Destin Vacation June/July 2010 (Just me and Mom)

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Destin Vacation (Just me and Mom) June/July 2010

Day 1

Got up at 0410 and drove down using our GPS. Ate at Shoney's for breakfast before leaving. We got to Destin around 1400. We felt so good that we went grocery shopping. We stopped by our beach for a few minutes to check it out and so I could get my feet in the sand. It was lovely, and there was no oil at all and lots of people. (Note: this vacation was just after the BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf and there was a lot of oil on beaches in neighboring states.) The sky was overcast.

We went to eat at the Melting Pot where we paid a lot of money to slowly cook our own food. It was good though and desert was awesome. Who knew that rice crispy treats dipped in white chocolate could be so yummy. After dinner we swam in the pool. We went to bed at 2100 to the sound of a storm.

Day 2

I awoke at 0530 and went to the beach to take pictures of morning at the beach. It was gorgeous and still no oil. I then went to McDonalds to check my email, etc. with their WIFI.

After we both got ready, we tried to find a helicopter or airplane tour place with no luck. We instead went to Emerald Coast Scuba to arrange for future dives.

I tried to grill burgers for lunch, but I couldn't get the grill going fast enough so we had them for dinner instead. We went swimming, then went shopping at the Destin Commons. We bought a lighthouse candle holder from Yankee candles. Then I went for a hot stone massage. It was awesome, and afterward I felt like jelly. It was a rainy day due to a hurricane in the Gulf, so we mostly did indoor activities.

Day 3

I woke up at 0530, grabbed my camera, video camera and laptop and went to the beach. I had a metal detector in the car, so I decided to do that for awhile. I found a few metal fragments that might have been from the exploded oil rig and a few aluminum cans. I also found tar balls that had washed in. They are rust colored and squishy, but not really very sticky. Is it crazy that I kept one? Otherwise the beach was beautiful and the tar balls were so small and few that they just blended in with the rest of the early morning beach debris. I once again took lots of pictures and video and did my morning run to McDonalds parking lot to use their WIFI.

Once I got back and we both got ready and we decided to go to the Gulfarium. It was pretty good. Dolphin and sea lion shows were the highlight. We found a cool frame in the gift shop. It started storming like crazy while we were there. Thankfully, they had covered walkways and arenas. Even with that, we got soaking wet.

We came back to the condo to warm up and dry off. It was still raining after 4 hours so we stayed in and had a blissful nap. It was still raining when we woke up, so we decided to go to a movie. So did the rest of Destin! The first theater we checked out was sold out on all shows. We finally found a smaller theater down the way that had seats available for a showing of Knight and Day so we settled for that. It was actually good.

After the movie, we went to the Crab Trap, with reservations of course. Mmmmm, nom, nom, nom. Crab Legs!!! Mom had Mahi Mahi. There is a reason that place is always packed.

Day 4

I got up early again and went down to the beach. It was beautiful, sunny and with a blue sky. Nice change from all the rain. However, it was humid and neither my camera nor my video camera would work, so I just enjoyed the view then went down to McDonalds for my morning internet fix.

When I got back, I called Emerald Coast Scuba and they were finally diving in the Gulf. I went diving and mom stayed home to do laundry and relax.

My dive buddy was Cam from Arkansas, a new diver. We dove with a dive master named Ray. Our first dive was at the Bridge Rubble. The visibility was only fair, but it was still fun. Our second dive was on a sunken tug boat. It was really exciting. The storm had stirred up the water into layers, with a muddy layer in the middle that we had to pass through. On the way down, we saw barracuda and I had a remora attach to me. We passed through the muddy layer and as soon as we emerged we were greeted by two huge nurse sharks on the wreck. We saw another one as we moved along the wreck. They were not scary at all, they looked like big cat fish, but it still got the heart pumping. There were tons of fish on the wreck, and I got to swim through a school that was so dense it was magical. Memorable dive.

After my dive, mom and I swam in the pool and we both got sun burned. We then went to dinner at TGIF and then came back to the condo for dessert. I went down to the beach in the late afternoon and took a bunch of pictures. I returned to McDs afterwards to check on emails, etc.

Day 5

We decided to spend the day at the beach. We drove down to Henderson beach, but it was closed to swimming, so we just came back to our beach in front of the condo. I tried to set up our beach umbrella, but the wind took it. After chasing it down the beach and finding it bent, we decided to just pay for one that was already set up. It was $20 for the day, and it was worth it.

I tried swimming in the ocean, but it was too rough, I settled for building a lousy sand castle on the beach. It was actually a lot of fun. Then I just stood in the surf and sank in the sand looking out to sea. It was so pretty, I was moved by the view and began to wax philosophical. Someone once told me that some mysteries are better left unsolved. Since I love a good mystery, and trying to solve them, I was not sure that I agreed. It's true that sometimes the solution to a mystery is not as interesting as the mystery itself, but that is not always the case. Take the ocean, for instance.

I have always marveled at its beauty and as a child I wondered what mysteries lie beneath the blue waters. When I started diving, I began to see all the wonders there were beneath the waves. It's a mystery solved in many ways for me, but it really just made the sea all the more magical in my eyes. It truly is incredible.

After the beach, we ate lunch, showered and went to the little nearby town of Watercolor. It is an aptly named town with pastel colored houses and quaint gazebos along the beach entrances. I took a lot of pictures and managed to get some really great shots.

We went back to Destin and to the beach that evening. I was taking pictures for DPChallenge and got a few good shots there too.

Day 6

Last full day at the beach. I got up early again, at 0600 and went down to the beach to enjoy the morning. The night before there had been fireworks and a lot of people on the beach. I was disgusted to see the beach littered with trash. It is just sad that the people of this country have so little respect for nature. I watched as a jogger along the beach ended his run, grabbed a drink cup he had staged for the end of his run, then when he finished drinking he just dropped it to the ground, 5 feet from the trash can. Made me sick. To add insult to injury, while I was at McDonalds checking the internet, I saw an older woman throw her coffee cup out of the window of her fancy Mercedes just before driving away. Pathetic.

The day did get much better, thankfully. We spent most of it relaxing in the condo. After lunch we went back to the Gulfarium gift shop to look for trinkets and decided to just drive around a little. A little old Asian woman flagged us down for a ride. She was so sweet. She was an avid Christian and blessed us both with her positive energy. I believed that she might have been an angel in disguise. It was a truly blessed encounter.

We went back to the beach that evening and I got mom to take some pictures of me in that very photogenic place. She did good. We then came back to the condo and just listened to the 4th of July fireworks going off outside our window and rested.

Day 7

Uneventful ride home.

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