to turn prune.. So it was a queue for us to head back and had dinner. Ah.. A great day in paradise indeed!!!

Wordless Wednesday: The View

The oceanfront view from our balcony during our Destin trip.

Check out other WW participants at WW Hub or 5 Minutes for mom.

Rain Rain Go Away

During our trip to Destin, we got rained in for a couple days. What to do when you planned a beach vacation but no sun? Luckily, there are things to see around Destin that we could do.

When we arrived, we just took the opportunity to drive around (even in the rain). It was so easy to drive around Destin. You can't get lost.. There is pretty much one main highway that go through Destin from Fort Walton Beach. I was so impressed with the emptiness of the street. I have heard about the traffic during the high season so I'm glad we didn't have to go through that.

The next day was much better. When we woke up, there was no rain. So we didn't waste any second and headed down to the beach. Armed with beach toys, Miss J and Mr. Z started building their own masterpiece. The water was too cold to get in so we just enjoyed the quiet and relaxing time by the beach. I was surprised to see people on the beach. We thought we were the only family in the whole building. Seriously, there was only one car when we arrived on our parking level. Well, we didn't get to spend that much time there because after about an hour the cloud moved in and the shower started. Guess it was time to go sighseeing.

We got back to our room and headed out to check out Baytowne Wharf Village after lunch. It was stilll quite early so there weren't that many people there. I think it would be nice to go there at night. It was a nice outdoor shopping/entertainment plaza with several shops and restaurants. I love that they thought about family with small children because they have one of the super cool playground. It was really big playground with separate area for small kids. The ground are made of recycle tire so it was so crushy to walk on. We literally had to drag them out from the playground.

We also checked out the boardwalk that leads to the dock. It was off season so the boat ride wasn't in operation. It was a really long boardwalk though. It was especially long when it was windy and cold and we were extremely under-dress. I highly recommend doing this for kids who have high energy. :) Mr. Z did run all the way to the end. On the way back, I think he used up all his energy so Mr. Rojo had to come to the rescue. After the boardwalk, I couldn't help but stopped by a few shops. I hope that all these shops and restaurants will survive the economy downturn. The whole village is a really nice place to just walk around, let kids run wild in the playgroun, sit back and enjoy a great outdoor.

Next stop on our agenda that day was to get my Hard Rock Cafe pin. We stopped by Destin Commons which wasn't far from Baytowne Wharf Village. It was yet another outdoor shopping mall. But this one is much bigger than Baytowne Wharf Village. I think Baytowne is more for eat and drink. But Destin Commons is more for shop and shop. After I got my pin, we walked around and checked out a few stores. Then we got on a free tram ride around the property. It was a nice treat for Mr. Z. Then it was a quick break for me and Mr. Rojo. We let them play at the outdoor play area. It was a really cute play area with various sea creatures and a lighthouse.

Before we knew it was time to wrap up and headed back. We stopped by Publix for a quick grocery run and I made Taco for dinner. It was such a nice day even with a cloudy weather. And we didn't even hit all the must-do attractions like Tracks or the Okaloosa Island Pier.. I can say that Destin is one of my (our) favorite destination now.

Oh..The Food We Ate

On our trip to Destin, we had sampled a couple restaurants that are on the Must-Eat list. (Don't you love that list? Must-Eat..Who can resist a must-eat list.) With trying to do a budget travel that doesn't compromise the experience, I planned our trip down to the hours.. Yup.. I'm crazy that way. Asked Mr. Rojo. I had a spreadsheet on what we would do and eat each day. Well, I like to know the plan but we didn't necessarily stick to the plan. In order to save some doughs, we plan to eat out during lunch and cook our own dinner at the condo. I chose easy meal for dinner like Hamburger Helper, Taco Dinner Kit and Publix Chicken on my menu.

On the first day, we arrived later than we thought. So the lunch was McD along the way. Then dinner was Publix chicken. Nice and easy plus with a long drive from GA we didn't want to bother with cranky kids in the restaurant.

Our first stop on the list was McGuire Irish Pub. We went there right before lunch so we didn't have to wait at all. The first thing you will notice when you walk in is thousands of dollar bills on the ceiling, on the wall and everywhere else around the restaurant. It is a tradition started with friends of the owner gave him the dollar bill and signed his name. The owner then put it up on the wall. And one by one now they have almost half a million bills on their wall. Amazing!

The food was amazing! I had cornbeef and cabbage.. Oh. It was so yummy and huge. I didn't think I could finish it but I did! The cabbage had sweet taste the compliment with the cornbeef perfectly. Mr. Rojo got Fish and Chips.. By far I think it was the best Fish and Chips I have had. It was crispy enough but not too hard. The breading was perfectly... Yum-O... Also make sure you pay attention when you ready to freshen up and head to the bathroom. See the sign? Better read before heading to the Men room or you thought.

The next morning, we went a bit further toward Seaside and stopped by the famous Donut Hole. The food was great and the donuts was even better. After a big plate of brunch and a full dozen donuts, we were ready to roll and check out seaside.. Check back later for posts on what we did in Destin and beyond!

Little piece of paradise in Destin

Ok.. Technically, we stayed at Fort Walton Beach which is about 10 minutes drive from Destin. Last week, we packed up the kids, the cooler, the car and armed with DVD movies and headed down to Destin, FL. This place has been on my to-do list for a really long time. I wanted it all.. I wanted to stay in a nice place with ocean-front view. I wanted to spend as less money as possible. I wanted to enjoy and relax by the pool... Could that be done? Well, we did it.

