Summer vacation #1- Destin Florida

We had some timeshare points to use and decided to head somewhere we had never been before.All four of us decided Florida was it! We chose Destin-- a "short" 12 hour drive from home and came highly recommended from friends and family who had been there. We had a nice 1 bdrm condo at the Majestic Sun right on the beach. We arrived Sat evening, ate a simple dinner and crashed. I was so ready for sun and beach the next day, but what did we find? RAIN! Seriously- it was cloudy and stormy all day. We scoped out the resort and went to a movie instead. Hoping for sun on Monday, but awoke again to ... RAIN. Seriously, my tan is fading as I type. It was a little broken by later in the day so we braved it-- just as we unpacked our beach gear it started raining again. dang! Finally by 3pm the sun was breaking through. Nathan was all ready with boogie board in arms to hit the waves leftover by the storms. But just as we got out there, sun out... the lifeguards closed the water... apparently there had been some strong riptides and several deaths... so the sun is out, the water is closed. It's really not my day. We rented beach cruisers for the rest of the week and took a ride down the road to the local "Winn Dixie" for reinforcements.

Tuesday morning-- we finally had sun, and the water was re-opened. I hit the beach early, before anyone else was ready just to make sure I got some "sun" time in... the rest joined me by lunchtime. The sands are a beautiful white and the water literally emerald green and clear. Tones flew a few kites, we all enjoyed the sun, water, and people watching. We headed down to the Harborwalk for dinner and shopping and enjoyed the "Mardi Gras" parade. Kids and Tones did a "7D" movie too-- quite expensive but fun.

Wednesday was another beautiful day! Hooray, I'll never take the sun for granted again! We packed up early and headed to Ookaloosa Island for a Catamaran day trip. Although the rest of the boat was filled with intoxicated ladies from Dallas who didn't want to get their hair messed up, we enjoyed the bay tour, stopped and snorkeled offshore to check out wildlife, and then went Dolphin searching. It was a wonderful day. I also booked a parasail trip for the kids and Tones-- so we headed over there after a refreshing smoothie to keep our energy up. It was an evening "sunset" trip-- a great crew, fun time, and beautiful scenery. 

Thursday- sunny and hot again. Everyone took their time getting to the beach, working out, bike rides, etc. We did make our way down there by lunchtime-- The kids had been eager to try paddleboards, so we rented them from our beach location-- it was quite rough but they did awesome! Tones really wanted to do a "sunset cruise" so we bought tickets to ride the "Sea Blaster"-- the largest speed boat in the Gulf. We enjoyed the 2 hrs out-- toured the bay, went dolphin searching again, saw LOTS this time, they loved swimming right in front of the boat! Watched a beautiful sunset, then headed back in time for dinner locally and fireworks! Enjoyed delicious local seafood and a lovely evening.

Friday- last full day. Everyone had plenty of sun, so we did some bike riding, some souvenier shopping, and got pre-packed up to head home. We hit the beach late afternoon to enjoy a few last moments of the ocean. Nate enjoyed a few last boogie board rides til his board broke. :( We had saved our last dinner for Capt Dave's right on the beach, where we enjoyed more FRESH fish and beautiful views!