Jammin'

Jammin'
Originally uploaded by frobinso.

What a trip, what a beach. Destin is el caribe of the U.S. I'd never been before last Thursday - now I plan on making it a regular stop on the vacation tour.

We took off Thursday morning and ended up in Birmingham at around lunch to meet up with AN and R. We ate lunch, loaded up a single vehicle, and headed south. We got there around dinner and went to this restaurant named The Back Porch before arriving at our condo, Pavillion Palms. Mmmmm, oysters as an appetizer and an Admiral's Feast for entree. Can't beat it. When we got to the condo we met up with one other couple to vacation with us, we'll call them RR as both their names started with 'R.'

Friday morning we woke up, put on the swimsuits, and headed out to the surf. It was a day of sun, football, frisbee, and lots of beer drinking.

Friday night we headed out to this restaurant named Harbor Docks. My meal was good, but the other entrees were quite lacking. The salad was hopeless, the crab-stuffed shrimp were good, but not great. On the other hand, the scallops were the best I had while in Destin, and the Gumbo was excellent as well, just don't expect friendly service and good salad.

After eating we headed to this club named A.J's Friday night. I, not being the party-go-clubbing type, hated it. No bashing of the club - if I was a single guy in college I may as well have been in heaven - but as I am a post college real world person it wasn't my cup of pina colada. They did have a great live band and the atmosphere was kickin', it was just slam packed, no tables, dirty old men, and loud. The good thing was that it was an outdoor bar so it wasn't that smoky.

Saturday morning we woke up, headed back to the beach, and enjoyed another day of sand, sun, Corona, football and frisbee. For dinner, we headed to a restaurant named The Crab Trap. What a great restaurant! The picture posting above is from this place. If you head to the bar before eating, be sure to try their famous "Bushwhacker" drink. Great food, great atmosphere. Saturday night we went to a place called Bay Towne Wharf. Now, as stated earlier, I'm not the party animal I once was. But if ever there was a locale that would incite those primal urges again, it would be this place. We got out of the car, walked through a parking lot to a sidewalk that disappeared into the woods. Dark, very dark. We walked about a quarter of a mile into woods, couldn't see a thing. All of a sudden it opened up to this huge village with christmas lights in all the trees, surrounding a big lake, and adjacent to the intra-coastal waterway. It was like a neverland for party-goers. In the middle of nowhere was this huge happy place with tons of nice bars and good drinks. It was set up literally like Disney World or Dollywood, but for grown-ups.

Sunday morning we went to, guess what, the beach again. It was another day filled with sand, sun, football, frisbee, and beer. Sunday night we went back to the Back Porch for 1 1/2 LB of Alaskan King Crab Legs. My favorite seafood, it made the trip complete. Later that night we all stayed at the condo and relaxed for what was to be our final day.

After a quick shopping stop, mandated by the girls, we made the trip back. A & I didn't end up getting back until nearly midnight, but it was well worth it.

I love Destin, and I love the beach. It is one of those beaches that has more than enough to do, but isn't yet (but likely soon will be) sold out like Myrtle or PCB. The water was crystal clear, the sand was as white as I've ever seen, and the weather was fabulous. The weekend was spent with great friends, and will be a fun-filled, relaxing trip not soon forgotten.