Went to Destin, FL with the Mrs., mom, and Judy. First time in Destin and now don't ever want to go anywhere else. The water was so clear and blue, it looked like the Caribbean. We stayed at the Windancer Condos right on the beach; was small, but nice. We got in late Tuesday evening after the Mrs got off work; we lucked out and she was able to leave at 1pm versus her scheduled 5:30. I had the truck packed and we hit the road shortly after she arrived home.
This trip was excellent timing with our insemination. Relaxing and allowed the Mrs a good opportunity to get her mind "off of things" as much as she can. Was a good time for us to have "us" time, even though we were with other people.
We didn't do a ton of stuff. Lounged around on the beach, swam, snorkeled. We rented a kayak one day, which was great. We were probably 70 yards off the beach and were still able to see clear to the bottom. On a trip out with the Mrs, we saw a small shark. It was grey with a white stripe down the side of it. When I first saw it, I wasn't sure if it was just a fish or a shark. Then, it swam directly beneath us and by the fins, it was obvious at that point. I accidentally let my oar dip into the water the slightest bit, and it was gone like a rocket. We also saw 3 small jellyfish. Luckily, these were only out off the shore and we never had any issues with them up close. On another day, I went out and saw what looked like a small sword fish but convinced myself that isn't what it was. Shortly after my sighting, I overheard the couple on the beach next to me saying they saw a baby swordfish so my eyes weren't playing tricks on me!
We had lunch at Whale's Tale where the food was decent and the view is phenomenal!! It's directly on the beach, all open, beautiful place to eat outside. I got fried shrimp, which were very good. The Mrs got a shrimp po boy sandwich that was very good as well. We ate dinner out 2 nights and went to AJ's Seafood and Oyster Bar and Pompano Joe's. Environment at both was great! Live music at AJ's was decent. Pompano Joe's had someone singing outside, but couldn't hear them unless sitting out on the patio. Mom got the Fried Shrimp and they were excellent! They also have the best hushpuppies. Other than that, the rest of us weren't very thrilled with our dinners. Judy and AR had grouper and both said it tasted quite fishy. I had Firecracker Shrimp appetizer and they were good, but extremely hot. Pompano Joe's was our favorite by far. I had a blackened ribeye, which I'd never had before. VERY delish! Mrs had the Seafood Sampler with grouper, shrimp, and scallops. We also had the voodoo shrimp appetizer which was very good. We stopped after dinner at AJ's at the Donut Hole where we'd been told you'd find the best key lime pie. Mrs loved it and I, not a lover of key lime pie, even liked it. It was very creamy, almost like a cheese cake and not too tart at all. Will stop again. Pompano Joe's touted their key lime pie as best on the beach, so Mrs tried theirs as well. Donut Hole wins hands down in my opinion.
Judy and Mom left on Saturday and we rented a room at the Ramada that was right next door to the Condo. Room was fine, but not much care taken to cleaning it. Location and price were great. We stopped at Destin Ice Meat Market for shrimp to take home with us, and hit the road back to the city around 1130. Had a most excellent time and wanted to go back before we were half way home. We invited the Mrs parent's for dinner to eat our shrimp and grouper cakes. The shrimp was to die for, so dang good!!! Will for sure visit Destin Ice again in the future.
For future trips, we think we'd like to go back either the last 2 weeks of Sept, or we heard it's good until 2nd week of October. Water temp during week we went was about 84 and temps in mid 80s all week. Got up to 90 on Saturday and Sunday. From reading, looks like water temps are in upper 70s in October. It was crowded for what I'm use to on beaches, but not too much by any means. Would not want to go any sooner I don't believe, and to go in the middle of summer would be pure hell!!! People and traffic would be ridiculous! Address of Windancer was 162 Windancer Lane and this location was great. Anything near the Whale's Tale might be too much as there are numerous public access spots and therefore more people. Can't wait to go back!