I started off by checking on TripAdvisor.com. This is a great site with a lot of local and real travelers input. I learned about a brand, spankling new condo that recently opened in April called 'Waterscape'. It has everything I am looking for.

An ocean-front property.. checked!

A to-die-for pools for the kids and kids-at-heart adults.. checked!

A great gym with great view for Mr. Rojo.. checked!

A room with kitchen and great decoration.. checked! (ok.. I'm shallow that way. I want to stay in a nice place)

A reasonable rate that we can afford.. checked!

I waited untill a couple weeks leading up to our planned vacation to book because I knew that we were going during the off season so there were plenty of rooms available. Sure enough, I was able to snag a 2br/2.5bt condo with the best view for the same price as 1br/1bt condo if I would have booked it 1 month ago. There were so many rooms available from various resources. I checked VRBO, Resort Quest and a few other rental companies.

I decided to go with Resort Quest because of their reputation and extras like free tickets to local attraction. The checking-in process couldn't be easier. We arrived about an hour earlier than check-in time and they let us check in right away. After we picked up the keys and card, we were ready to unload to our new home in the next few days.

The condo has 6 floors and we were on the 5th floor with a great ocean view. We were so close that we could hear the sound of the wave every night.. Ah.. Heaven! It was unfortunate that we got rained in 2 days during our stays. But we still managed to get around town and checked out other stuffs around Destin area. (that will be another post)

It was fortunate that we chose to go during an off-season in Destin. We practically owned the whole pool and the whole floor.. It felt like we were at our own beach house that was really really big! There were little traffic and no wait to eat at the restaurant. The beach was not crowd. We truly enjoyed having the piece of the paradise all to ourselves here.

So stay tune for more to come in detail at Destin..

Photo Hunt: Blue

Where else can you paint your house this blue except in Seaside - the picturesque seaside town near Destin.

This is my first time to participate in Photo Hunt. Leave a message to say 'hi'!

Join in the Photo Hunt or check out other participants at tnchick.com

You Will Find Me Here...

I have been seriously looking into where to stay in Destin area for a while. At first one of my friend recommended Sandestin. They just went there recently and they really enjoyed it. I checked it out and it looks really nice. It's pretty much like a mega resort (or shall I call it town). There are pretty anything you will want during your vacation. Golf, shopping, entertainment and restaurants all in one property. However, what I want to get from Destin is beach time and pool time for the kids and us. The pools at each building in Sandestin are just typical pool. Nothing too fancy. I'm looking for something more.

With the help from many expert users from Trip Advisors forum, I found this new jewel in Fort Walton Beach... Waterscape condominium. This is a brand spanking new luxurious beachfront condominiums with 3 swimming pools, waterfall and Lay-Z-River. Also it has two main requirements from Mr. Rojo. The great gym overlooks the pool and internet access is available in all units.

Fort Walton Beach is about 10-15 minutes from Destin. It has the same great feature as Destin for white sand beach and emerald blue ocean. But the price is a bit lower than staying in Destin and less crowd. Waterscape offers 1-, 2-, and 3- bedroom condo. It has all the amentities that you want for a perfect family vacation including kid's pool and kid's activities (seasonal). They also provide complimentary beach service (chair and umbrella during season from August to October). One less thing for me to pack. :)

There are so many things to do in or around the Destin area. So I know that with a mini trip for 3-4 days it won't be enough to enjoy it all. But I am hoping that this will be a place that we will come back year after year. Well, stay tune for our trip report!

Beach Bum

Summer is ending and Fall is coming. But I have this urge of going to the beach. Eventhough we went to the Carribean in the beginning of Summer but that was 4 months ago. I need my beach-fix.

I have my short list of where I want to go within driving distance. Of course, if I have unlimited resources I would love to go to Hawaii or somewhere else in the Pacific. But for now, the beach on the East coast or the Gulf will suffice. After reading and thinking and thinking and thinking, we have settled on Destin area in FL. With the white sand and family-friendly resort, we think it will be a nice break we are looking for.

But Destin is one of the popular beach destination so the choices are endless.. Where do we want to stay? There are thousands of units available on VRBO. Which one is the right one for us?

I have to make a decision first on what type of accommodation we want. I know I don't want to stay in a hotel. I want to have full kitchen. So it will be condominium, townhome or beach houses. Well, we are not printing money so we probably will have to settle for the condo. Even that we still left with hundred of options. Destin area spans from West of Panama City which includes the South Walton beaches area to Fort Walton area. We need to narrow down into a particular area so I can make my decision.

At first I want to stay in a slow pace, out of the beaten parth area. But knowing our family, we might not enjoy it as much as staying in the center of the activities. Plus this will be our first time there, we might not want to get out of our comfort zone too much.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a huge resort area (or shall I call 'town'). It has everything you will ever need for a vacation. It might not be for everyone. But I think it will be great for us. A gym for Mr. Rojo to work out, swimming pool for me and the kids to enjoy, bike ride, golf course, shopping and more shopping.. So for now, I think this is where we will start our search for the perfect place to stay.

How about you? Have you been to Destin, FL? If so, do you have any suggestion on where to stay?