Just a few weeks ago (but feels like months ago), my little family and I went on our summer vacation. We road tripped down to Destin, Florida. Final destination is about 15 hours away, but we took our time and spent 24 hours in Memphis (which I shared here!) on the way down.
We arrived in Destin super late at night. We rented a condo in the Islander, and they had 24-hour desk services, so we were able to get in to our condo no matter how late! We stayed in a 2-bedroom condo, with a full kitchen, kitchen table, living room, 2 full bathrooms, TVs in each room, a balcony with a lounge chair and table and chairs - it all! It was really nice, and the two bedrooms - one for the kids, so we could keep some sort of routine. We were in a row with 5 other friends that were also down with their own families. It was nice to have us all in a next to each other!
The location of our condo was right near the beach. We just walked past a pool and then over the boardwalk to the white sugary-fine sand and ocean. With our condo rental also came with an umbrella and two beach lounge chairs, which someone set up for us each day. We brought a pop up tent that we also used, since Nora actually loved staying in the shade, this was a good thing!
Oh how I loved this beach! The ocean was a teal-turquoise color. So beautiful. No one got stung by a jelly fish or anything else. The sand was so soft and powdery. This was Nora's first (warm) beach trip and Liam's last one was when he was a baby, so essentially his, too. Throughout the trip, the got more comfortable with the sand and ocean waves. Here are some ocean photos:
Our condo building had two pools (and hot tubs). We basically bounced back and forth between the beach and the pool each day, but then almost every night we did some night pool-swimming, too. The kids got tons more comfortable in the pool, which was great. We brought a bunch of fun pool floats which I think helped. The kid-sized donut float was perfect for Nora to kick around in (alternating between that and her puddle jumper).
{Liam & Nora loved their hoodie downs by Just Born - Nora's had little whales, and Liam's had anchors, so they always knew whose towel was whose, and who had lost theirs, haha.}
We also ate at a couple of good restaurants - that ended up being doable with the kids and a group of people, too! For amazing fish, we headed to Harbor Docks. We got there early enough (5ish) to beat the rush and actually got a back room all to ourselves. The loud kids (we went with one other family) didn't disturb anyone after the staff came and shut the doors... haha. Hint taken.
All 6 families ventured out for dinner one night - went to Pompano Joe's! It was such a fun place. It was situated right on the beach, which the patio/outdoor space overlooked. They had a band playing on the beach-level, where their was also a bar, picnic tables and a whole beach to let the littles run! Again, we got their early (5ish!) to avoid a long wait, but we hung around after to play at the beach a bit.
{All the mamas!}
Our last night in Destin was pretty laid back. We were the last family standing (everyone else left the day before). So we explored some other areas of the town by day, and spent sunset on the beach. This ended being one of my favorite nights. The beach was cleared of all the chairs and umbrellas, not as many people and the sunset was gorgeous. I wish we had done this every night.
Shop some of our beach must-haves, swim suits & clothing as seen in this post here:
Few other things:
My deep-v one-piece suit is old from Old Navy, but super similar here and here.
My rashguard top from Old Navy (this season, but now sold out)
Nora's white windowpane top + skirt outfit from Old Navy (but sold out).
